Ronald Gene Simmons Sr. (July 15, 1940 – June 25, 1990) was an American mass murderer who killed 16 people over a week-long period in Arkansas in 1987 and wounded several others.

A retired military serviceman, Simmons murdered fourteen members of his family, including a daughter he had sexually abused and the child he had fathered with her, as well as a former co-worker, and a stranger; he also wounded four others.

During his 20-year military career, Simmons was awarded a Bronze Star Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross for his service as an airman, and the Airforce Ribbon for Excellent Marksmanship.

On April 3, 1981, Simmons was being investigated by the Cloudcroft, New Mexico Department of Human Services for allegations that he had fathered a child with his 17-year-old daughter, Sheila, whom he had been sexually abusing.

As a result of the home's lack of plumbing, Simmons ordered his family to dig three cesspits, one of which would eventually be where he disposed of some of their bodies.

He quit a position as an accounts receivable clerk at Woodline Motor Freight after numerous reports of inappropriate sexual advances.

On the morning of December 22, he first killed his wife Rebecca and eldest son Gene by bludgeoning them with a crowbar and shooting them with a .22-caliber pistol.

Simmons also shot and killed his oldest daughter, Sheila (whom he had sexually abused), and her husband, Dennis McNulty.

The bodies of Trae and Michael were wrapped in plastic sheeting and left in abandoned cars at the end of the lane.

After the murders, Simmons drove to a Sears store in Russellville, where he retrieved Christmas gifts that he had previously ordered for his family.

"[13] The trial court conducted a hearing concerning Simmons' competence to waive further proceedings, and concluded that his decision was knowing and intelligent.

On May 31, 1990, Arkansas governor (later President) Bill Clinton signed Simmons' execution warrant, and on June 25, he died by the method he had chosen, lethal injection, in the Cummins Unit.

[15] The execution commenced at 9:02 p.m. CDT and he was declared dead at 9:19 p.m.[16] None of his surviving relatives would claim the body, and he was buried in a potter's field in Lincoln County, Arkansas.