Bio 

Michael Edward Long was born on July 23, 1962, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He spent much of his life in the Muskogee area. By 1987, he was working at a flower shop in Muskogee, where he met Sheryl Sandra Graber. Long became sexually interested in Graber, but she rejected his advances. On April 7, 1987, he went to her home armed with a knife and a .22-caliber pistol. He parked away from the house and entered after Graber let him inside.

During the trial, Long’s defense described him as emotionally troubled. His attorneys argued that he struggled with depression, personality problems, low self-image, paranoid thinking, drug abuse, and alcohol use. They claimed these issues contributed to his actions.

After his conviction, Long also blamed depression, drugs, and alcohol for the murders. While in custody, he said he had become religious. In the years before his execution, he chose to stop fighting his death sentence and waived his remaining appeals, saying he did not want to delay his execution any longer.

Murder Story

The murders happened on April 7, 1987, at the Muskogee, Oklahoma home of Sheryl Sandra Graber. Long and Graber knew each other because they worked together at a flower shop. Long was attracted to her, but she was not interested in him. On the evening of the murders, Long went to Graber’s home armed with a 10-inch locking-blade knife and a .22-caliber pistol. He parked away from the house and went to the door. Graber let him inside. Long later admitted that he went there intending to force sexual contact “one way or another.”

When Graber rejected him, Long forced her to the floor. She screamed, and he stabbed her. Graber managed to reach the front door and call for help. Two neighbors heard her and came toward the house, but Long pulled her back inside and shut the door. When the neighbors reached the door, Long told them that Graber was drunk and that everything was all right. He then continued the attack.

Graber was stabbed 31 times. Pieces of the knife blade broke off in her body during the attack. She was also shot in the abdomen and in the head. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals later found that the evidence supported the aggravating circumstance that her murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.

Long also killed Graber’s son, Andrew. Andrew was shot and stabbed after witnessing the attack on his mother. Long later admitted that he killed the child to eliminate a witness and prevent arrest or prosecution. After the murders, Long was captured nearby. He had parked his car about two blocks from Graber’s home. Prosecutors later charged him with two counts of first-degree murder in Muskogee County.

At trial, Long’s defense argued that the murders were committed in the heat of passion and were connected to his mental condition. His attorney told the jury that Long had a paranoid thought process, believed people were against him, and had personality disorders. The defense also presented evidence that Long was depressed. However, the jury found him guilty of both murders and recommended the death penalty for each count. The trial court sentenced him to death.

Long appealed his conviction and sentence. In 1994, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the judgment and death sentences. The court ruled that the evidence supported the aggravating factors found by the jury, including that Sheryl Graber’s murder was especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel, and that Andrew Graber was killed to prevent lawful arrest or prosecution.

In the years after his conviction, Long chose to stop delaying his execution. He waived further appeals, although he had changed his mind more than once before the final decision. In December 1997, a Muskogee County judge found him competent to abandon his appeals. Michael Edward Long was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma shortly after midnight on February 20, 1998.