True Crime Chronicles: Serial killer died in prison in 2014 after being convicted of five murders in three states

Ronald James Ward Jr., born in 1966 in Hood River, Oregon, lived a troubled life that ended with him becoming a convicted serial killer.

Ward died on April 11, 2014, while serving a life sentence in Montana State Prison. Over a few months in 2000, he murdered at least three women and one man across Montana, Arkansas, and California. His crimes came to light through DNA evidence years after his first conviction.

Ward grew up in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon. His early life was unstable. His father, Ronald Sr., was abusive and left Ward’s mother when Ward was 19, after infecting her with syphilis. Ward said he had eight stepmothers and dropped out of school in sixth grade.

At 19, he married a woman named Donna, who had six kids. He was a caring stepfather for a time, taking the children on walks, but the marriage ended, and he lost contact with them when Donna moved to Arkansas.

His adult life was marked by drifting and odd jobs. Ward worked as a truck driver, homebuilder, and commercial fisherman. Drug use, including cocaine and heroin, took over after a head injury from a fight in Oregon made steady work hard.

In 1999, he met Hattie Ann Baker, a struggling mother of three, in Missoula, Montana. They moved to West Virginia, where Ward drove a garbage truck until their relationship fell apart in 2000.

Ward’s killing spree began in August 2000. In Arkansas, he stopped at a rest area on Interstate 40 near Morrilton and attacked 25-year-old Kristin Laurite from New Jersey. She was traveling to California with her dogs when Ward beat, raped, and stabbed her to death, leaving her body behind the rest stop.

Her dogs led police to her the next day. In October, Ward killed Craig Petrich, 43, in Montana. They met at an RV park in Hamilton, and Ward shot him in the Sapphire Mountains after Petrich sold his motor home.

In December, Ward struck again in California. He murdered Shela Polly, 32, in Modesto, beating and stabbing her before dumping her body in Dry Creek. Witnesses saw them together beforehand. Days later, he killed Jackie Travis, 49, in Merced.

She was found beaten, raped, and stabbed in her apartment. Both women’s deaths matched Ward’s brutal style.

Ward was caught in January 2001 in Merced, linked to Polly’s murder. Extradited to Montana, he confessed to killing Petrich and got a life sentence. In 2007, DNA tied him to Laurite’s murder in Arkansas, where he pleaded no contest, saying he didn’t remember it but believed the evidence. He was alo convicted in the murder of Traavis, adding two more life terms.

Experts like FBI profiler John E. Douglas doubted Ward’s claim of being nonviolent, suggesting more victims might exist from his cross-country travels.

Ward died in his cell in 2014 at age 48. The cause wasn’t released, but no foul play was suspected.