Beoria Abraham Simmons II was born on May 17, 1954, in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was a retired Army sergeant. Not much is known about his early life. As a young man, he went to Spalding College in Louisville and got a bachelor's degree in social work. After college, a supervisor introduced him to his sister-in-law, and they went on a date. Six months before Simmons was arrested in 1983, he got a job as a counselor at a halfway house. His peers thought he was a good person, but a psychiatrist who evaluated him before his trial diagnosed him with mild depression.

On May 18, 1981, a fisherman found the body of 15-year-old Robin L. Barnes in a marsh in south Jefferson County. Barnes was a former middle school cheerleader known for running away and hitchhiking. She was fully clothed when found. The police interviewed about 75 people who knew her. They found a single pubic hair on her coat, suggesting she might have been raped.

Investigators collected three bullet casings from under her body and sent them to the Kentucky State Police Regional Crime Lab. Experts found that the bullets came from a .360 caliber pistol. Detective Pat Conkling checked three local gun shops and looked into customers who had bought or owned a .360 caliber pistol, but everyone had an alibi. With few leads, the case was featured on Crimestoppers, which brought in many tips, but none led anywhere. The case went cold.

On March 25, 1982, over ten months after Barnes' murder, a roofer found the body of 29-year-old Shannon House in a wooded area near Iroquois Park in southern Louisville. House was twice Barnes' age and was shot once, while Barnes was shot three times. The murder scenes were 12 miles apart. Both women had been raped, but there was no evidence linking the cases until police found a bullet casing at House's scene that matched the .360 caliber pistol used in Barnes' murder.

On March 12, 1983, three boys found the body of 39-year-old Nancy Bettman in a creek by a golf course. Bettman had been shot once in the back of the head and was partially nude. Police suspected her murder was related to the others, and ballistics confirmed it.

A profile of the suspected killer was made. Psychologists believed the killer grew up in a religious family with a strict father. They also thought the killer was well-known and respected in the community. The killer's pattern of striking once a year suggested he might have been traveling and killing elsewhere when not in Louisville. Detectives contacted police departments nationwide but found no similar cases.

On June 11, 1983, a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped by a heavy-set black man at gunpoint and taken to Iroquois Park. She managed to stab him with a pocketknife and escaped. She reported the attack to the police, who also learned about a man, Beoria Abraham Simmons II, at Humana Hospital with a knife wound. Simmons claimed he had been robbed and stabbed by hitchhikers. The girl identified Simmons and his car, a 1975 Chrysler Cordoba. Simmons confessed to the murders after police found a .360 caliber pistol in his car, which matched the murder weapon. He claimed the killings were accidental.

On June 10, 1982, Phyllis Downes was attacked at a bus stop by a black man with a gun. He tried to force her into his car, but she escaped. She described her attacker as a heavy-set black man with no facial hair. Police arrested Paul Davis Thomas, who fit the description and owned a similar car. He was convicted of the crime and sentenced to three years. After Simmons' arrest, it was discovered that Simmons owned a similar car and gun. Thomas was given lie detector tests, which he passed. Downes later identified Simmons as her attacker, leading to Thomas' release.

Simmons went to trial 20 months later. He admitted to killing the three women but claimed insanity. A psychologist diagnosed him with depression but not insanity. Simmons was found guilty and sentenced to death. In 2010, his sentence was reduced to life in prison after an appeal, and he waived his right to parole.