Bobby Joe Long (October 14, 1953 – May 23, 2019) was an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

and rapist. During an eight-month period in 1984 Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least ten women in the

Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, Florida, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, Florida, Clea ...

in Florida. At trial Long was sentenced to death for one of the murders and life for seven others. He was sentenced to death in 1986 by the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms. He was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

on May 23, 2019.

Early life

Bobby Joe Long was born on October 14, 1953, in

Kenova, West Virginia Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. The city's name is a portmanteau of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia (Va), owing to its location where the three states me ...

, to Joe and Louetta Long. Long was born with an extra

X chromosome The X chromosome is one of the two sex chromosomes in many organisms, including mammals, and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO sex-determination system. The X chromosome was named for its u ...

, also known as

47,XXY Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is a chromosome anomaly where a male has an extra X chromosome. These complications commonly include infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles (if present). These symptoms are often no ...

, a specific variant of

Klinefelter syndrome Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is a chromosome anomaly where a male has an extra X chromosome. These complications commonly include infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles (if present). These symptoms are often n ...

. This condition results in excessive

estrogen Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three ...

production, resulting in development of female traits such as

breasts The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

. Long was teased as a child for his large breasts and underwent breast reduction surgery in adolescence. He sustained multiple head injuries in various childhood accidents. Long had a dysfunctional relationship with his mother, sleeping in her bed until he was a teenager, and reportedly resented the multiple short-term boyfriends she brought with her when returning home late at night from her job. Long married his high-school girlfriend in 1974, with whom he had two children before she filed for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

in 1980, citing domestic and sexual abuse.

Crimes

Long moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1983. In 1984, while on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

for

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

, Long raped and strangled 20-year-old Artiss "Ann" Wick in March; her body was discovered in a rural area on November 22, 1984. She had reportedly hitch-hiked from Gas City, Indiana, to Tampa, and was engaged to be married. Long also attacked 33-year-old Linda Nuttall in her home. In the early hours of November 3, 1984, Long abducted 17-year-old Lisa McVey as she rode her bike home from work. She was blindfolded and taken to Long's home, where he repeatedly raped her. Aware of the danger she was in, the blindfolded McVey reported leaving as many fingerprints in Long's home as she could to aid any future police investigation. After 26 hours, Long released McVey and she provided investigators with information on his home, car and a time period in which she heard him use an ATM. This led to police identifying Long and he was arrested on November 16, 1984. He was linked to the murders through red carpet fibers found on the bodies of several victims.

Capture

At the time of his capture, Long was wanted in three Tampa Bay area jurisdictions where investigators had collected multiple forms of

forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". Hu ...

, including clothing, carpet fibers,

semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placen ...

ligature Ligature may refer to: Language * Ligature (writing), a combination of two or more letters into a single symbol (typography and calligraphy) * Ligature (grammar), a morpheme that links two words Medicine * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture us ...

marks, and rope knots. Long was arrested outside a movie theater on November 16, 1984, and charged with the sexual battery and kidnapping of Lisa McVey. Long signed a formal '' Miranda'' waiver, and consented to questioning. After the detectives procured a confession for the McVey case, their questioning focused on a series of unsolved sexual battery homicides in the Tampa Bay area. As the detectives questioned Long about the murders, he replied, "I'd rather not answer that." The detectives continued the interrogation, and handed Long photographs of the various murder victims. At this point, Long stated, "The complexion of things sure have icchanged since you came back into the room. I think I need an attorney." No attorney was provided, and Long eventually confessed to eight murders in Hillsborough County, and one murder in Pasco County. Fiber evidence analysis by the FBI linked Long's vehicle to most of his victims.

Trial

The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office of Hillsborough County reached a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

deal. Long pleaded guilty on September 24, 1985, to eight homicides and the abduction and rape of Lisa McVey, receiving 26

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

s without the possibility of

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

(24 concurrent and two to run consecutively to the first 24) and seven life sentences with the possibility of parole after 25 years. The State retained the option to seek the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for the murder of Michelle Simms. In July 1986, Long was found guilty and was sentenced to die in Florida by

. Although Long confessed to raping and killing women, his confession was thrown out. His trial proceeded straight to the penalty phase, which was possible in the 1980s. In early 1985, he received the death penalty. Long was convicted and

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

ed his first degree murder conviction and death sentence for crimes committed in Hillsborough County. Long appealed his first degree murder conviction and sentence of death in the death of Virginia Johnson. On appeal, Long's death sentence was vacated, his conviction reversed, and his case remanded back to the trial court with directions to enter an order of

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

for the murder of Virginia Johnson.

Victims

Long was linked to the murders of 10 women, who were killed from March to November, 1984. The victims were Nguen "Lana" Long, 20, Michelle Simms, 22, Elizabeth Loudenback, 22, Chanel Williams, 18, Karen Dinsfriend, 28, Kimberly Hopps, 22, Virginia Johnson, 18, Kim Swann, 21, Vicki Elliot, 21 and Artiss Wick, 20. He was convicted of killing all of them with the exception of Johnson and Wick.

Execution

On April 23, 2019,

Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Florida and is the commander-in-chief of the Florida National Guard and Florida State Gu ...

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...

signed Long's death warrant, the first death warrant he had signed since taking office in January 2019. His subsequent appeals denied, he was executed by

on May 23, 2019, more than thirty years after his conviction. He ate his final meal at 9:30a.m. local time; he requested

roast beef Roast beef is a dish of beef that is roasted, generally served as the main dish of meal. In the Anglosphere, roast beef is one of the meats often served at Sunday lunch or dinner. Yorkshire pudding is a standard side dish. Sliced roast beef ...

, bacon, French fries, and soda. He was pronounced dead at 7:00p.m., having made no last statement.

TV movies

* Bobby Joe Long's story has been depicted in the TV movie '' Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey'' which aired in 2018.Lloyd Sowers
"'Believe Me': Hillsborough deputy's survival story now a Lifetime movie"
.

WTVT WTVT (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving as the Fox network outlet for the Tampa Bay area. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, WTVT maintains studios on Ken ...

, September 27, 2018. The film was directed by Jim Donovan, and stars Katie Douglas as Lisa McVey, Rossif Sutherland as Bobby Joe Long, and David James Elliott as Larry Pinkerton.

Notes

References

External links

Appeal in and for Hillsborough County, State of Florida

* The FBI Files, Season 1 – Ep 7: * Forensic Files, Season 2 – Ep 1: ! colspan="3" , Executions carried out in Florida , - ! colspan="3" , Executions carried out in the United States {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Bobby Joe 1953 births 1984 murders in the United States 2019 deaths 20th-century American criminals 21st-century executions by Florida 21st-century executions of American people American kidnappers American male criminals American people convicted of assault American people convicted of burglary American people convicted of rape American robbers Broward College alumni Crime in Florida Crimes against sex workers in the United States Executed American serial killers Executed people from West Virginia History of Tampa, Florida American intersex men American intersex people People convicted of murder by Florida People from Kenova, West Virginia People executed by Florida by lethal injection Serial killers from Florida Violence against women in Florida