The Ruthless Denver Simmons | World’s Most Evil Prisoners | Forensic Files

SAM DOUGLAS: The USA houses inmates that are ranked as some of the world's most violent and
sadistic murderers. One of them is notorious killer Denver Simmons. GEAN JOHNSON: Denver Simmons ranks at the top
of the list of evil. - This isn't a serial killer with an MO. This is a serial killer who's getting worse.
SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons is as cold-hearted as his murders were cold-blooded. - Any person that kills a woman and a 13-year-old
child is a monster. - Simmons is an extremely evil individual because he just kills people for the fun of it.
TARA J. LEWIS: Whatever serves him best is what Denver does. SAM DOUGLAS: Behind bars, Simmons' barbarous
killing streak only continued. - To kill in a cell back to back is extremely rare.
And it's pretty hard to just commit one murder. He managed to commit four. - There's no indication that any of his victims
ever did anything to wrong him. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: It was just such a callous act to just do it just because he was bored, just because they
annoyed him, and just because he didn't want to die forgotten. [theme music] SAM DOUGLAS: A total of 16,000 inmates are held
in the state of South Carolina, spread out across 21 penitentiaries. One of these prisons houses a collection
of the most terrifying inmates to ever be convicted. - Kirkland Correctional Institution
is a maximum security prison in Columbia, South Carolina. It is an institution that houses the worst of the worst.
It's most violent offenders and often the mentally ill. You have a lot of stainless steel
tables and chairs and benches. It's very noisy. It smelled, to me, very sterile.
There was a wing where everybody was fully locked down at all times in isolation,
and they were brought food. They weren't allowed to roam. SAM DOUGLAS: One of the most prolific
murderers Kirkland Correctional has ever housed is Denver Simmons. LINA HAJI: There's no indication
that any of his victims ever did anything to wrong him. Not that that would have made it any better, but that just
elevates the level of evil in Simmons. HECTOR BRAVO: The type of individual that takes advantage of mental health individuals,
or even their friend, and kills them is a severely mentally disturbed and evil person.
- He uses a broomstick to choke him against his throat and then ultimately, after passing out,
he stuck the broomstick down his ear. - I don't think there's any environment that will actually
stop Simmons from murdering. SAM DOUGLAS: Denver Simmons was born in 1981 and grew up in the city of Dayton, Tennessee.
TARA J. LEWIS: My name is Tara Lewis, and I am the sister of Denver Simmons. I'm eight years older than him.
My first memory of him is just he was a little chunky baby with no hair. We grew up in Dayton.
Back in the '90s, it was just very small country living. SAM DOUGLAS: Tara and her brother
had the same mother but different fathers. - I have some memories of Denver's dad,
and they're all bad. He was the type of person when you were around him, you felt things were off, even when you were little.
SAM DOUGLAS: When Denver was just a toddler, his father left, and their mother moved
in with her new partner, Gary. - They were together for a few years, and I have good memories from when
mom and Gary were together. And then she left. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: His mother was addicted to drugs.
Ultimately, his mother ends up leaving the home and Denver behind. TARA J. LEWIS: When mom left, we
would hear from her sometimes, and then we wouldn't hear from her. She'd be gone for weeks, months,
and nobody would know where she was. LINA HAJI: The fact that she abandoned him is letting him
know very early on in life that he cannot really count on anyone, particularly the parental figure who's supposed
to take care of him the most. That sends the message that he's not worth it. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons continued to be
raised by his mom's ex-partner, Gary, who ensured he attended school. Tara lived close by with their grandmother.
Her brother would go and visit every weekend. - We were spread out in different homes
for the most part. Denver would come to Granny's, and that's when he could of let his guard down,
and he could have fun. I was very close with Denver, and I loved him being there.
He absolutely loved Granny's spaghetti and her fudge. She would make that every weekend.
Those were good times. SAM DOUGLAS: In 1991, when Simmons turned 10, his mom, who was now sober, returned to his life
and regained custody of him. - She raised him from then on out, and at that time,
her life was completely different. She was a very good mom to him. Denver was a good kid.
He was very smart. SAM DOUGLAS: But just a couple of years later, at the age of 13, Denver began to change.
TARA J. LEWIS: Denver started running with some kids. They weren't good influences, and he wanted
to fit in with the crowd. He had been stealing, and he was selling basketball shorts out of mom's garage.
Mom was able, at that point in her life, to provide for him, so there was no reason for him to be stealing other
than I guess it was a thrill for him, like, an adrenaline rush. Mom found out about it.
He got in trouble. She knew that things were changing with him, and so she took him to see a psychiatrist.
CYNTHIA ROLDAN: He ends up getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He described being on the medication
as, like, not feeling like himself, just feeling numb. And so he did not routinely take it.
TARA J. LEWIS: That was a constant battle with him, was trying to get him to stay on his medication.
- It seems as if the family thinks that the medication is going to be the cure-all.
Well, that's not how it works. He needs nurturing. He needs therapy. He needs peer relationships.
He needs life skills. He needs all sorts of things that it doesn't seem were given to him.
SAM DOUGLAS: As a teenager, Simmons was unable to hold down a part-time job, often not showing up for work.
He preferred to spend his time shoplifting from local stores. TARA J. LEWIS: I think at that time,
it was an obsession or an addiction with him. He would steal anything and everything for no reason.
He was probably getting the money and buying pot at the time. And then I found out he started doing meth.
He was very violent when he was on drugs. Most people use drugs to hide from their feelings,
and he was using drugs to get the rage out of him. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons continued his drug-fueled lifestyle
while still living with his mom. In his early 20s, he got into a relationship with a girl,
and they had a son together. - He absolutely loved his son. He was crazy about him.
But he was violent with the girlfriend, and she left him eventually and moved to another state
up north. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons' ex took their son with her. - And I think he lost his purpose in life.
SAM DOUGLAS: In 2007, due to his drug addiction and bad behavior, 27-year-old Simmons was
kicked out of the home he shared with his mother and stepfather. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: He met a woman.
They started dating, and they lived together in Georgia. But somewhere along the lines, they
end up borrowing money from a family member and decided to move to South Carolina, where she has family.
SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons and his new girlfriend moved 350 miles away and moved in with Sheila Dodd, a relative of Simmons' girlfriend.
- Sheila Dodd was from South Carolina. She was a resident of Colleton County. She had one son.
That was William. He was 13 years old. TARA J. LEWIS: So while Denver was in South Carolina,
I lost contact with him. I didn't talk to him, didn't hear from him. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons and his girlfriend
live with Sheila and William in the small community called Round O near the town of Walterboro.
GEAN JOHNSON: Walterboro is a small town. We are about 55, 60 miles from Charleston, South Carolina.
It's a nice place to raise a family. SAM DOUGLAS: At first, the four of them all got along.
TARA J. LEWIS: They were living at her farm, and they allowed Denver to take William
back and forth to school. So they trusted him pretty well. He was welcomed there.
And then things, I guess, got bad. - Sheila told him that he needed to get a job
and help with paying bills, et cetera. And he agreed that he would try to get a job, but he never did.
She told him that if he didn't get a job, he would have to leave. LINA HAJI: Simmons feels that he is entitled to live
where he wants to live. He doesn't have to work. He doesn't have to pay his way.
People should do for him what he refuses to do for himself. He's developed the coping skill of the way to advance in life
is to take advantage of other people. SAM DOUGLAS: Nothing changed, so Sheila Dodd
asked Simmons and his girlfriend to leave the farm. TARA J. LEWIS: She went back home to her family,
and he had nowhere to go. And he couldn't come home. SAM DOUGLAS: On May 1, 2007, 45-year-old Sheila Dodd took
her now 14-year-old son, William, to school and then returned home. GEAN JOHNSON: When she came back to the house,
Denver was inside. They had words. She told him that you're not supposed to be here.
He got her gun, which was already in the house, and he shot her. [gunshot] LINA HAJI: It was pretty calculated and planned.
He knew what time she was coming home. Sheila just happened to be an easy target.
He clearly had rage towards her and was viewing her as the source of his problems,
as opposed to taking accountability for his own irresponsibility. GEAN JOHNSON: Once he shot her, he dragged her body
to the back of the yard, and he took a white sheet out and covered the body. TARA J. LEWIS: He then takes her car keys,
takes her debit card, and goes off with them. He has lunch with her debit card and then decides that he's going to go
pick up her son at school. SAM DOUGLAS: 25-year-old Simmons met William at the school and told him his mom
was at a doctor's appointment. The 14-year-old trusted Simmons, so he got into the car.
They drove to the house. GEAN JOHNSON: They walked in the house. William started walking around and realized his mom's
cell phone was in the house. I think he even seen his mom purse in the house. And he started questioning Denver, where is my mom?
She would not leave these things in here. SAM DOUGLAS: William then spotted a white sheet in the yard that, unknown to him,
was covering his mom's body. With his suspicions raised, the 14-year-old walk towards it.
GEAN JOHNSON: Denver gets the gun, walks out the front door, goes around the house, and aims at William
as he's walking towards the back of the yard, and he shoots him. This is a photograph of the Dodd family property.
William exited the back door. Simmons came out of this door, which is the front door,
walked around the house, and from somewhere in this general area, he shot William as he was walking.
I don't think William's seen this coming. He was walking away from Denver when he was shot.
He was walking away from him. LINA HAJI: It seems there's no hesitation. Shooting an innocent teenager execution-style
in the back of the head doesn't even seem to make Simmons flinch. There's a real lack of concern for human life,
a real callousness, a real lack of empathy. To him, William is simply disposable.
SAM DOUGLAS: Leaving both bodies at the house, Simmons casually drove to Walterboro to meet a friend.
Later that evening, he returned. GEAN JOHNSON: He went out and build a pile in the yard
as if he was cleaning the yards, and he put both bodies on this pile and poured gasoline all over them and set the bodies afire.
Around 3:00 AM, he went back out and realized that the body was not completely burned.
So now he's got to figure, what am I going to do with these remains? CYNTHIA ROLDAN: He ends up discarding the bodies somewhere
along South Carolina's rural roads, and then he gets back in Sheila's car, and he runs for it.
- Having gone to the extent of burning the bodies and disposing of the bodies in different areas, to me,
it goes above and beyond what's actually necessary. People who are high on psychopathy
tend to have a need for stimulation. That's one of the personality traits within the construct
of psychopathy. I suspect that Simmons is enjoying this entire process. He's still feeling in power and in control.
SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons drove for six hours through the night to the town of Fort Oglethorpe
on the Georgia-Tennessee border, 300 miles away. He abandoned Sheila's vehicle in the parking lot
of a medical center and called his mom to come and pick him up. - He visits his mother and then ultimately
checks himself into a psychiatric hospital in Tennessee. SAM DOUGLAS: Whilst he was with his mother,
Simmons had made a shocking confession. - Mom called me, and she told me that he had
killed a woman and her child. I couldn't believe that he had done that. At some point, she got him to that mental health hospital
and had him admitted. LINA HAJI: His mother is likely somebody he feels he can confess to without having
to face the repercussions. He's already setting up his future defense, which is that I'm mentally ill and therefore I'm
not accountable for my actions, and I'm going to prove that to you by checking myself
into a mental health hospital. TARA J. LEWIS: I went to my sister's, and we went to the cops.
And we told them what we knew, and they kind of look at us like we're crazy, because Dayton's a small town and stuff like that
don't normally happen. And they said they would check into it. SAM DOUGLAS: The police reached out to their counterparts
in South Carolina. GEAN JOHNSON: I was a lieutenant with the criminal investigations
division at the Colleton County Sheriff's Office. I received a call from my dispatcher about mid-morning,
and she stated that there was a young man there that told his mother that he had killed a lady
and took her car. Simmons didn't give a name as to who he had killed. Oglethorpe, Georgia, sent investigators
to the mental hospital that Denver had checked himself in. Once they got to the hospital to interview
Denver, the only thing he said, I did not tell my mother that. I didn't tell them that I killed anybody.
Due to the fact that this guy was in a mental hospital, it's unknown whether these allegations were true or not.
We had no information. We was working kind of like in the blind, so to speak. SAM DOUGLAS: The next day, an abandoned car
was discovered in the hospital parking lot in Georgia. Police were alerted. Following a vehicle database search,
Lieutenant Johnson was informed that the owner of the vehicle was Sheila Dodd from Walterboro, South Carolina.
He immediately spoke to her family. GEAN JOHNSON: She hadn't been seen for at least two
to three days. They mentioned the fact that she had a son named William. Nobody had seen him at school.
At that point, we discovered that he was also missing. SAM DOUGLAS: Lieutenant Johnson headed to Sheila's property
with an official search warrant. As soon as they entered the house, Gean and his team
noticed concerning signs. GEAN JOHNSON: We found blood spots in the kitchen leading out to the back door
onto the back porch. This is a blood spot from the crime scene that we collected at the Dodd family home
when we were doing our search. SAM DOUGLAS: The burn pile in the backyard was quickly discovered.
- We spent two, three days or so at the Dodd family home. As the agents went through that burn pile,
they located what appeared to be bone fragments. At the time, we couldn't tell whether it was human bone
or not. There was two cell phones had been found. SAM DOUGLAS: Lieutenant Johnson was now
convinced that what Denver Simmons had allegedly confessed to his mother was true.
He had killed a woman and her teenage son. - In my mind at that time, I honestly
knew he burnt the bodies. SAM DOUGLAS: Seven days after the murders were committed,
police in Georgia arrested Simmons in connection with the disappearance of both Sheila and her son, William.
CYNTHIA ROLDAN: Once he was taken into custody, he confessed to having committed the crime.
He was willing to waive extradition without issue, and he was brought back to South Carolina.
GEAN JOHNSON: They took him in an interview room, and it was a recorded interview, when he admitted
everything that he had done. I think he had enough time for this crime to sink in and begin to be remorseful for what
had happened. - He's likely never had kudos or accolades for anything else he's done in his life.
He might as well take this moment where all the attention is on him and make the most out of it.
This really points to narcissistic traits within him. This is his time to shine.
This is his time to brag. This is his time to boast. He's reveling in this attention.
SAM DOUGLAS: Three days later, Simmons willfully led investigators to the locations of the remains.
GEAN JOHNSON: We're at the first crime scene that we found the first part of the remains of Sheila Dodd.
And the area is very remote. It's a hunting area. There's nobody that actually comes down this road.
Once I got here, along with other investigators, what we found was it looked like part
of maybe the torso of Ms. Dodd and maybe a leg, thigh, and other remains. We bagged everything, photographed,
and we loaded up into the coroner's van. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons had dumped the remains at around 3:00 AM
on the night of the murders. GEAN JOHNSON: This is the second location. There was a cooler and a couple of buckets,
and they both had remains in them. They was charred so bad we couldn't identify whether it was male or female.
SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons was charged with the murders of both Sheila and William Dodd.
He was sent to the Colleton County Detention Center to await trial. The murders made the headlines.
TARA J. LEWIS: I don't know that it truly sunk in until you start seeing clips of the news where
they had found the bodies. It was hard to process. It feels like I'm talking about a book
that I read about somebody else's life. It's just really weird. I can't imagine the impact it had on William
and Sheila's family. They had to be livid with my brother and probably the entire family.
I mean-- and I don't blame them. I would be too. GEAN JOHNSON: Sheila was very close to her family.
They was very heartbroken. They was in turmoil. They couldn't believe that this had happened.
As far as the motive, why he would have killed William, I don't know. But for killing Sheila, I think his motive was the fact
that she put him out of the house and wouldn't allow him to come back. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: Why kill the woman
who opened her home to you. But even then, why kill her son? Just the fact that he goes and he picks him up.
You had the opportunity to let the boy live, and you chose not to. SAM DOUGLAS: Three years later, Denver Simmons, now aged 29,
faced a judge at Colleton County Courthouse for the murders of 45-year-old Sheila Dodd and
her 14-year-old son, William. - Initially, there was some question about whether he was competent to stand trial, given
his mental illness history and the fact that he was found at a mental illness facility,
but a judge ultimately determines that he is. SAM DOUGLAS: Initially, prosecutors
were seeking the death penalty, but instead, a plea deal was struck. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: Simmons pled guilty to the crimes.
He ends up accepting the deal and in turn gets sentenced to spending the rest of his life
in prison. TARA J. LEWIS: The judge made sure, you do know you're never going to see the light of day again.
You're never going to not be in jail. And he knew. I was thankful that he pleaded guilty,
that he didn't try to get out of it for insanity or anything like that. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons was sent to Kirkland Correctional
Facility in South Carolina. Although the judge had passed a full sentence and Simmons hadn't pled mental illness,
he was placed into the mental health wing so doctors could assess him due to his
previous bipolar diagnosis. HECTOR BRAVO: When an inmate enters the system and they're flagged as having mental issues,
they will be designated to go to those facilities that are able to provide them with the care and resources
to address those mental health needs. LINA HAJI: Mental health in prisons is considered a desirable place to be.
You have access to medications. You have access to therapists. Sometimes you get your own cell.
Sometimes you're avoiding conflicts and problems with people who are in general population.
SAM DOUGLAS: Once incarcerated, Simmons displayed suicidal tendencies. - He attempted to you explore the idea of self-harm,
and he just admitted to it being too hard to kill himself, that it hurt. - The way to get what he wants in prison is through
behaviors such as self-injury. That could be whether he wants more attention, whether he
wants to talk to a therapist, maybe spend time with a female who's working in corrections.
Self-mutilation in a correctional facility is a very powerful, manipulative tool.
SAM DOUGLAS: For the next seven years, Simmons received additional help for his mental health,
ending up in the intermediate care services unit at Kirkland. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: Denver was under a crisis intervention
program, which involves a little more of an involved care to ensure that he's getting the needed medication and
the needed treatment, whether that's psychological or psychiatric treatment. SAM DOUGLAS: In 2017, Simmons, now age 35,
was working in the prison as a ward keeper. HECTOR BRAVO: Ward keepers are tasked
with keeping inventory of the cleaning supplies and distributing it to the other inmates.
You would have access to other areas and tools of the prison that a normal inmate would not.
SAM DOUGLAS: Working alongside Simmons was 25-year-old Jacob Philip. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: Jacob Philip, he
had pled guilty to killing his girlfriend and her eight-year-old daughter. He was also somebody who was mentally ill.
And at that time, when he went through the trial process, it was determined that he could simply not
be given the death penalty, given his mental capacities, and so he was sentenced to life in prison
at Kirkland Correctional. - It is extremely common for convicted murderers to be
given jobs in the prison. With the mentally ill inmates, it's also common because you don't want
to be violating their rights. Simmons and Philips were chosen as ward keepers because they have minimal to no disciplinary actions
against them. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: They were able to keep their doors unlocked for the majority of the day as they roam the wing, providing
others with their supplies. SAM DOUGLAS: On April 7th, the day in the mental health wing, with its 139 inmates,
began like any other. But at 6:00 in the morning, Simmons and Philip hatched a brutal plan,
seemingly out of the blue. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: They had been discussing ways to pass time,
and they decided that they were going to attempt to kill as many people as they could.
Their plan was to lure as many prisoners as possible to Denver Simmons' cell and kill
them as quickly as possible. LINA HAJI: The friendship between Philips and Simmons
was very transactional. It was almost the perfect storm of two probably psychopathic
individual inmates who can now help each other further their criminal activity. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons and Philip targeted their first victim.
CYNTHIA ROLDAN: The first inmate was John King. He'd been in prison for theft, but
he was a nuisance to Denver Simmons and Jacob Philip. And so they lured him to the cell
with the promise of coffee. Philip walks him in and comes up from behind him and chokes him with his arm until he passes
out and ultimately dies. And then he pushed his body under his bunk. SAM DOUGLAS: The deadly duo immediately
moved on to their next target. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: The next prisoner that Denver and Jacob end up luring
ends up being William Scruggs. They had known each other from working with each other.
He was waiting in line to go to the bathroom, and he lures him under the pretense of getting a cookie.
- Simmons used an extension cord from a lamp and wrapped it around Scruggs' neck while he was facing him.
He ended up choking him out. He also got a towel and hung it from the bunk to conceal Scruggs' corpse.
LINA HAJI: It's such a depraved, sick, and twisted way to lure their victims with such menial things
like coffee and cookies. This is just a game. The first part of the game is, how do we lure the person?
The second part of the game is the actual murder. The third part of the game is concealing a body.
It's almost like they've come up with a checklist of how they're supposed to execute these crimes.
SAM DOUGLAS: The two correctional officers working on the wing had no idea what was happening,
due to the fact that between them, they were overseeing 139 inmates. Simmons had also done his best to put them off the scent.
HECTOR BRAVO: Simmons hung a flap over the narrow window in his room, in this case, a trash bag with the words scrawled,
"Using the restroom. Don't bother." CYNTHIA ROLDAN: The third prisoner that they lured in
was Jimmy Ham, and they lured him in on the pretense that they had drugs. So they invited him over to share.
- They advised Ham to cut the tablets up so they can snort it. Philip attempted to pounce on him, but he slipped.
A struggle ensued, so Simmons grabbed a broom handle and hit Ham over the head twice.
And in order to silence him, he shoved the broom handle down his throat. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: At this point, they were at three prisoners.
With each one, they kept killing them and then moving them by their bunk bed or under the bunk bed or next to each other.
SAM DOUGLAS: Their killing frenzy continued. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: They decided to target Jason Kelly,
who was serving 15 years. And what was different about Jason is that Denver considered him a friend,
and yet they just decided he was going to lure him in as well. They go up to Jason.
Hey, come on over. I got to show you something over at my bunk. And so as Jason is peeking behind the sheets,
he finds the bodies. Denver pounces on him and uses the broomstick to press it on his throat until he ultimately passes out.
And not knowing whether he was conscious or dead, he decided to ram the broomstick down his ear.
LINA HAJI: Now it's not just enough to murder. It's not just enough to choke somebody out.
Now we have to murder somebody who we consider a friend. It's almost like an alcohol abuser or somebody
who's addicted to drugs. The tolerance level has to increase. And so the level of depravity and the sadism
has to go a little bit higher. - Once Kelly had passed, they decided that they just were done hiding the bodies,
and so Simmons turns to Jacob, says, hey, who do you want to do next? And Jacob Philip basically says that he's kind of bored
and he doesn't want to do it anymore. And so they both just kind of nonchalantly
agreed that they're done with it, and they're done with their killing spree. SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons walked straight
up to one of the correctional officers and told them to look in his cell. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: And that's where
they find Kelly, who's lying on the ground uncovered, then ultimately the three others
who were behind the bunk. - Philips and Simmons admitted that they planned the murders,
and they displayed no remorse. LINA HAJI: It's really a cowardly move here. It's very easy on a mental health
unit in prison for the high-functioning inmates to take advantage of the low-functioning inmates,
and that's exactly what happened here. They were vulnerable people who were easy prey.
SAM DOUGLAS: The crime scene was locked down. - So for a correctional officer to deal with numerous inmates
passing away on their shifts, it's extremely hectic. You identify the suspects, escort the suspects,
ensure that there's brown paper bags on their hands so they don't wash their hands or get rid of any DNA,
evidence preservation. You place the inmate, the suspect, in administrative segregation for the murder,
and then ultimately, you'll call the coroner. - When I found out that he had killed four more people,
I was in disbelief, shock. I can't wrap my mind around what he was thinking, why he did what he did.
SAM DOUGLAS: 35-year-old Denver Simmons was transferred to Lieber Correctional Facility in Ridgeville,
where he remained until a trial date could be set. And a self-serving motive for the murders
was starting to emerge. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: To be sentenced to life in prison and die basically forgotten is a worse sentence than death.
As people forget you, as the system forgets you, as reporters forget you, and everything moves on,
becomes one of those situations where, what do I do next? And in Denver's case, it was, I am bored,
and what a way to get attention again than to get rid of these people who annoy the heck out of me.
- I believe at that moment he probably did want the death penalty. I know he had tried to kill himself before in prison,
but he's even said it's hard to do to yourself. So he thought by doing that, he would be killing himself
by the hand of the state. - If Simmons really wanted to take his own life, he could have done it.
That simply wasn't the case. I don't know that he has the capability of being suicidal because his ego and his will
to not only live, but to inflict harm on others is what keeps him going. SAM DOUGLAS: Two months after the murders,
Simmons gave an interview to reporters where he explained his actions along with Jacob Philips.
LINA HAJI: He's almost saying that like he's reading a recipe. What's interesting about psychopathy is that a lot
of the times they learn to mimic human emotions. He knows that what he did is going to be viewed as bad,
and that it's horrible that he knew them, and that some of them trusted them. But I don't think he buys what he's saying.
- Denver doesn't process like we do. He doesn't feel like we do. He is very self-serving.
SAM DOUGLAS: Simmons ultimately admitted that his goal was to die, and that he murdered in order
to receive the death penalty. Despite this, he was doubtful of his future sentencing
before he even went to trial. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: Typically, this kind of action in South Carolina would carry the death sentence,
but given their mental illness, it is far less likely for a judge to sentence a prisoner with this type of medical history
to a death sentence. LINA HAJI: It's a very odd way of Simmons rationalizing his behavior.
You know, if you're suicidal, that doesn't equate to homicidal. I'm not saying they can't coexist,
but I don't think that's the case here with Simmons. SAM DOUGLAS: In November 2019, Simmons and Jacob Philip
were sentenced to four life sentences each for the murders of John King, William Scruggs,
Jimmy Ham, and Jason Kelly. TARA J. LEWIS: I went into the courthouse in Columbia.
It was very short. There was no emotion in that courtroom from him at all. Like, it was just very, did you do this?
Yes, I did it. And that was the end of it. No feeling from him. SAM DOUGLAS: The murders of the four inmates
remains a shocking tragedy. - The hardest thing was that the majority of them were going to reintegrate into society.
It's just heartbreaking for them, for their families, for the people who thought my brother,
my cousin, my dad is coming home in just a few years, and now he's not. TARA J. LEWIS: The person that killed
all these people feels like a different person than the brother that I know. I've never stopped loving my brother, ever.
I had pushed him away. He pushed himself away out of my life. I'm still angry at him.
I think I'll always be angry at him. SAM DOUGLAS: Denver Simmons is now being held in Perry Correctional Institution,
a maximum security prison in South Carolina. - He's incapable of taking responsibility for his actions.
He's callous. He's manipulative. He lacks remorse. He lived a parasitic lifestyle.
These are all traits that, when you put them together, really make up what we call a psychopath
or what we would refer to as evil. CYNTHIA ROLDAN: I struggle with the word evil
because he was mentally ill, but his actions were definitely evil. Because taking anyone's life can be
considered nothing but evil. - As long as he's alive and able, I think he will always be a danger to other people.
I don't want to believe that he's evil, but I know that there's evil in him. There's no doubt.
You would have to be an evil person to kill six people. [theme music]

Denver Simmons is as dangerous as he is ruthless. Incarcerated for murdering a woman and her 14-year-old son, his violence only spiraled further once he was behind bars.

World’s Most Evil Prisoners is a chilling exploration of the terrifying offenders sentenced to a lifetime behind bars. Locked away, yet still driven by their twisted desires, these inmates delve into acts of torture, abduction, and homicide. Prepare to confront the criminals from the darkest facets of humanity.

Brief Summary

Denver Simmons, a notorious killer, committed multiple murders, including those of Sheila Dodd and her son, showcasing his violent tendencies in prison.

Key points

The Rise of Denver Simmons. Denver Simmons, a notorious killer, escalates from troubled youth to a cold-blooded murderer.
The Murders of Sheila and William Dodd. Simmons brutally murders Sheila Dodd and her son William, shocking the community.
A Shocking Confession. Simmons confesses to his mother about the murders, setting off a police investigation.
Trial and Sentencing. Simmons pleads guilty to the murders and is sentenced to life in prison.
Brutal Plan Hatched. Simmons and Philip decide to kill as many inmates as possible.
The First Victim. Simmons and Philip lure John King to his death with a promise of coffee.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He just kills people for the fun of it.

Sam Douglas on Simmons' motivations

0:43WatchFeb 19, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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