Robert Hansen was born in
Estherville,
Iowa, in 1939. He was the son of a
Danish immigrant and followed in his father's footsteps as a baker.
In his youth, he was skinny and painfully shy, afflicted with a stutter and severe acne that left him permanently scarred. Shunned by the attractive girls in school, he grew up hating them and nursing fantasies of cruel revenge. Throughout childhood and adolescence, Hansen was described as being quiet and a loner and he had an unhealthy relationship with his domineering father. He started to practice both hunting and
archery and often found refuge in these pastimes.
