Ralph Echols

Ralph Kennedy Echols is a Baby Boomer, born in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned his BA (Political Science) from Georgia State University and his MA (TESOL) from the University of Illinois.

Echols served in Vietnam in the 61st Medical Battalion, US Army, as a medic, clerk and ambulance driver. He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching English in Korea.

Echols has conducted exhaustive research into the life and crimes of serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin. He was in contact with Franklin for over 12 years, last talking to him on the morning of his execution, November 20, 2013.

Echols appeared on the Investigation Discovery channel's program "Most Evil," interviewed about Franklin's life by producer Rachel Maguire.

Retired West Virginia State Police First Sergeant, Senior Investigator Michael R. Jordan said of Echols' book Life Without Mercy: Jake Beard, Joseph Paul Franklin and the Rainbow Murders, "You knocked it out of the ballpark, Mr. Echols."

Ralph Kennedy Echols currently lives in Arizona, where he is completing his biography of Franklin.