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The days around Christmas aren’t supposed to feel like this. We open the door on Arkansas, 1987, and walk through the controlled world of Ronald Gene Simmons—a decorated veteran, a father of seven, and the architect of a family compound where isolation and fear did the heavy lifting long before the violence began. We talk candidly about how coercive control works in plain sight, from cutting off phones and neighbors to turning everyday chores into instruments of obedience.

From the first shots on December 22 to the calculated strangulations of the youngest children, the timeline reveals intent, planning, and a chilling calm that carried through the holiday weekend. Then the violence spills into town: a law office, an oil company, a minimart, a freight terminal. Some victims were connected to old grudges; others were simply in the path of a man who believed he was settling scores. Along the way, we connect the dots between the DHS investigation, a teacher’s report, the daughter forced into secrecy, and a wife saving money to leave. None of it happened in a vacuum.

We also push past shock to talk prevention. Isolation is a tactic, not a personality quirk. When someone says they feel like a prisoner, believe them. Notice the red flags: sudden relocations, surveillance over money, removing communication, and grievance spirals centered on weapons and perceived slights. The courts found Simmons sane; the record shows he was deliberate. That matters for how we read similar situations now—at home, at work, in our communities.

If you care about true crime beyond headlines and want a clearer lens on coercive control, family annihilation, and workplace violence, press play. Then share this episode with someone who needs the language to name what they’re seeing. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: which warning sign stood out to you most?

Source Material:

Daily News, December 13, 2008, The father from hell-New York Daily News, https://www.nydailynews.com/2008/12/13/the-father-from-hell/

Roberts, Adam, December 22, 2022, Ronald Gene Simmons, Arkansas' worst mass murderer, killed 16 people, https://www.4029tv.com/article/ronald-gene-simmons-murders-arkansas/42308596

Holt, Tony, November 6, 2023, The devil of Pope County: America's Worst family massacre, https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/nov/06/trailer-i-the-devil-of-pope-county-americas-worst-family-massacre/