It was 1972 when Shawcross found his first confirmed victim, a 10-year-old boy. He strangled and mutilated the boy before abandoning his body in the woods. Less than four months later, he raped and killed an 8-year-old girl and threw her body in the river after stuffing leaves and mud down her throat (via Biography).

When witnesses told the police they had seen Shawcross with the girl, he was immediately arrested. Although double murders should've resulted in a life sentence, Shawcross managed to arrange a plea deal. According to Oxygen, he agreed to 25 years in prison for manslaughter for the second killing and no charges for the first one in exchange for taking the police to the body of the boy.

Shawcross only served 14 of those 22 years and was released early because he claimed "he was suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after fighting in the Vietnam War." Psychiatrists bought his stories and deemed him "no longer dangerous" and Shawcross was set free in 1987. 

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