igrić was born in 1972 in slavonski brod, yugoslavia (now croatia). during his late teenage years he trained as a locksmith in vocational school. he joined the croatian army in 1991, when he was 19, and was discharged in 1993, after what the ambassador of croatia, ivan grdešić, described as "violent behavior and substance abuse... he was connected with crimes in croatia." when ethnic tensions began to flare during the mid-nineties he joined others in croatia's "homeland war" of independence from yugoslavia.