Ronald Gene Simmons

Ronald Gene Simmons Sr. (July 15, 1940 – June 25, 1990) was an American spree killer and former military serviceman who murdered 16 people, including 14 members of his own family, over a week in December 1987 in Arkansas. The killings, considered the deadliest case of familicide in United States history, occurred at his home near Dover and later at a nearby law office, convenience store, and workplace. Simmons served more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy and Air Force before retiring. He was convicted and sentenced to death, waived all appeals, and was executed by lethal injection in 1990, becoming the first person executed by that method in Arkansas.

Among the victims were his daughter, whom he had sexually abused, and the child he fathered with her. He also killed a former co-worker and a bystander, and wounded four others. He is regarded as the deadliest mass murderer in Arkansas history.

Simmons was sentenced to death in two separate trials and didn't pursue any appeals. His decision became the focus of the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court case Whitmore v. Arkansas.

He was executed by lethal injection on June 25, 1990, just one year and four and a half months after his second conviction. At the time, only Gary Gilmore had been executed more quickly following sentencing during the modern era of capital punishment.