John Battaglia was born on August 2, 1955 and due to his military family, he ended up moving across the United States several times during his childhood. Later in life John moved to Highland Park, Texas where he met his second wife, Mary Pearle. Unfortunately for Mary, it was only after they had two daughters together that she found out exactly why John had already gotten divorced one time. John had a history of inflicting physical and mental abuse, and had previously sent his ex-wife to the hospital.