Killer Profile: Bobby Joe Long

This monster is known to have murdered ten women over a period of months, almost certainly no more than ten, as though that isn't enough. Long was a serial rapist as well as a serial killer, and herein we hear from Lisa McVey, the woman he released, incredibly. At the time she was a teenager; he snatched her off her bicycle as she rode home in the small hours and held her for over a day, raping her repeatedly, promised to release her, then did. Reporting her abduction and violation promptly - as do most such victims - fibres on her body tied her kidnapper to several crime scenes of less fortunate women. This spelt the end of the road for Long.

If he kept his promise, Lisa kept the promise she made herein and undoubtedly a long time before, namely that she would be there to watch him die. Long was expected to be sent to the electric chair, but after thirty-four years on death row - longer by far than any of his victims had lived - he was executed by lethal injection on May 23, 2019, seven years after this documentary was made.

Apart from the remarkable Lisa, the dramatis personae of this offering is very disappointing, consisting not only of one of the men who tracked Long down, but a gaggle of psychobabblers including Jim Clemente, who is better known as a lawyer but is presented here as a criminal profiler. Another, far less distinguished contributor is Laura Richards who apparently thinks it is only murder when a man kills a woman rather than vice versa, but that's another story.

Oh yes, and we also hear from the unrepentant Young himself who can't hide his smirks from the camera. He won't be laughing so much where he is now.