Crime Documentary - The Bobby Joe Long story
- 7 years ago
Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
Bobby Joe Long (born October 14, 1953), also known as Robert Joe Long and Robert Joseph Long, is an American serial killer, as of August 2017 on death row in the state of Florida. Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least 10 women in the Tampa Bay Area during an eight-month period in 1984. He released his last victim, Lisa McVey, after raping her for a period of 26 hours. McVey provided information to the police that enabled them to track him down.
Long was born in October 14, 1953 in Kenova, West Virginia to Joe and Louetta Long. He was born with an extra X chromosome, because of which he grew breasts during puberty, for which he was severely teased. He also suffered multiple head injuries as a child. He had a dysfunctional relationship with his mother; he slept in her bed until he was a teenager, and resented her multiple short-term boyfriends. He married his high school girlfriend in 1974, with whom he had two children before she filed for divorce in 1980.
Prior to the Tampa Bay area murders, Long had committed at least 50 rapes as the "Classified Ad Rapist" in Fort Lauderdale, Ocala, Miami and Dade County. Starting in 1981, Long answered classified ads for small appliances, and if he found a woman alone at home, he would rape her. He was tried and convicted for rape in 1981 but requested a new trial which was granted. The charges were later dropped. Before Long killed in Florida, he lived in Long Beach, California on the 2500 Block of Eucalyptus Avenue where he rented a room from a woman named Kathy. He dated a 17-year-old girl across the street from his rented room. Long began contacting women through the Penny Saver and other classified ads and when he found a woman alone, he asked to use the bathroom, took out his "rape kit" and brutally raped and robbed the woman. These crimes were never prosecuted by the local California authorities.
Long moved to the Tampa area in 1983. Hillsborough County had been averaging about 30 to 35 homicides per year in the eighties. Then, in 1984, the murder rate escalated. During one eight-month period, a killer with a unique method of binding, raping and killing his victims, then dumping them in unusual positions and poses, was averaging a murder every other week. The first victim was discovered in May 1984, when the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) was called to a crime scene where the body of a nude woman had been found.
This began an intensive investigation into the abduction, rape, and murder of at least 10 women in three counties in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas). The bodies were found usually long after the murder in a state of decomposition, dumped near a rural roadside and dragged into the woods.
In 1984, Long, then on probation for assault, began driving around areas known for prostitution and seedy bars where women were found alone, trawling for victims. He claimed his victims approached him, after which he persuaded them to enter his car and took them to an apartment. There he bound his victims with rope and ligature collars he fashioned using a variety of rope knots, later confessing that he derived sadistic pleasure from the abduction, rape and brutal murder of his victims. Some he strangled, others he killed by slitting their throats or bludgeoning. The bodies were placed in unique positions or "displayed," for example with their legs splayed five feet apart at odd angles. Of Long's ten known victims, five were identified as prostitutes, two as exotic dancers, one was a factory worker, one was a student, and one was of unknown occupation.
At the time of his capture, Long was wanted by three jurisdictions in the Tampa Bay Area who collected forensic evidence, including clothing and carpet fibers, semen, ligature marks, and rope knots.
Robert Long was arrested 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 pending in the area. As the detectives began to question 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 changed since you came back into the room. I think I might 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.
Bobby Joe Long (born October 14, 1953), also known as Robert Joe Long and Robert Joseph Long, is an American serial killer, as of August 2017 on death row in the state of Florida. Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at least 10 women in the Tampa Bay Area during an eight-month period in 1984. He released his last victim, Lisa McVey, after raping her for a period of 26 hours. McVey provided information to the police that enabled them to track him down.
Long was born in October 14, 1953 in Kenova, West Virginia to Joe and Louetta Long. He was born with an extra X chromosome, because of which he grew breasts during puberty, for which he was severely teased. He also suffered multiple head injuries as a child. He had a dysfunctional relationship with his mother; he slept in her bed until he was a teenager, and resented her multiple short-term boyfriends. He married his high school girlfriend in 1974, with whom he had two children before she filed for divorce in 1980.
Prior to the Tampa Bay area murders, Long had committed at least 50 rapes as the "Classified Ad Rapist" in Fort Lauderdale, Ocala, Miami and Dade County. Starting in 1981, Long answered classified ads for small appliances, and if he found a woman alone at home, he would rape her. He was tried and convicted for rape in 1981 but requested a new trial which was granted. The charges were later dropped. Before Long killed in Florida, he lived in Long Beach, California on the 2500 Block of Eucalyptus Avenue where he rented a room from a woman named Kathy. He dated a 17-year-old girl across the street from his rented room. Long began contacting women through the Penny Saver and other classified ads and when he found a woman alone, he asked to use the bathroom, took out his "rape kit" and brutally raped and robbed the woman. These crimes were never prosecuted by the local California authorities.
Long moved to the Tampa area in 1983. Hillsborough County had been averaging about 30 to 35 homicides per year in the eighties. Then, in 1984, the murder rate escalated. During one eight-month period, a killer with a unique method of binding, raping and killing his victims, then dumping them in unusual positions and poses, was averaging a murder every other week. The first victim was discovered in May 1984, when the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) was called to a crime scene where the body of a nude woman had been found.
This began an intensive investigation into the abduction, rape, and murder of at least 10 women in three counties in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas). The bodies were found usually long after the murder in a state of decomposition, dumped near a rural roadside and dragged into the woods.
In 1984, Long, then on probation for assault, began driving around areas known for prostitution and seedy bars where women were found alone, trawling for victims. He claimed his victims approached him, after which he persuaded them to enter his car and took them to an apartment. There he bound his victims with rope and ligature collars he fashioned using a variety of rope knots, later confessing that he derived sadistic pleasure from the abduction, rape and brutal murder of his victims. Some he strangled, others he killed by slitting their throats or bludgeoning. The bodies were placed in unique positions or "displayed," for example with their legs splayed five feet apart at odd angles. Of Long's ten known victims, five were identified as prostitutes, two as exotic dancers, one was a factory worker, one was a student, and one was of unknown occupation.
At the time of his capture, Long was wanted by three jurisdictions in the Tampa Bay Area who collected forensic evidence, including clothing and carpet fibers, semen, ligature marks, and rope knots.
Robert Long was arrested 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 pending in the area. As the detectives began to question 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 changed since you came back into the room. I think I might 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.