In 1984, the city of Florida in the United States went through an extremely dark period. A series of mysterious deaths of girls aged 18-30 occurred consecutively, causing headaches for the authorities in their hunt for the culprit. However, despite the efforts of the police, the killer remained outside the law and committed even more horrific crimes. But on one occasion when he kidnaps a young girl to rape her at home, he encountered an extremely clever girl…
The Painful Past of the Criminal
In the history of the world’s most dangerous criminals, we often find that cold-blooded killers share the commonality of having endured a less-than-ideal childhood. For Robert Bobby Joe Long, this observation rings especially true.
Born in the rural town of Kenova, West Virginia (USA), from a young age Robert Bobby Joe Long (commonly called Joe Long) had to endure much mental and physical pain.
From the moment he was born, Joe Long carried Klinefelter syndrome – a syndrome where males have female chromosomes. The fact that a baby boy developed pronounced female physical characteristics caused Joe Long to always feel self-conscious and insecure. In fact, during his elementary school years, he was even bullied by his peers and not allowed to play with them because of his unusual physique.
Not only was he teased and mocked by his friends in class, but at home Joe Long also had to endure the discriminating gaze of his neighbors due to the less than “respectable” job his mother was doing. At that time, Joe Long’s mother worked as a waitress at a nightclub in the city. Due to the nature of a “waitress’s” job, she often had to dress provocatively and bring strange men home to be intimate in front of her young son.
Growing up in such a complex environment and having nearly died in a car accident, Joe Long seemed to completely change his character. He was no longer the timid, gentle boy who allowed others to bully him. According to Joe Long’s attending physician, after recovering from the trauma of the accident, Joe Long became abnormal, and unpredictable, with a tendency towards an obsession with violence and sex.
It was thought that after marrying his high school girlfriend Cynthia Brown and having two lovely children, Joe Long’s life would take a positive turn, no longer tinged with sorrow. However, according to Cynthia, after getting married, Joe Long became increasingly irritable, frequently angered for no reason, and found it very difficult to control his psyche and behavior. In fact, on one occasion Joe Long even forcibly choked and smashed his wife’s head against the TV until she passed out.
Sharing with the police, Cynthia said: “When I regained consciousness after the beating, I found myself lying on the sofa, while Joe Long was sitting crying. He apologized to me and promised he would never do that again. But right after apologizing, he immediately changed his tone and threatened me that if I dared to breathe a word to anyone about what had just happened when he took me to get my wounds stitched, he would kill me as soon as I set foot back home.”
Shuddering at her husband’s violent character and behavior, in 1980 Cynthia decided to take the children and leave, divorcing Joe Long.
Serial Murders
After being abandoned by his wife and children, Joe Long increasingly exhibited the behavior of a dangerous criminal. He began studying the cruel tactics of notorious serial killers to apply to his own cases.
Lana Long (19 years old) was the unfortunate first victim that Joe Long attacked. She was a prostitute at the Sly Fox Lounge club in South Tampa, Florida (USA). Lana’s naked body was discovered on May 13, 1984, on a deserted road. The only evidence the police had at the scene were red fibers and strange tire tracks next to the victim’s body.
A month later, a second body was discovered. This victim was 22-year-old Michelle Simms, a prostitute. Similar to Lana’s case, Michelle was also murdered in a deserted area with red fibers scattered at the scene.
On October 7, 1984, the body of a prostitute, Chanel Williams was also found in Nebraska. Chanel was Long’s only African American victim. Unlike the previous victims, Chanel’s body was not bound. However, in addition to the familiar red fiber evidence, this time the police discovered a gunshot wound on Chanel’s body.
By analyzing the evidence left at the crime scenes as well as the identities of the victims, the police were certain that the perpetrator was the same person and that he tended to target prostitutes. Additionally, the time he struck was usually when the girls were walking alone at night or after leaving a club or bar.
However, the clues the police collected were still too scant to identify the suspect. For the time being, they could only increase patrol cars and security personnel in areas near where the incidents occurred. They even devised a bold plan – to have an undercover female officer pose as a prostitute to lure out the suspect…
A Continuing Tragedy
Despite all efforts by the police, the plan to use an undercover female officer posing as a prostitute to lure out the culprit failed. Just a week later, more victim bodies continued to be discovered in deserted areas.
This time, the victim was Karen Dinsfriend (28 years old), a prostitute working on Nebraska Avenue. Karen’s unfortunate body was found next to an orange tree, bound and beaten to death.
A few days later, the police continued to find the body of Virginia Lee Johnson (18 years old), a white teenager from Connecticut, working as a prostitute in the North Nebraska Avenue area of Hillsborough County.
On November 24, 1984, Kim Marie Swan (21 years old) was added to the list of murdered girls. However, this time the police realized the target victims had changed.
Contrary to their belief that the victims would be prostitutes, this time Kim Marie was just a nude dancer. She was last seen leaving a convenience store near her parents’ house around 3 pm on November 11, 1984. This showed that the culprit was no longer selective in terms of victims or timing.
However, at this time, forensic experts had also explained the mysterious clue surrounding the red fibers left at the crime scenes. According to the forensic analysis, those red fibers were synthetic plastic fiber fragments used in the manufacture of car mats or hotel lobby mats.
From this, the police began to hypothesize whether the culprit had killed the victims elsewhere, then carried them in his car to find a deserted place to dispose of the bodies. So where was the actual crime scene?
Perhaps these questions would have lingered in the minds of investigators if, in the fall of 1984, Joe Long had not unfortunately kidnapped an extremely clever victim.
That girl was Lisa McVey Noland (17 years old), the only surviving victim at the hands of Joe Long, also the girl who led the police to the lair of the serial killer.
The Clever Girl
“If it wasn’t me who was kidnapped but another 17-year-old girl, she might not have survived falling into Bobby Joe Long’s hands. Because she wouldn’t have known how to handle it calmly like me,” Lisa later shared with the media. “I used to think my life was tragic, but it was the difficulties I had gone through in life that helped me escape from that killer.”
Specifically, at 2:30 am on November 3, 1984, after finishing her shift at a store in Tampa, Lisa quickly packed up her belongings and rode her bike home.
As she passed through a deserted stretch of road, Joe Long suddenly jumped out, blocking Lisa’s path, knocking her down, and pushing her into his car. After subduing Lisa, the cold-blooded killer quickly blindfolded her, tightly bound her hands with rope, and drove her to his house. Throughout her time at the criminal’s lair, Lisa was repeatedly raped and threatened with death. However, Joe Long did not expect that for Lisa, death was nothing to be afraid of.
A few hours before he kidnapped her, Lisa had even contemplated suicide. Her painful relationship with her violent boyfriend, who constantly tormented her mentally and physically, had left Lisa with no strength to continue living. However, when kidnapped by Joe Long, Lisa’s desire to live resurfaced, determined to escape the culprit’s lair.
Instead of panicking, Lisa tried to befriend her kidnapper and tormentor. She patiently listened to Joe Long’s innermost thoughts, even gently asking the killer why he had committed such horrific crimes.
Faced with Lisa’s docility, Joe Long also comfortably shared his own painful past, as well as expressed his resentment towards women, especially promiscuous women and prostitutes.
After building trust with the criminal, Lisa quickly asked to use the bathroom. Although her eyes were constantly blindfolded, on the way to the bathroom led by Joe Long, Lisa tried her best to memorize every tiny detail like the number of stairs in the house, and leave as many fingerprints as possible.
After those moments by Lisa’s side and releasing the pent-up emotions he had long buried, Joe Long began to develop a soft spot for Lisa and made a bold decision.
And after 26 hours of being kidnapped, Lisa was suddenly freed by the killer…
Finding the Culprit
On the morning of November 4, 1984, Joe Long used his own car to transport Lisa to a location to release her. Throughout the journey, Joe Long carefully kept Lisa blindfolded to prevent her from seeing any clues against him later. However, the clever Lisa tried to peek through the gap near her nose and saw the word “Magnum” inside the car. Additionally, Lisa also heard the sound of withdrawing cash from an ATM machine when Joe Long suddenly stopped the car in the middle of the road.
After luckily escaping the culprit, Lisa quickly called the police to report her kidnapping. She recounted her 26 terrifying yet strange hours to the investigators. Besides that, Lisa also reminded them of the two important clues – the car with the word Magnum and the ATM incident on the road.
Initially, the police did not think that Lisa’s kidnapper was the dangerous killer they had been searching for. However, when Lisa’s clothes were sent to the police forensics lab, the examiners were surprised to find red fiber samples matching those from the recent murder victims stuck to her clothes.
Thanks to the valuable information provided by Lisa, the police determined that the car used by the culprit was a 1978 Dodge Magnum. Searching the list of current owners of Dodge Magnums in the city, there were around 486 names. Additionally, the police also investigated bank accounts that used ATM services around the time Lisa mentioned on the morning of November 4, 1984.
Combining the two lists collected, they found the prime suspect was Joe Long.
Paying the Price
After learning the identity of the killer they had been pursuing for so long, the investigators quickly raided Joe Long’s house. Here, they found the fingerprints that the clever Lisa had left behind. Besides that, they also discovered many nude photographs of women, including photos Joe Long took of himself raping some victims.
Faced with the incriminating evidence against him, Joe Long admitted to killing around 10 victims so far. This meant that in addition to the cases the police believed he was the killer, he had committed a few more. Furthermore, he also expressed his hatred towards women and prostitutes.
However, what surprised everyone the most was Joe Long’s own confession. He said that the moment he decided not to kill Lisa and let her go, he knew he had put an end to himself.
Specifically, Inspector Norris quoted what Joe told the police: “I knew when I let her go that it was only a matter of time before I was caught. I didn’t even tell her not to talk to the police. I didn’t care anymore and I wanted to stop doing these criminal things. I felt too disgusted with what I had done.”
At Joe Long’s trial, Lisa was also present. She wanted to see in person who the culprit was who had tormented her for 26 hours. However, throughout the trial, Joe Long did not look at Lisa even once.
On July 25, 1986, Joe Long received a life sentence for each of the murders he had committed. For the case of Michelle Simms specifically, he would receive the death penalty due to the higher level of brutality compared to the other cases.
Finally, on May 23, 2019, Joe Long was officially given the deserved death sentence for the horrific crimes he had committed. He refused to give a final statement before the lethal injection procedure began.
As for the once-young Lisa, she is now married and living a good life. After going through the events in her life, Lisa became stronger, joining the legal field and becoming a motivational speaker for youth. More remarkably, she is a security officer at the very Hillsborough County Police Office that had helped her find justice in the Bobby Joe Long case.
