The Execution of Bobby Joe Long: FOX 13 Live from Florida State Prison, May 23, 2019

Name: The Execution of Bobby Joe Long: FOX 13 Live from Florida State Prison, May 23, 2019
Uploaded: 2019-05-24T00:00:00Z
Duration: 5 min 32 s
Description: On the night Bobby Joe Long was executed, FOX 13 reported live from Florida State Prison: victims' relatives, survivors Linda Nuttall and Lisa McVey Noland, and a reporter who watched from the witness room.

On the night Bobby Joe Long was executed, FOX 13 reported live from Florida State Prison: victims' relatives, survivors Linda Nuttall and Lisa McVey Noland, and a reporter who watched from the witness room.

Subject: Bobbie Joe Long
Recorded: May 23, 2019
Runtime: 5:32

Content warning: Concerns the rape and murder of women and the abduction and rape of a 17-year-old girl, and describes an execution by lethal injection as witnessed by a reporter. No graphic detail of the murders.

The Interview

This is a 5-minute-32-second FOX 13 (WTVT, Tampa) news segment broadcast live from outside Florida State Prison in Raiford on the evening of May 23, 2019, shortly after Bobby Joe Long was executed. Reporter Evan Axelbank's report includes relatives of murdered women and survivor Linda Nuttall. Reporter Lloyd Sowers, one of about six reporters in the witness room, then describes the execution and plays part of his interview with survivor Lisa McVey Noland, recorded after she watched it. Long himself is not heard; the report says that when he was asked for a final statement his only word was "no."

Historical Context

During 1984 Bobby Joe Long killed at least ten women in the Tampa Bay area. He also raped women who survived, among them Linda Nuttall, attacked in her home after she placed a classified advertisement (as the report states). On November 3, 1984, he abducted 17-year-old Lisa McVey and released her about 26 hours later; her information helped investigators identify him, and he was arrested on November 16, 1984. In 1985 he pleaded guilty to eight murders and to her abduction and rape, and he was sentenced to death for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms. Governor Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant on April 23, 2019.

Circumstances

Long was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on May 23, 2019. According to the report, the drugs were administered at 6:43 p.m. and he was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m., after the U.S. Supreme Court denied three requests for a stay; his lawyers had argued in earlier appeals that the lethal injection drugs were incompatible with his epilepsy. Sowers says about 25 victims' relatives watched with him.

What the Interview Covers

A relative of Chanel Williams, one of the murdered women, says: "If I could have had my way, he would have been executed for every person['s] life he took," and that his death "was too easy." Another relative urges families in the same position to "stay vigilant." Linda Nuttall, whom Long raped in her home after she placed a classified ad, says she wanted to represent the victims who did not survive, "because I know how lucky I was." Sowers describes a slight tremor of the lips and right arm, three heavy breaths, and Long's face turning ashen. Lisa McVey Noland describes her reaction as relief, says she had not believed the day would come, and says she watched for the blanket on his chest to stop rising and falling. Sowers adds that she planned to go home and hug the oak tree where Long had released her in 1984. The segment ends with the death row count: 341 that morning, 340 that night.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It records the night of the execution as the local station reported it: a witness's account from inside the chamber, relatives of the murdered women, and two survivors of Long's attacks speaking within hours of his death.

Archival Importance

WTVT reported on Long from his first court appearance in November 1984 to his execution.

Important Caveats

Long is not heard in this video. The anchor's "murdered eight women" and the YouTube title's "after 34 years" are the station's wording: Long pleaded guilty to eight murders and at least ten are generally attributed to him; 34 years counts from his 1985 death sentence. The statements of relatives and survivors are their own views. One short line ("One life will never make up for another") is not attributed in the report. The page should not add the name of Long's former wife, who is mentioned but not named.

Anchor: One of Tampa Bay's worst serial killers has paid with his life. Bobby Joe Long, who murdered eight women in 1984, was executed tonight at the Florida State Prison. He was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank joining us now in Raiford with the story. Evan?

Evan Axelbank: Kelly, after all, after 34 years, it took only 12 minutes for Bobby Joe Long to pay for what he has done. He had no visitors today. Not family, not clergy, just people here who couldn't wait for him to die.

Evan Axelbank: Bobby Joe Long's final word was "no," in that he had nothing to say before the state levied its punishment. Family of Chanel Williams didn't want to hear more. They wanted him to feel more.

Relative Of Chanel Williams: If I could have had my way, he would have been executed for every person['s] life he took. It was too easy. He was too comfortable.

Evan Axelbank: After a final meal of roast beef, bacon and fries, the lethal chemicals went into Bobby Joe Long at 6:43. He was dead by 6:55, his final moments seen by over two dozen relatives of those he raped and maimed. They stood together after, forever bound by the acts of the horrible man.

Relative Of A Victim: And anybody that is in our shoes in the near future, please stay vigilant. Don't stop until you get it done.

Evan Axelbank: Long's end was only briefly spared after the U.S. Supreme Court denied three appeals from his attorneys to stay the execution. They had claimed in previous appeals that the lethal injection wouldn't jive with his epilepsy. He died quietly, just a head twitch shortly after going under.

Unidentified Speaker: One life will never make up for another and will never be an equalizer.

Evan Axelbank: Several of his victims survived, including Linda Nuttall. He raped her in her home after she placed a classified ad. She said that seeing Bobby Joe Long in the flesh was hard, but made easier because his end came alone, as she stood with her husband and those whose pain she shares.

Linda Nuttall: I would love to represent those, and those victims that did not survive, because I know how lucky I was.

Evan Axelbank: Long's ex-wife was not here, but she did send a message through somebody who was here, saying that she was sorry for all the pain that all these families have been through. FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers was one of just about six reporters to be inside of the death chamber to observe the proceedings. Lloyd, can you describe what you saw leading up to the moment of death, then the moment itself and the aftermath?

Lloyd Sowers: Evan, I was there with about 25 family members of victims. They all were waiting for the curtain to go up to show the death chamber. They wanted to hear what Bobby Joe Long would say. As you described, he had no last words. They began to administer the drugs. I saw a slight tremor in his lips, and there was a tremor in his hand, and in a few minutes it was over. Everybody was very respectful. Uh, everybody got up, very reverently filed out. To a person, they told me that they were so relieved that this is over after 35 years.

Evan Axelbank: And Lloyd, after all of your years covering this story, on this case, you've come to know Lisa Noland. She is a sheriff's deputy now. She was only 17 years old when Bobby Joe Long kidnapped her and raped her. She was here today. Talk about your conversation with her.

Lloyd Sowers: Yeah, she was 17 years old, on her way home from work at a donut shop, when he attacked her, brutally raped her, abducted her. She managed to escape him, to get to detectives and then give them clues that ultimately led to the capture of Bobby Joe Long. She was here today, and here's what, some of what she told me.

Lloyd Sowers: You witnessed the execution today. What was your reaction?

Lisa McVey Noland: My reaction was relief. Um, all the years I have fought, and the families of the victims [unclear: "fought" / "fault"], to get the death warrant signed. Um, it's surreal. It's, it, the day came. It's here. I really, honestly didn't think it would ever happen.

Lloyd Sowers: What was going through your mind when you were watching the execution?

Lisa McVey Noland: What was going through my mind is, when [unclear: "is stuck" / "he's stuck"], when is he gonna stop breathing? I mean, I hate to say that, but when is the, the blanket on him gonna stop rising and falling on his chest? That's what was going through my mind.

Lloyd Sowers: She waited a very long time for this. And she was let off, when she escaped, [unclear: "a big tree" / "at a big tree"]. Bobby Joe Long left her off at a tree, an oak tree, at Rome and Hillsborough in Tampa. She says when she goes home, she's gonna give that tree a hug, and then she's going to cry, as this closes a very, very terrible chapter in her life.

Evan Axelbank: And Lloyd, you said all you saw was just one slight twitch, right, when just about a minute into the procedure, is that right?

Lloyd Sowers: Yeah. One slight twitch of the, of the lips, one slight tremor in the right arm, a little bit, three heavy breaths, and then that was the end. He, his face turned ashen. The state proclaimed that the sentence had been carried out, the curtain went down, and that was the end of this execution and the end of Bobby Joe Long.

Evan Axelbank: FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers, thank you so much, Lloyd, one of just six reporters to be inside of that death chamber. Kelly, today opened with 341 on Florida's death row. Now there are 340. Back to you.

Anchor: All right. Thank you, Evan and Lloyd, for your reporting, and we will hear more from you later.

Unattributed: Thank you. [05:32: clip ends.] ---