In the quiet community of Dover, Arkansas, the Christmas season of 1987 was shattered by a horrific act of violence that claimed the life of 24-year-old Sheila McNulty and many of her family members. On December 26, 1987, Sheila, her husband Dennis Raymond McNulty, 33, and their two young children were among the victims of a killing spree orchestrated by her own father, Ronald Gene Simmons.
The tragedy unfolded at the Simmons family home on Mockingbird Hill.
Sheila and her family had arrived to celebrate the holidays, unaware that a gruesome scene had already taken place. Her father, a retired Air Force sergeant, had begun his rampage days earlier, systematically murdering several family members. When Sheila and her family arrived, they too became victims of his inexplicable rage. Sheila was shot and killed by her father.
In the days that followed, the full extent of Simmons' crimes came to light. In total, he had murdered 14 members of his family in what would be described as one of the worst instances of familicide in U.S. history. After killing his family, Simmons drove to the nearby town of Russellville, where he killed two more people and wounded four others in a series of shootings before surrendering to police.
Ronald Gene Simmons was arrested and charged with multiple counts of capital murder. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for his crimes. He waived his right to appeal and was executed by lethal injection on June 25, 1990. The motive behind his brutal actions remained a subject of speculation, leaving a lasting scar on the community and the surviving relatives of the victims.
