The attached letter was transmitted on April 23, 2019 to Warden Barry Reddish of Florida State Prison, pertaining to Robert Joseph Long, who was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of Michelle Simms.
On or about May 27, 1984, Long approached Simms, and she entered his car. Long drove Simms to a remote location, forced her to undress at knife point, and tied her to the car seat. Long then raped Simms and attempted to strangle her. When his attempts failed, he hit her head with a club and pushed her from the car. Long slit her throat and left her on the side of the road to die. Deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office found Simms’s nude body. Her face was bloodied, her hands and body were tied, and she suffered rope burns on her neck and chin. Fibers located near her body matched fibers found in Long’s car.
Long confessed to murdering Simms after he was apprehended for the kidnapping and sexual battery of Lisa McVey in November 1984. In addition to confessing to Simms’s murder, Long admitted to killing eight other women in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties. He also claimed to have raped approximately 40 women in three different states. Long eventually pled guilty to eight homicides, and he received a sentence of death for murdering Simms.
The execution date has been set for Thursday, May 23, 2019, at 6:00 PM EST.
