Ronald Gene Simmons' Christmas Murders
December 07, 2024
Ronald Gene Simmons Sr. was born on July 15, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1957, Simmons dropped out of school and joined the U.S. Navy, stationed in Washington where he met his wife, Bersabe Rebecca "Becky" Ulibarri, on July 9, 1960.
Between this time and 1978, the couple had 7 children together. Simmons left the Navy in 1963, and by 1965 had joined the U.S. Air Force. Simmons won many awards during his military career.
On April 3, 1981, Simmons was investigated for allegedly having a child with his 17-year-old daughter, Sheila, because he was sexually abusing her. Simmons did not want to be arrested so fled to Arkansas with his family later that year from New Mexico.
The family had a 13 acre piece of land that they would call, "Mockingbird Hill." The home did not have a telephone or indoor plumbing, and had a private fence built around it. Because of no plumbing, Simmons got his family to dig 3 cesspits, which he would later dispose bodies into.
Simmons worked a lot of random jobs during this time, and even quit a position at Woodline Motor Freight after he had multiple reports of sexual advances he was committing.
By the time the killings happened, two of Simmons older children had already moved out, including Sheila, and had families of their own.
Before Christmas 1987, Simmons decided to kill his entire family. On December 22, Simmons killed his wife Rebecca and oldest son Gene, by bludgeoning them with a crowbar and shooting them. He then strangled his 3-year-old granddaughter, Barbara.
Simmons dumped the bodies into one of the cesspits and waited for his other children to return home from school. When the children arrived home, Simmons told them he had presents for them but wanted to give them one at a time. He killed 17-year-old Loretta by strangling her and held her under the water in a rain barrel. His other children, Eddy, Marianne, and Becky were then killed the same way, all of their bodies going into the cesspit.
On December 26, 1987, Simmons two older children arrived home as he had invited them over for the holidays. Simmons then killed his son Billy and his wife, Renata, by shooting them. He then strangled and drowned their 20-month-old son, Trae. Simmons then shot his daughter Sheila, and her husband, Dennis McNulty.
Simmons then strangled his child by Sheila, 7-year-old Sylvia Gail, and then his 21-month-old grandson Michael.
He laid their bodies in neat rows in the lounge, with all of them covered by coats except for Sheila's, who had been covered with their best tablecloth. Trae and Michael's bodies were wrapped in plastic and put in abandoned cars at the end of the lane.
Simmons then drove to a Sears store where he picked up Christmas gifts he had ordered for his family. He went out for a drink at the local bar that night, before returning home to watch tv and drink beer.
On the morning of December 28, 1987, Simmons drove to Walmart where he purchased another firearm. His first target was the law firm where he had previously met a secretary named Kathy Cribbins Kendrick.
Simmons had been infatuated with her but she had rejected him. He walked into the office and shot her. He then went to an oil company office, intending to shoot the owner, Russell "Rusty" Taylor. Russell had also owned the Mini Mart where Simmons resigned. He shot and wounded Taylor, and killed another man, James David Chaffin, who was a total stranger to Simmons. Another employee was also shot at but the bullet missed.
Simmons drove to the Mini Mart where he shot wounded two other people. His final target was his former supervisor, which he shot twice wounding her. He then ordered one of the employees to call the police.
When police arrived, Simmons handed over his gun and surrendered without resistance. Simmons killed two people and injured four others during his rampage.
Simmons underwent psychiatric evaluation where he was found fit to stand trial. He was found guilty on May 12, 1988, for the murders of Kendrick and Chaffin. He was then on trial for the murders of his 14 family members and found guilty on February 10, 1989. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
As a potential motive, a family friend claimed that Simmon's wife, Rebecca, had been saving up money to divorce Simmons when the killings happened. During the trial, Simmons actually had to be removed at one point for punching the prosecutor, John Bynum, and trying to get a deputy's handgun, after Bynum introduced a letter between Simmons and Sheila.
The letter stated that Simmons was expressing anger that Sheila told people he was the father of her child, and he would see her in Hell. Simmons refused to appeal his death sentence.
Simmons life was constantly threatened in prison, and he had to be removed from other prisoners. This was due to him refusing to appeal his death sentence -- the others believed he was damaging their own chances of beating their sentences.
On June 25, 1990, Simmons died from lethal injection. None of his surviving relatives would claim the body, and he was buried in a potter's field in Lincoln County, Arkansas.
