Christmas Killer: The Ronald Gene Simmons Tragedy

Logan and Nicole take you on a dark and chilling journey in this special Christmas episode of Generation X Paranormal, our highly anticipated mid-season finale. This week, we delve into the haunting and tragic story of Ronald Gene Simmons, a case that remains one of the most shocking mass tragedies in modern history.

Discover the disturbing events that unfolded during the holiday season of 1987, as we unravel the chilling details behind Simmons' heinous crimes and the eerie legacy they left behind. Was there more to this tragedy than meets the eye? Could paranormal forces have played a role, or was this a case of pure human darkness?

Packed with gripping storytelling, thoughtful analysis, and a touch of holiday reflection, this episode blends true crime with paranormal intrigue, making it a must-listen for both skeptics and believers alike.

Don’t miss our most hauntingly festive episode yet. Tune in for spine-tingling discussions, eerie connections, and a deep dive into one of the darkest Christmas stories ever told.

#RonaldGeneSimmons, #GenerationXParanormal, #TrueCrime, #ChristmasTragedy, #HauntingHolidays, #ParanormalPodcast, #MidSeasonFinale, #UnsolvedMystery, #DarkChristmas, #ChillingCrimes, #HolidayHorror, #GhostlyTales, #ParanormalMystery, #TrueCrimePodcast, #EerieStories, #SpineTingling, #HolidayHaunts, #MysteryUncovered, #PodcastCommunity

Transcript

Well, hey there, fellow truth-seekers.

Before we dive into this week's episode of Generation X Paranormal, we've got something special to share with you.

That's right.

If you love exploring the unknown with us, why not take your support to the next level by joining us on Patreon.

Yeah, and by becoming a Patreon, you'll unlock exclusive perks like behind the scenes content, that's coming up, early access to episodes which you can get right now, and bonus material we don't typically share anywhere else.

Not to mention, your support helps keep the lights on, literally and figuratively, so we can continue bringing you the spooky, mysterious, and downright bizarre stories you crave.

Yeah, plus, it's a way to join a community of like-minded explorers, and who doesn't love geeking out about ghost UFOs and cryptids together.

So head over to patreon.com/genxparanormal, and choose the tier that's right for you.

Whether you're a casual fan or a hardcore investigator, there's something for everyone.

And honestly, guys, your support means the world to us.

Together, we can keep unraveling the mysteries of the universe.

Thanks for being part of the Generation X Paranormal family.

Now, let's get back to the show.

I said, when he looked at me with that gun and pointed that gun on me, he had this just hurried grin on his face, and he just he looked mad.

And like a mad dog would look at you.

Generation X Paranormal.

Well, hey, everybody, welcome back.

Hey, everybody.

So you've made it.

It is our mid-season finale.

Yes, it is.

So we'll be taking a short little break.

It won't be long.

And honestly, I don't think we ever get a break.

No, we never actually get a break, but this allows us to do some catch up.

Yeah, do some catch up.

Just a little bit.

Just a tiny bit.

For those who are listening on the podcast, we're gonna be doing a couple of episodes in between of sort of remastered.

They won't be new per se, but they'll sure sound a lot better.

We don't want to leave you without any content at all.

For the videos, though, this is pretty much it until January sometime.

Yes.

So, but seriously, guys, we've got a Facebook out there.

We've got, you can reach us on X, you can reach us on Instagram.

Of course, our web page too, gxparanormal.com.

There's tons of information on that as well.

Next year is gonna be different.

Well, I shouldn't say next year.

When we pick back up in January, which is next year, technically, you're right.

It is next year.

We're gonna have a bit of a different look and feel.

We're still probably gonna have someday.

Do we need to name him at some point?

I don't know.

We don't even know if it's a him.

We don't even know.

We don't know what this is.

But anyway, this will still be a part of it.

But as some of you may notice, even the artwork for the podcast and a few things have already changed.

But there's gonna be some even bigger changes, not just in our look, but in our content.

We were out in Arizona.

This is just a little sneak peek.

And we've done some things.

So there's actually gonna be investigations.

We're gonna start rolling that in.

And that doesn't mean that you're not gonna get the interviews that you guys like.

But we feel like it's time for us to spread our wings a little bit, get some investigations under our belt, and just bring you more of our content instead of just having interviews, which is great, by the way.

I still love doing it.

It's just gonna be a little bit different.

Yes.

Today's episode.

Is our holiday Christmas episode.

Yeah.

It is a rough one.

It is a rough one.

Yeah, there's no question.

I had a hard time.

It is more on the true crime side of things, but we are a paranormal channel.

Yes.

That doesn't always mean that we're talking about monsters and ghosts, aliens, and things of that sort.

Right.

Sometimes paranormal is just outside of the normal.

And when it comes to a situation like this, I'm sorry, it is not normal.

No, it's not.

And it's very true crime.

And last year, we brought you a really kind of fun one.

Yeah, which go check that out, by the way.

Yeah.

Our holiday monsters episode.

It talks about all the holiday cryptids and origins and with our wonderful Rissa Miller that we love having on.

That's right.

And she's our resident historian.

Yes, she is.

But no, that was a good time.

But this year is going to be it's going to be a little different, actually a lot different.

And we hope that you guys enjoy it.

It's going to be it's going to be tough.

There's going to be probably some triggering moments for some folks that we're just going to kind of put that right out now.

That warning out for domestic violence, victims.

This may not be an episode you want to listen to, but just putting that out there.

And when it comes to Christmas, the majority of us thankfully have a great time at Christmas, or holidays, celebrations, whatever it is you celebrate.

Spend time together, see our family, we rest, recuperate.

That's not always the case for every family.

No.

And specifically this one.

If you're a domestic violence survivor, you know this.

When you're closed in, you don't go to work, the kids don't go to school, you're at home with your family 24-7, that can be actually the nightmare for you, as opposed to the jolly good times the rest of us have.

So we just need to always remember that when it comes to Christmas.

It's not always a good time for people.

No.

And this is one of those situations.

So we want to put that out there.

This is a very emotional episode for me to work on in research.

It got me in the feels several times.

And I think if you're not a psychopath, it will make you feel that way.

Yeah.

I mean, even Dexter, I think, would be a little little taken back on this.

Dexter would take care of this problem.

That's right.

What I feel.

Dexter would.

Dexter, if you're out there, Dexter, we got somebody.

Yeah.

But kind of kind of getting into it.

Yeah, let's let's get into it.

So happy holidays, everyone.

All right.

So this show, this episode is going to focus on a pretty rough event.

Yeah.

And the perpetrator is Ronald Gene Simmons and not the Gene Simmons you're thinking of.

No, no, he was not the bass player for Kiss.

There's no kiss involved.

No, no, no, no, no luxuries like Kisses.

So on July 15th in 1940, he was born in Chicago, Illinois.

And as a child, he was one of those childs that are children, I should say, childs.

He's one of those children that was just kind of would throw a lot of tantrums.

He would tease his brothers and he would kind of be one of those.

It would just be a huge pain in the butt for his entire family.

We all know those, by the way.

We've got a few in our families.

We know how it is.

And his brother was quoted in saying he just couldn't stand to be questioned.

He had to be right, had to be boss.

He threw a really big fit if you crossed him.

And that just had to be his way.

And that's a quote.

So again, families, they're out there.

We know that there are siblings out there like that.

But he had a lot of trouble in school, as you would imagine a child like that would have.

In fact, he was sent to boarding school.

And then while he was at boarding school, I guess he complained a ton.

And then he was sent back home.

So he couldn't even hack boarding school.

And you got to think about boarding schools.

I mean, they're kind of geared and engineered to handle pains in the asses like this.

So for them to basically relent and say, okay, we got nothing for this kid, we're sending him back home.

You know?

I think it was more he just, his parents just brought him home.

Well, sure.

Yeah.

I mean, sure, there was a lot of that, but that's just it.

He never fit in school.

He couldn't make any friends.

So how would, you know, that'd be very difficult for a child, let alone somebody trying to take care of that child at a boarding school.

So what he does is he enlists in the army.

Now, having been a vet, or being a vet, I should say, we see these people come in, you know, where they're not someone that could be fathered or mothered.

They're just kind of one of those things that have people that have kind of fallen through the system.

And so they join the military, and sometimes it really works for them.

You know, it centers them a little bit.

I don't know if this happened for this individual.

So anyway, that's where he met his wife, Becky, Rebecca.

And that was a very troubled relationship.

So Becky, he would hit her.

He would yell at her.

Obviously demean her.

That was the most important thing.

And he would do it in front of his children.

He didn't care.

And he gave her a list of instructions, like down to the point, like a military instruction pamphlet, and made her account for every single cent that was spent.

Controlling.

Controlling, right.

That's kind of it.

In fact, his brother called it right in the beginning.

Yeah.

Now, he always said, to have the lifestyle they want, they had to obey his rules and live a life of safety and security.

Safety and security.

I want you guys to remember that.

Yeah, that's going to come into play.

So anyway, as life progressed, as children grew up, he started to develop a favorite, and his favorite was his daughter, Sheila Marie.

And this is major ic for me as a man.

It's an ic for anybody.

Yeah, anyway, he started to have those feelings that you get towards a woman as they develop for his own daughter.

Literally makes me want to vomit all over my microphone when I say it.

So this guy, instead of staying where he is, he decided to join the Air Force because he probably couldn't hack it in the real world.

I know tons of those people out there.

I think military gave him a sense of control.

Well, sure.

He felt some of those guys get this machismo thing in the military, and if they get to a certain level, they can boss everybody else around.

I think that's probably why he liked it.

Yeah, and I served with many of them.

I've served with a lot of great people, but I know the type.

I've seen them, and unfortunately, he was one of them.

Now, later, he did retire from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant.

So, went up the pay grade scale, but for somebody that had been in as long as he had, I'm kind of surprised it was just a Master Sergeant.

I'm not taking anything away.

The Air Force is hard to get rank in, but.

Well, I'm sure he just got in a lot of trouble.

Yeah.

It's gonna be my guess, and he pushed back and didn't do what he was told, is my feeling.

Same thing.

That's what I guess too.

But you covered a lot of this guy.

What else have you got?

Okay.

So strap in.

Okay.

So on April 3rd, 1981, he began to be investigated by the Cloudcroft New Mexico Department of Human Services.

So there were allegations that he had fathered a child with his 17-year-old daughter, Sheila.

And there's a lot more to this, but to get this in an hours episode, I had to kind of cut it down.

But there was a lot of stuff going on.

You know, the family obviously knew about it.

And I think she said something to her counselor at school, and that's where all this started.

Basically she-

So much itch.

Yes, very much itch.

And to do with this, there was like the wife, you know, she was not getting pregnant anymore.

I don't remember if she had an hysterectomy at this point or not, but he'd kind of turned off from her, and so he turned his attentions to Sheila, and this is where it started.

So now she's the, he told her she's the woman of the family.

Okay.

So now she's the new wife in his eyes, basically.

So of course, they issue in a warrant for his arrest for incest.

So of course, now he's got a warrant out, so what do you think he does?

He grabs everybody and he hightails it out of there.

So the first place he goes to is Ward in Lenoque County in Arkansas in late of 1981.

And then he moved from there to Dover, Arkansas, which is in Pope County.

Right.

In the summer of 1983.

Yeah.

And for you guys who don't, I guess who've never been in this area, because we're not too terribly far from there.

If you want to go somewhere that you have a chance to not be found or be very, very secluded, those are some of the places you do want to go.

Well, and he, I guess there, when he was a child, at some point, he lived in Arkansas in the same, and he tried to get the same property back because he liked that life.

Sure.

So he, now he didn't have the money for the property that he had as a child.

So he had to settle for second best, I guess, in his eyes.

And so that's where he went to.

That makes sense, I guess.

So the family took up residence on a 14-acre tract of land in the Arkansas Ozarks River Valley that he would name as Mockingbird Hill.

I have no idea why, couldn't find the reason for that.

That's what he named it.

The residence was constructed of two older mobile homes that they, he basically joined them together to make a bigger home.

I've seen that before, especially like on the reservation and stuff.

There are people that will take two of those and then they'll-

They just break down the walls and kind of put them together.

Sometimes they just take like, there's like an exit, like a back exit, and then the front part of another and somehow join them together with like a patio.

There's all kinds of things that they can do.

Okay, well, that's what he did.

Right.

Okay, and he constructed a fence and he used like barbed wire that he stretched out and he built like almost 10-foot high cinder block walls around the entire property.

Yes.

And at the entrance, there were all these no trespassing signs and steel gates that guarded the steep, rutted lane leading to the home.

Yeah, so what he...

So he had a compound.

Right, he fortified his home.

You know, those of us that have been and served know exactly what he did.

Now, the home did not have a telephone or any indoor plumbing.

This is going to mean something later, okay?

So for someone that is a controlling person, is trying to control a family, they're typically narcissistic.

Very much so.

Right?

So we're leading up to who this person was, okay?

And everything had to be his way, all these things, right?

He was abusive, all these things are happening.

So he moves them out to the middle of nowhere, constructs this fence.

And I know other people, neighbors and stuff said they were always outside, seeing the family feed chickens and do farm labor basically.

Okay.

Which is not a bad life.

No.

But the fact that they were so secluded, there's no telephone, they can't call anyone.

Yeah.

No indoor plumbing.

They have to go outside.

Yeah.

That's going to mean something here in a bit.

And he would also, so he would get the newspaper, and he would read them newspaper clippings of murders and drugs, basically saying, look at everything that's happening out here in the world.

I'm keeping you safe by bringing you here and not allowing anyone to get to you.

This is what's going on out there.

Those are scary people.

So brainwashing them.

And he basically called it the property, this Mockingbird Hill, kept them safe from all the outside influences of the world.

And you see a lot of that happened with like, you know, again, I wasn't there for like-

Well, it's like a cult.

Yeah, it's a cult.

I think I like David Koresh.

I think about people that, and I'm not condoning, I'm not going against, I'm just saying-

Well, I'm going against it.

Well, I'll stand up and say, I'm going against it.

Well, I mean, you know what I mean, though.

I'm not trying to say that, because there are people that will create compounds for the greater good, and I'll be honest with you, I've never seen it work out well.

But, you know-

There's never, like, anything that's greater good, there's not a leader of anything like that.

Right.

It's a community, or come-

You know what I'm trying to say.

Community.

Thank you.

Yes.

So at this point, his wife, Becky, Rebecca, she's attempting to kind of pull away.

Yeah.

She's attempting to try to leave and come back and leave it, which, you know, that didn't work out well for her.

I imagine not.

Okay.

So this is where we are in this storyline.

Yeah.

Okay.

So now he's out of the military.

He's retired from the military, which was his kind of niche, right?

Yeah.

Because he could boss people around and he was in charge and-

Yeah.

He got to be in control and do all these things.

Well, now he's got to go out and work a regular job.

Yep.

Okay.

Doesn't work out because he ends up hopping from job to job, these like low-paying jobs, and it's in the nearby town of Russellville.

So Dover is just like a little tiny little offshoot of Russellville.

Okay.

Now, his daughter Sheila that he fathered a child by, she ends up falling in love with this guy and marries him, which she's not happy about.

Yeah.

Okay.

So he ends up working at this Woodline Motor Freight Company, and he starts getting interested in this young, dark-haired, really friendly girl named Kathy Kendrick.

Okay.

Flirting with her, all these things.

Well, that doesn't work out.

She kind of spurns his advances, and the manager is kind of like getting on him for bothering her.

She ends up leaving and going to work at a law firm.

Okay.

So he ends up quitting this position.

Right.

Okay.

And moves on to the next place.

So he goes on to work at Sinclair Mini Mart for about a year and a half, and then he quits on December 18th of 1987.

Okay.

Okay.

At this point, Becky is starting to really stand up to him.

Sure.

You know, because she's got all these kids to protect, and now the fam, I guess, the extended family before didn't know about this, but they found out about the incest with Sheila.

So the family's kind of...

Well, yeah.

I mean, hello.

What normal reaction, right?

Okay.

So now things are kind of crumbling around him.

His control is crumbling.

Good.

Okay.

Because Sheila's moved out of the house.

The older, I think two of the older boys have moved out of the house.

So there's only just a handful of his children still living there.

His wife is not doing what he wants anymore.

So that control is just crumbling.

And when that happens to a narcissistic psychopath, Oh boy.

Yeah.

things start to go crazy.

Yes.

We're familiar with it.

Yes.

Now, according to the Pacific Daily News edition of 1988, his wife, Rebecca, had wrote a letter to her son, William, around the summer of 1987, stating, quote, I am a prisoner here, and the kids too.

I don't want to live the rest of my life with dad, but I'm still trying to figure out how to start.

What if I couldn't find a job for some time?

I know when I get out, I might need help.

Dad had me like a prisoner, that the freedom might be hard for me to take, yet I know it would be great.

Having my children visit me anytime, having a telephone, going shopping if I want, going to church.

Every time I think of freedom, I want out as soon as possible.

I don't want to put any burden on my children, and I think it's best while or before I get too old.

I want out, but it's the beginning.

Once I get a job and place, then I can handle it.

That right now brings tears to my eyes.

It's so, so sad.

It is sad.

Because just a few months after this is when all this goes down.

Yeah.

And again, having been in the military and having served, I'm pretty familiar with this, I guess, this need for control.

A lot of these people need control.

And I'll be honest with you, it's even something that I struggled with when I first got out.

You know that.

I mean, you come from a very structured environment.

There's expectations and you expect everybody else to have those same expectations when you rotate out into the real world.

And it doesn't happen.

Now, those of us who are not insane, right, you know, we develop ways of coping.

We develop ways of not being military people.

Those with psychosis do this.

Yes.

Okay.

So on December 22nd, 1987, Ronald Gene Simmons goes to a Walmart.

Of course, Walmart's got to be in here.

That's Arkansas.

Yeah.

Well, the people don't know this, but that's where the headquarters are.

Right.

And so it's in, I always want to say Rogers, but it's in that whole area.

So Rogers Fayetteville kind of.

But in small towns, typically, everybody has one.

Everybody's got a Wally World.

And he buys a 22-caliber handgun.

Back in the day when you could.

Doesn't even give her the satisfaction of shooting her, so she doesn't have all that.

Oh no, he's enraged.

Yeah.

So that's number one.

His oldest son was there visiting Ronald Gene Simmons, Jr.

He also bludgeoned him with the crowbar and shoots him.

Yeah.

You know, and if they're visiting, it's Christmas time.

Yes.

So you know, family's coming.

Yes.

He then strangles his three year old granddaughter, Barbara.

All three of the bodies were later found in a shallow pit.

Simmons had instructed the children to dig months before for a third family outhouse.

And remember, I said this is going to be important early in the episode.

Yep.

OK.

Later the same day, the Dover School bus dropped off all the younger children for their Christmas break from school.

So it was the last day before Christmas break.

Yeah, kind of see where that one's going.

So they get off the bus and they're walking up to the house and he meets them outside.

OK.

And they were all actually excited because I guess he had been just sporadic being there at the house and in the property, was going other places and coming back.

So they were actually happy to see him.

OK.

So based on the crime scene evidence, they don't know for sure.

Right.

But they believe the children.

So Loretta, who was 17, Eddie, who was 14, Marianne, who was 11, and Becky, who was eight, get off the school bus, walk up to the house.

He meets them outside and he tells them that he had a special Christmas gift for them.

He was going to give them early, but he had to give it to him one at a time.

Isolating them.

Yes.

Yeah.

So he does takes each one separately, and I think he began with Loretta, the oldest, obviously, for specific reasons, because if-

Right.

She's, she could have helped the others if she was left.

He sees her as possible opposition.

The strongest, yeah.

Right.

He takes nylon rope, strangles them each, and then when they stop breathing, he takes them outside and sticks their head in the rain barrel to finish them off by drowning, just to make sure they're dead.

And then after he does that, he takes them outside and dumps them in the hole.

So he would do this one at a time, strangle, drown, throw them in the hole, go get the next kid.

Oh, time for your, it's your turn.

Wow.

Until he got through all four of them.

Jesus.

Yeah.

Lack of.

Okay, so he's not, I mean, this is it for that day.

But then after this is done, he stays in the house, in the property for four days, acting normal, neighbors saw him out and about.

With the bodies and.

With them all in the back pit.

Nice.

Great, great guy.

So this is, this is what I mean, saying you can't, you can't argue, well, you can't argue insanity.

Oh, he's insane.

But you can't like instantly, because this went over several days.

He had planned all this out.

It was an impulse.

Yes, it was.

It was premeditated.

Yes, absolutely.

So previously they had already invited the older children and their spouses and kids to come for Christmas.

Sure.

So he just waits around till that day comes.

Okay.

So they were supposed to come on December 26th of 1987 for an after Christmas dinner.

So 23-year-old William H.

Simmons II, his 21-year-old wife Renata, I think it's Renata, May Simmons and their 20-month-old son, and they all lived in Fordice, which is in Dallas County, Arkansas, were likely the first to arrive.

Obviously, they don't know for sure, but they think this is with time of death.

They think this is how it happened.

So William and Renata were shot and their bodies were left by the dining room table and covered with their coats and some bedding.

Their little child was drowned in the rain barrel and placed into the trunk of the car behind the Simmons home.

And this is common for Midwest to have abandoned cars in the yard.

That's true.

It happens a lot if people don't know that.

So I mean, even even back home in Arizona and stuff, you do see it in the outskirts.

You see, yeah, collect old vehicles that don't run.

We all know those neighbors.

This is what he did.

He stuck him in one of the trunks of the car.

Next to arrive was Simmons 24 year old daughter, Sheila.

So the one he impregnated.

And her husband, 33 year old Dennis Raymond McNulty, as well as their children, which one was his child and granddaughter, which is crazy.

Seven year old Sylvia and 21 month old, Michael.

Sheila was shot and her body was laid on the dining room table and covered with the tablecloth.

Simmons shot Dennis and strangled Sylvia.

Michael was strangled and placed into the trunk of the other parked car.

He wrapped both in plastic and poured kerosene over their bodies, the ones in the car, the kids, so the animals wouldn't smell them.

Well, number one, I mean...

There's nothing about rational.

Right.

Well, you're right.

There is no rational here.

But first of all, kerosene obviously is flammable.

Not a running vehicle.

Right.

That's true.

I don't think he really cares about that.

He just doesn't want animals milling around, like tipping anyone off.

Geez.

Okay.

Later this same day, he drives to Russellville, which is, like I said, it's the town right next to Dover.

Okay.

He goes to a Sears store to pick up the Christmas gifts that he had ordered but had not yet made it in.

So I'm guessing, like, Layaway.

Right.

Layaway was big in the 80s.

Oh, yeah.

I know my mom used it all the time.

I got some things when I was a kid, a Christmas from Layaway.

And then later that night, he drove to a private club in Russellville, and then he went home and waited out for the weekend.

With all that there.

There's a reason he waits for the weekend.

Okay.

So he's just waiting, he's just buying his time, right?

Biding his time.

Now we're on Monday.

Okay.

So on Monday, December 28th of 1987, he takes his kid's car, so Ronald's.

Okay, yeah.

Ronald Jr.

to Russellville.

And then he goes to Walmart again and purchased a second gun.

Yep.

So he's got two now.

Yep.

Okay.

Double his efforts.

He had a 22 caliber, one with the two inch barrel, which is the one he used, I think on everyone at home.

Okay.

All his family.

Yeah.

And then he buys an eight inch barrel, 22.

That is a very different type of weapon.

But yes.

And he filled them with hollow point shells, I guess that shatter on impact.

Yeah, a hollow point, without trying to get too in the graphic.

Yeah, let's not do that.

When you make a, when you shoot something and it's a hollow point, it does shatter.

So as it's going through, whatever it's going through, it kind of scatters more.

It kind of scatters like a shotgun.

Well, not just that, but it pulls more out the back end.

So small entrance wound, huge, right.

Yes.

Okay.

Amongst others.

Now, there's a reason we had a certain graphic for our thumbnail on this.

And it's something that, cause I watched tons of stuff on this, I did tons of research and it was the, it's always the same thing that you see.

But I found a little tidbit in a newspaper from a witness of what I'm about to tell you.

Of something that he was doing.

And I have a theory on this.

So I just talked about the eight inch barrel, the 22 that he got.

And remember, I asked you previously, I'm like, is that like an old West gun or something?

Very much so.

But he, I guess he was wearing a black cowboy hat when he goes to do this in town.

I don't think this happened at the home, but he did this.

So he's got a long barreled gun and a black cowboy hat.

And that to me screams, he thinks he's just like, Oh yeah, he thinks he's an outlaw.

Old West outlaw, I'm gonna, you know, get revenge and da, da, da, da, da.

Like he's portraying himself as like, I'm the bad cowboy.

Did he dance like that?

I don't know.

That's, you know, that machismo, like full of myself crap.

I know.

I'm moving my body to and fro if you can't see.

That's how I picture it in my head is like, why else would you put on this black cowboy hat when he wasn't like, he was a farmer kind of, and he was in the military, but he wouldn't know cowboy.

No, he's a douchebag, but he wasn't a cowboy.

That's what I'm saying.

So I think he, you know, in his sick brain, he was like, you know, I'm taking people out, I'm getting my revenge like an old Western cowboy.

Yeah.

Which is why we picked that graphic.

Red Dead Redemption, my ass.

Yeah, yeah.

Now, this is, this is, I mean, it's not any worse than the family, but it's still pretty bad.

He's definitely on a track of trying to get revenge, right?

Okay, so he goes to the Peel, Eddie and Gibbons law firm, okay?

Which is where Kathy Cribbon's Kendrick, the girl that he had the crush on that he worked with, that spurned his advances, now worked.

So he goes into the building and he shoots and kills her.

Yep.

So he's got her taken out, right?

Yep.

He is on the revenge path.

He next goes to the Taylor Oil Company, where he shoots and wounds Russell Rusty Taylor, the owner of the Sinclair Mini Mart where he had worked.

So obviously, his boss probably told him what to do, didn't like that.

Sure.

Right?

He's an authority figure.

Now, that guy survives.

So the Sinclair guy survives.

Yeah.

So Rusty Taylor survives.

Okay.

So next, he shoots and kills JD Chaffin in the face, a fireman and part-time truck driver for Taylor Oil.

Now, I don't think he had anything against this guy.

The guy was just in the way.

And being a fireman, I think he probably was trying to stop him.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, those are the hero-type guys.

He's the first responder.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I think he just got in the way and he kills him.

And something I read about JD, he had like a wife and like four kids or something that he left behind.

It just broke my heart.

Now, Simmons did shoot and missed another employee before exiting the building.

So he's not, I mean, he doesn't kill everybody, but he definitely wounds a lot of people.

It's not for lack of trying.

No, it's not.

But he does a lot of damage.

OK, next, he goes to the Sinclair Mini Mart, which he had just quit this job ten days earlier.

Yeah.

OK.

Where he shoots and wounds Roberta, Roberta, Roberta, Woolery and David Salyer.

OK.

OK.

And his last stop was the Woodline Motor Freight Company.

Simmons located his former supervisor, Elaine Butts, because she was the one that got on to him for bothering the other lady.

Yeah.

OK.

And wounded her in the head and chest.

Wounded her.

So she doesn't die.

OK.

He then took worker Vicki Jackson at Gunpoint into the computer office and told her to call the police.

OK.

She says, or allegedly says, that, quote, I've come to do what I wanted to do.

It's all over now.

I've gotten everybody who wanted to hurt me.

And then he surrenders to the police when they get there.

Wow.

Revenge path.

He got it all out, did what he needed to do, because he's in control.

Now they can arrest me.

Yeah.

He wanted to have control of every single situation when he's arrested everything.

Right.

And now he's going to go into a system and where he's told what to do.

He has a schedule that he has to maintain, and maybe that's what he wanted.

I don't know.

Tough to know.

Well, there's more to come from this.

Sorry.

So that's everything that happened.

Okay.

Okay.

As far as his murdering spree.

Okay.

And I read ton of the witness accounts of the people that lived in the town.

Actually, when he was in town doing this stuff, there was hundreds of cop cars flying down the road.

You could just hear sirens screaming for like a span of like 30 minutes.

Yeah.

When all this was going because he was hopping from place to place.

Remember?

Sure.

Yeah.

And it would be difficult for them because it's a smaller town.

Yeah.

It's not a very, or at least at that point, it wasn't.

Right.

So they were probably very close to each other.

Yeah.

And everybody's like, what is going on?

Especially in a small town like that.

Right.

They're limited to how many police they have and stuff like that.

Well, sure.

There's resourcing issues.

Every single policeman is probably sent to deal with this.

Okay.

Okay.

So he's in custody now.

The typical things go on where they have to send him for a psyche val, obviously.

So they send him to the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock.

And the staff psychiatrist, Dr.

Irving Kuo, found him to be sane and capable of standing trial, which is usually not the case.

No.

And it would be very easy, I think, to claim that he was not sane.

And Robert E.

Dock, Irwin, and John Harris were appointed by the court to represent Simmons.

So those two men were his lawyers.

Okay.

Now, the prosecuting attorney was John Bynum.

The jury selection for the trial took less than six hours.

Wow.

He was convicted on May 12th of 1988 in the Franklin County Circuit Court for the deaths of Kendrick and Chaffin.

Okay.

He had two separate trials.

Okay.

And on May 16th, Judge John Samuel Patterson sentenced Simmons to death by lethal injection plus 147 years.

And Simmons refused all rights to appeal.

So he just said, F it, I'm done.

Wow.

Well, there's a reason for this.

Okay.

Now, for the trial for his family, he was found guilty of 14 counts of capital murder and the deaths of his family members on February 10th of 1989 in the Johnson County Circuit Court with Judge Patterson presiding.

Now, the prosecuting attorney, Bynum, offered a possible motive when he presented a note that was discovered in a safe deposit box at a Russellville bank after Simmons' arrest.

The letter seemed to indicate a strong love-hate relationship between Simmons and his daughter, Sheila.

After the judge ruled the letter admissible, Simmons lashed out at Bynum, punching him in the face, and then unsuccessfully struggled for a deputy's handgun.

The officers rushed him out of the courtroom in chains.

And Simmons was sentenced to death by lethal injection on March 16th, 1989.

He again waived all rights to appeal.

So while this is going on, he was supposed to be executed way before.

But there was a Catholic preacher or priest that tried to step in and stop it.

Okay.

And it actually pissed Simmons off.

Really?

Yeah, because remember, he's one in control.

He just wants to die.

He doesn't want to be in prison and spend a long time period in there.

So he wants to be killed immediately.

Well, this delayed that, and so he was really pissed off because now he was getting beat up in prison and all these things were happening.

And he was just very, very unhappy because it wasn't his choice to be in prison for that long.

He expected to be killed right away.

My heart breaks for him.

Yeah, right.

Interesting enough, on May 31st of 1990, at the time, Governor Bill Clinton signed Simmons' execution warrant for June 25th of 1990, which is still pretty fast, I think, from March 1989.

But I mean, that's over a year.

He had to sit in prison for what he did is not long enough.

But for him, he thought he was going to be in and out, gone.

Well, you wave your right for appeals, so the applet process isn't going.

That's why they spend so long on death row, if there's no reason to.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So this apparently this was the quickest sentence to execution to death time in United States history since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Yeah.

Swift justice.

Simmons refused all visitors, including legal counsel and clergy.

So this is going to now that I told you what happened, his quote is going to make sense.

Okay.

His last words were, quote, justice delayed, finally be done is justifiable homicide.

Okay.

So his homicide is justifiable.

Okay.

But his justice delayed.

She's delayed.

So he was pretty pissed.

He was, he was mad.

He expected to be killed right to his dying seconds.

So after his execution, no extended family members claimed his body.

They didn't want it, which I can't blame.

Who the hell would?

So he was buried in a pauper's plot at Lincoln Memorial Lawn in Varner, Lincoln County.

Now they do have a headstone for him.

I don't know who provides that military, probably.

Probably, yeah.

But I would think dishonorable afterlife discharge for that crap.

I don't know.

Well, he was already discharged.

He retired, so.

I know, but still, there are some things you just don't get honored for.

No, I agree.

I'm sorry.

I agree.

Now, he is, you know, by this and this is by different, like, I think, like newspapers or television.

I don't know who actually gave him these names, but they've called him the Hillbilly from Hell and the Devil of Polk County.

Well, since you wouldn't let me title this episode, Asshole from Arkansas, yeah, he was definitely an outlaw.

And yeah, it's just listening to you talk about this.

And I know all the stuff that you went through with, you know, trying to research this and how awful it was.

Yeah.

And I was very trying for you as a man and as a veteran, and having gone through plenty of my own stuff, I still have a really hard time obviously rationalizing just the sheer brutality that the guy had in his head.

He was obviously a very broken man.

And maybe there were some telltale signs that when he was growing up that, hey, There were.

Yeah, there were.

And I didn't go into detail about all of that, because it would have taken forever.

Right.

But I think some people are just born to be a psychopath.

Oh, sure.

And they say that, and there's no cure for them.

It doesn't matter what you do or how much therapy there is.

They're just plain and simply gonna be that way.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Couldn't agree more.

And, you know, the more we run across some of these, and when we do shows about it, you know, there are people that are just, well, they're psychopathic, and there's a reason, they're just, there's something chemically wrong with them.

So, yeah.

Now, there have been a couple of books written about this called Zero at the Bone and The Christmas Killer, which you, if you want to know more about it, I would suggest you go read those books.

And funny enough, there is a band that made a, like, it's like a hard metal sound.

Yeah, hard rock.

Short little, it's metal.

Yeah, a little song about this.

And we have contact and they give us permission to actually play it right here for you if you want that.

And we'll put the, on the video podcast, we'll put the lyrics up because it's kind of hard to hear.

We'll put it up here and let you listen to it here real quick.

So, yeah.

Now, since we are a paranormal channel, I tried to figure out if there was any way, or anything was, from all these family members that lost their lives tragically.

However, it doesn't look like there's any way anyone would ever know that.

Okay, because, and I did some deep dive on this, where the property was located.

Nobody knows for sure, but I know at least the general area.

Now, Dover is located in the Arkansas River Valley, so you do have running water.

So the conditions are right to, you know, lend energy to that, if somebody wanted to.

But I got on this Reddit thread of people talking that lived through it, and knew the people, like knew the family members.

And there was one individual that said that after, and this happens a lot, especially in small towns, after he got convicted and all that, you know, all the police cleanup was done, that somebody got on the property and burned down his mobile homes and burned everything.

Good for them.

Small town justice.

So the building's not there anymore.

You know, the bodies are all gone.

The land, I would think, would be the only thing to hold anything, if it were there.

But from what I understand, it's all been, you know, personal property that's passed hand to hand over the years.

And I mean, you wouldn't even be able to tell where it was now.

Right.

But I just, yeah.

There's no record of any kind of haunting, but it's just sad.

And I just hope, hope that they're not stuck there after what they lived through in life with him.

Yeah, as a paranormal investigator like we are, and as people that are into paranormal, you know, any kind of activity, this is the one of those few times that I'd really say, I hope there isn't.

I hope that all their souls and their spirits have found rest because they don't deserve it.

And they don't need to be doted upon, bothered in the afterlife.

Let them be.

There's one of the very few times that we even, we think we know the location, but we are purposefully not going to put that on here because they deserve their peace if they're there.

And if you're trying to find it, please be respectful.

I mean, it's land owned by other people, and they don't want people, don't ever trespass to do stuff like this.

You always ask permission.

Right.

So anyway, that's that story.

It's a sad, sad holiday story.

But, you know, I, when we discussed doing a holiday episode.

Yeah.

You know, last year we did a really fun one.

It was lots of fun.

It was a lot of fun.

But I think it's important to cover things like this.

It is important.

Because those survivors of domestic abuse, domestic violence, if you're currently living that right now, like that is your existence, you need to know that this, you're not the only people out there.

There is help for you.

So I have, we're going to put it up here on the screen.

We're going to provide the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

You can go to thehotline.org, and their web page is great because they have a phone number, you can chat, you can text.

They even have a button on there that if you're secretly like trying to get on there really quick, that you can click that button and the web page will disappear very quickly.

So they've got it up safe.

There are people, there's lots of stuff that you can do to help you.

I know you feel like you're alone, but please, please, please seek help.

This happens way more than it should.

Sure it does.

But these psychopaths, these narcissist people that do this to other people that want control, and unfortunately, we have dealt with some of this personally.

Yes, we have.

And it's very, very frustrating.

But you don't have to live this life.

Get out.

Get out.

Yeah.

It's scary.

I don't know.

Anything else to say?

Yeah, there's not a lot you can say.

It's just so devastating to be in that position.

And as a man, it's difficult to swallow to know that there are other men that are like that.

And it's not just men, too.

But yeah, well, listen, it's one of those conversations and one of those shows where it's a bit tough.

But I'm glad we got a chance to do it.

We knew we wanted to do a holiday episode, and we did such a good one last time.

And we decided to go a little bit dark this year.

But guys, I mean, it is a story, and it's out there, and it was real.

And that's the thing with true crime, is that the brutality and the realness of it makes it paranormal.

So it is the holidays, it's Christmas, it's whatever it is you celebrate.

You know, reach out to those people.

Because that's one thing that we know now, is like sometimes you have that inner voice telling you maybe something's not right, but you ignore it, because everything looks happy on the outside.

And it's always after the fact that you're like, oh well, you know, I always knew, ba ba ba ba ba, right?

If you're feeling that, do something.

Yep, do something, say something.

Listen to that intuition inside of your body, because it is very strong and it will never lead you astray.

That's right.

It knows.

It does.

Even if you talk yourself out of it.

So pay attention to those around you, because people like Ronald Gene Simmons, now there were some people that said he was this way or that way and acted weird, but then there's always like, oh, he was really nice.

Yeah, you hear that.

But these people put on masks.

Yes, they do.

You know, and then when they're in their household is completely different.

Yeah.

And those people inside that household are living a life of hell.

Yes.

So anyway, anyway, you're going to part for now.

Happy holidays.

We will be back next year with a great episode.

That's right.

On January 3rd.

Yeah.

So make sure and tune in and always reach out to us.

You guys want to be a guest on the show.

We just want to chat info at GX paranormal.com.

And we'll see you next year.

Bye, guys.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Generation X Paranormal.

All the amazing music was done by Carl Casey at White Bat Audio.

Follow us on our socials.

We'll be happy to have you.

Also, don't forget to check out our Patreon.

Until next time, see ya.