According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bachman (above) was from Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia. He graduated from Cheltenham High School in the mid-1970s and according to people who knew him around that time he was a pretty normal guy, described as smart, charming, and good-looking.

It looked like Bachman was destined for a bright future when he started attending school at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, but something happened that caused a change in him: He witnessed a murder.

According to Shreveport, Louisiana’s The Times, a 20-year-old rugby player named Ken Gutzeit, a friend of Bachman’s from Pennsylvania, died after being stabbed in the neck in front of a fraternity house in New Orleans

Someone who knew Bachman at the time said in an episode of the Netflix documentary series “The Worst Roommate Ever” that the incident ​​was “the kind of traumatic, life-changing event that changes your whole worldview.” While the experience can’t be blamed for Bachman’s future transgressions, it certainly didn’t help matters.