Eugene Martin Ingram was the first child of the volatile and short-lived marriage of father Eugene Rex Ingram and mother Verda Doris Sutton. Eugene's parents evidently eloped from their Los Angeles area family homes to a civil ceremony just over the stateline in Yuma, Arizona on March 24, 1945, so that underage 16-year-old Verda could evade California's parental consent requirements to tie the knot to 21-year-old Eugene Rex.

Eugene Rex and Verda Doris Ingram got busy quickly: Verda gave birth to Eugene Martin Ingram within 11 months, on February 24, 1946. In quick succession, Verda also gave birth to Eugene's brothers Thomas Steven Ingram on April 23, 1947, and to Gary Lee Ingram on May 10, 1948.

Supporting this young brood was father Eugene Rex, who was described as cruel and violent. He earned a meager wage working as a truck driver for the Los Angeles City School warehouse, and reportedly inflicted upon wife Verda "grievous mental and physical suffering" since their 1945 marriage.

In Verda's April 12, 1950 divorce filing (on the grounds of "extreme cruelty") Verda describes that Eugene Rex "hit me four times over the head with a milk bottle and threatened to kill me" and that as a result "I am in fear for my life.." After an apparently short-lived reconciliation, Verda described another incident on May 4th, 1951, when Eugene Rex struck her again, abused her verbally in front of the children, and threatened to take his share of their community property and leave the state. Verda then lived in her Uncle's house and got by on earnings from taking care of the neighbor's kids and driving a schoolbus.

About 2 years later, 25-year-old Verda formally left the Ingram family, by marrying 40-year-old "M" Estacio of Delano, on September 30, 1953 in Bakersfield, CA. In contrast to the poor and abusive Eugene Rex Ingram, "M" was kind and generous, and he gave Verda a new Harley Davidson motorcycle, and granted joint tenancy to her on a town lot in Delano for their new home. This 2nd marriage apparently wasn't enduring, due to interference from Verda's family. Verda returned to her mother's house by the next year, and it all ended that same year for Verda on a motorcycle on Alameda Street at Olympic Blvd. in Los Angeles on May 14, 1954 at about 9:35AM.

Newspaper photos and vivid accounts (titled "Truck crushes woman riding on motorcycle" Los Angeles Times 5/15/1954) describe how her bike glanced off a truck, and slid under the wheels of an oncoming gasoline tanker truck. According to her Death Certificate, (LA County #1954-0-9263, as 'Verda Doris Estacio Ingram') Eugene Martin Ingram's mother died from massive crushing injuries to her upper torso, head, pelvis and left leg. This was when Eugene was 7 years old, and his brothers Thomas and Gary were age 7 and 6, respectively.

Confusion reigned, as to who Eugene's mother's remains actually belonged to. The Los Angeles Times named her "Mrs. Verda Doris Ferrer" at her mother's address of 2448 Verde Street in Los Angeles, while separate articles in the Los Angeles Herald Express on May 14th and May 15 had her as "Mrs. Verda Doris Esctachio" of her ex-husbands' Delano, then as "Verna Estacio Ingram" of her Uncle's house at 1632 Burnell Drive, Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Mirror explained that Verda had a driver's license with a Los Angeles address, but a Social Security card with her Delano address. Buried as Verda Doris Ingram at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetary in Glendale, CA on May 18, 1954, her headstone (even on Mother's Day) sits without flowers, despite the inscription: "Loving mother beloved by all."

Father Eugene Rex Ingram didn't waste much time, arranging to find a replacement mother for his 3 young sons. 30-year-old Eugene Rex, within 5 week's of his ex-wife's death, married Verda's 19-year-old younger sister Patsy Ann Sutton on June 20, 1954 at the Temple of Divine Wisdom in South Central Los Angeles.

Numerous accounts describe the singular trait of Eugene Martin Ingram as his tendency to begin interactions with a lie.

It's quite possible that the early family upheaval, including being moved among relatives following his father's violent actions towards his mother, and his mother's replacement in his life (with his aunt becoming his step-mother), may have provided the catalyst for his overtly anti-social actions.

Psychologists describe lingering effects of early motherloss in sons, as the development of a defensive "cover up" personality in social situations, as well as great instability in later intimate relationships.

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