Bobby Joe Long Victims: Serial Killer Executed In Florida

Bobby Joe Long, the infamous serial killer who terrorized Florida with his killing spree over three decades ago, was executed Thursday inside the death chamber at the state prison. Long's execution with a lethal injection was witnessed by a woman who survived one of his attacks and helped in his capture.

“We thank God that this day has finally arrived,” Lula Williams, the mother of a victim, Chanel Williams, said. “Now, after 35 years, we can say we had some peace of mind knowing that justice has been served.”

For eight months in 1984, Long terrified the Tampa Bay area as women began showing up dead, their bodies often left in gruesome positions. Most of the victims were strangled, while some had their throats slit. The 65-year-old was executed for the 1984 murder of Michelle Denise Simms, a former beauty pageant contestant from California. However, she was only one of his many victims.

Long was convicted of killing eight women in the 1980s. He actually confessed to 10 murders, and sexually assaulted many women.

List of Long's known victims:

• Artiss Ann Wick, 20 – killed on March 27, 1984
• Ngeun Thi Long, 19 – killed on May 13, 1984
• Michelle Denise Simms, 22 – killed on May 27, 1984
• Elizabeth Loudenback, 22 – killed on June 8, 1984
• Vicky Marie Elliott, 21 – killed on Sept. 7, 1984
• Chanel Devoun Williams, 18 – killed on Oct. 7, 1984
• Karen Beth Dinsfriend, 28 – killed on Oct. 14, 1984
• Kimberly Kyle Hopps, 22 – killed on Oct. 31, 1984
• Lisa McVey, 17 – assaulted on Nov. 3, 1984; survived
• Virginia Lee Johnson, 18 – killed on Nov. 6, 1984
• Kim Marie Swann, 21 – killed on Nov. 11, 1984

Law enforcement had few clues into Long's brutal killing spree until the case of McVey, now Lisa Noland, who witnessed the execution. Noland sat in the front row at Thursday's execution of Long, the Associated Press reported.

"I wanted to be the first person he saw. Unfortunately, he didn't open his eyes," McVey said, adding: "The peace that came over me is a remarkable feeling."

McVey was 17 in 1984 when she was abducted and raped by Long, but he released her. After raping McVey at gunpoint and 26 hours of captivity, he drove her home blindfolded. "I was going to do whatever I could to get out of that situation. I wasn't going to allow anyone else to take anything from me," McVey recalled, adding that she took notes of his features and was alert to clues which led to the capture of Long. "I'm no longer a victim. I'm a survivor," she shared.