In the winter of 1987, in the quiet rural stretch of Pope County, Arkansas, a man named Ronald Gene Simmons committed one of the most devastating crimes in American history. Over the course of three days, he murdered sixteen people, fourteen of them his own family.

It was a crime so calculated, so intimate, and so incomprehensible that even today, decades later, investigators, psychologists, and surviving relatives still struggle with the same question: Why?

Content Warning: This episodes discusses murder of children, gun violence and suicide. Listener discretion is advised.

References:

• Wikipedia: Ronald Gene Simmons
• The Devil of Pope County: America's Worst Family Massacre (Podcast Series)
• True Crime All The Time Podcast - Ronald Gene Simmons
• New York Times, Mass Slayer Abused Wife, Got Daughter Pregnant, In-Laws Say
• THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES - 88-7146, 01-10-1990
• Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (.gov) https://www.tncourts.gov › sites › default › files
• Simmons v. State, No. CR 89-45.
• Franz v. State, No. CR 88-76.
• Ronald Gene Simmons (1940–1990), Encyclopedia of Arkansas