Bobby Joe Long was a serial killer and a serial rapist from Florida. Bobby Joe Long would murder at least ten women during a ten month period near Tampa Bay Florida. In this article on My Crime Library we will take a closer look at Bobby Joe Long.
Bobby Joe Long Early Years
Bobby Joe Long was born in Kenova West Virginia on October 14, 1953. According to doctors reports Bobby was born with an extra X chromosome which leads to Klinefelter syndrome which causes extra estrogen to be produced. Long was teased for his large breasts and would undergo a breast reduction when he was a teenager Apparently the relationship with his mother was dysfunctional as he slept in the same bed with her until his teens
Bobby Joe Long would marry his high school girlfriend in 1974 and they had two children together before they divorced in 1980
Bobby Joe Long The Serial Rapist
Before moving to Florida Bobby Joe Long moved to California where during his time there he sexually assaulted and robbed a number of women. According to police Long answered ads in a Penny Saver magazine and when he arrived at the home and the woman was alone she would be sexually assaulted and robbed. By the time police in California figured out who was responsible the Statute of Limitations had expired.
Bobby Joe Long would move to Florida in 1980 and soon after he was pulling a similar move that he did in Florida. Police believed that he had sexually assaulted up to fifty women.
Bobby Joe Long Murders
Starting in 1983 Bobby Joe Long had moved to the Tampa Bay Florida area and soon women began to disappear. According to police Bobby Joe Long would drive around picking up prostitutes and women who were alone. Long would convince them to get into his vehicle where he would then drive to his apartment where the women were tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered. Some of the women were strangled to death and others were fatally stabbed.
- Artiss Ann Wick, 20 – killed on March 27, 1984
- Ngeun Thi Long, 19 – killed on May 13, 1984
- Michelle Denise Simms, 22 – killed on May 27, 1984
- Linda Nuttall – assaulted in May 1984; survived
- Elizabeth Loudenback, 22 – killed on June 8, 1984
- Vicky Marie Elliott, 21 – killed on September 7, 1984
- Chanel Devoun Williams, 18 – killed on October 7, 1984
- Karen Beth Dinsfriend, 28 – killed on October 14, 1984
- Kimberly Kyle Hopps, 22 – killed on October 31, 1984
- Lisa McVey, 17 – assaulted on November 3, 1984; survived
- Virginia Lee Johnson, 18 – killed on November 6, 1984
- Kim Marie Swann, 21 – killed on November 11, 1984
Bobby Joe Long Arrest
One of the last women that Bobby Joe Long attacked was able to get away and describe to police. After taking evidence from the woman they were able to match it to DNA left on other victims. Bobby Joe Long would be arrested outside of a movie theater and charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of Lisa McVey.
During interrogation by Tampa Bay police Bobby Joe Long would ask for a lawyer however none was provided. Bobby Joe would eventually confess to eight murders.
Evidence at eight of the crime scenes would be matched to fibers found in Long’s vehicle
Bobby Joe Long Trial
Bobby Joe Long presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence agreed to plead guilty to an assortment of charges including eight murders and would be sentenced to twenty six life sentences without the possibility of parole . Part of the reason the plea deal was offered was that Bobby Joe Long confession was ruled inadmissible as he asked for a lawyer and none was given
However Florida prosecutors would charge him with the murder of Michelle Simms in which he was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Bobby Joe Long Execution
Bobby Joe Long was executed on May 23, 2019 by lethal injection. Bobby made no final statement and his last meal was roast beef, bacon, french fries and soda.
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Bobby Joe Long More News
It took more than three decades, but convicted serial killer and rapist Bobby Joe Long was executed Thursday evening in Florida as two of his surviving victims looked on.
“I wanted to look him in the eye,” said Lisa McVey Noland, who was 17 when Long kidnapped her early November 3, 1984, as she was riding her bicycle home from work. Long raped her and held her hostage for more 26 hours before letting her go, she said.
“I wanted to be the first person he saw,” Noland said. “Unfortunately, he didn’t open his eyes.”
Bobby Joe Long, 65, was executed at 6:55 p.m. without incident, a Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman told reporters. He had been convicted in the killings of eight women that terrorized the Tampa Bay area in 1984, according to CNN affiliate WFLA, and received a death sentence for the murder of Michelle Simms
“Now, after 35 years, we can say we have some peace of mind, knowing that justice has been served,” said Lula Williams, whose daughter Chanel was among Long’s victims.
After the execution, families of the victims and survivors addressed the media outside the Florida State Prison in Raiford, thanking Gov. Ron DeSantis and the law enforcement officers and prosecutors who they said saw to it that justice was served.
The other survivor, Linda Nuttall, said there was “no describing how this moment would feel.”
She and her husband had placed a classified newspaper ad in 1984 to sell some furniture. Long responded, and when he came to their home, he raped Nuttall while her two young children were in the house, she said.
“It’s just surreal,” Nuttall said. “But it closes another door for me.”
“He got what he deserved,” said Nuttall’s husband, Kevin. “Today’s just another chapter.”
Noland, now a deputy for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, read a victim’s impact statement and asked everyone to remember those who died at Long’s hands. But Noland said she had “no ill will” toward Long and that she had forgiven him.
“God has shown me the only way to really be free when someone bestows injustice against you is complete forgiveness,” she said. “My life changed forever and for the better. I chose not to remain a victim. I chose to live.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/24/us/bobby-joe-long-execution-florida
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