Born September 25, 1952, in Middlesex, England, Mackay was the son of a violent, alcoholic father who once kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach while she was carrying Patrick. Ten years old when his father died, Mackay had already established his reputation as a bully, thief, and liar. As a child, he tortured his pets, including cats and rabbits, once roasting a tortoise alive, and his preoccupation with death was manifested in habitual fondling of dead birds. Hauled into juvenile court for setting a Catholic church on fire, Mackay was let off with probation. At thirteen, he was committed to a mental hospital for the first time, after trashing the furniture at home, and assaulting his mother and sisters. Though large for his age - topping six feet in his early teens - Mackay insisted on taking a doll to bed in his hospital room. By age 15, Mackay had compiled a long record of violent offenses, including the attempted strangulation of his mother and a near-fatal assault on a younger neighborhood boy. Diagnosed by one psychiatrist as a "cold, psychopathic killer," Mackay was released from the asylum a second time against staff recommendations, moving in with two aunts. Drinking heavily and dabbling in drugs, he later tried to strangle one of the women in a drunken rage. On the side, Mackay developed a fascination with Nazism, decorating his bedroom with World War II photos and fixing himself a stormtrooper's uniform. In public, he began to call himself "Franklin Bollvolt the First," imagining himself as a world dictator. In 1973, Mackay was befriended by a Catholic priest, 63-year-old Father Anthony Crean. He repaid the priest's kindness by burglarizing Crean's home, cashing a stolen check, escaping with a $50 fine on conviction of theft. Police dismissed him as a petty criminal, and they would recognize their grave mistake too late to save an estimated dozen lives. In July 1973, Mackay killed Heidi Mnilk, an au pair girl, by hurling her from a train near New Cross. That same month, victim Mary Hynes was beaten to death in her Kentish Town apartment. In January 1974, Stephanie Britton and her four-year-old grandson were stabbed to death at Hadley Green, in Hertfordshire. A few days later, Mackay tossed an aging vagrant to his death from Hungerford Bridge. In February 1974, he invaded the Chelsea home of Isabella Griffiths, strangling her to death and plunging a kitchen knife into her stomach. The rash of "unconnected" slayings would be solved with Mackay's confessions , in 1975, but none of the crimes were ever charged against him. By early 1974, Mackay was living with friends in Finchley, north London, proclaiming himself possessed by demons. Ejected from the house for his bizarre activities, he tried to rob the dwelling out of spite and drew six months in jail on conviction of burglary. By autumn, he had settled into a career of purse-snatching and mugging the elderly, chalking up three more homicides in the process. At Finsbury Park, he bludgeoned a 62-year-old tobacconist to death with a piece of lead pipe. Sarah Rodwell, age 92, was beaten to death on her doorstep in Hackney, robbed of a $10 Christmas bonus. In Southend, cafe proprietress Ivy Davies was slain with an ax. By March 1975, Mackay was out of control. On March 10, he strangled Adele Price, an elderly widow, in her London apartment. Eleven days later, he invaded the home of Father Crean, in Gravesend, splitting the priest's skull with an ax, stabbing the body repeatedly for good measure. Arrested two days later, he was charged with Crean's murder, convicted, and sentenced to life.