Paula Sims: A Victim?
- Gina Westfall
- Mar 25
- 8 min read
The very first story on this podcast was called the Brighton Baby Killers. I talked about two women, one being Paula Sims. She gained notoriety in the 1980s for her crimes, so much so that they even made a movie about her. Since that time, there have been updates to this case. Let's talk about it.
Paula Sims was born Paula Blew in May of 1959 in Missouri. Paula had a rather normal upbringing with her parents happily married and two older brothers. However, that changed when Paula’s older brother Randall died in a car accident. Paula was very close with her brother and was reportedly devastated by this loss.
However, by summer of 1986 Paula was married to Robert Sims. Robert was a graduate of Alton High School and worked at the Alton Box Board company. His background was not without blemish. In my research I found mention of a shop lifting charge and allegations of misconduct from a former employer. Robert had also been married once before, but his former wife divorced him due to “extreme and repeated mental cruelty”. However, he didn't have any major crimes on his record.
On June 5th, 1986, Paula gave birth to the couple’s first child, Loralei Marie Sims. Those close to the couple described some strange circumstances following the birth of their daughter. For instance, it is reported that Robert would not allow Paula to sleep in their marital bed after the birth of their daughter, so Paula and the baby slept in the finished basement of their home. Robert often worked nights and claimed the sleeping arrangements were to accommodate his sleeping schedule.
In fact, he was working the night shift on June 17th, 1986, when Paula pounded on the door of her elderly neighbor. She sobbed as she told her neighbor that someone had stolen her baby. The Jersey County police department soon arrived to investigate the alleged kidnapping. Paula claimed that a masked gunman entered her home and forced her to lay down on the floor. She claimed the gunman then kidnapped her newborn daughter. The police immediately had doubts about the story and began a massive search for baby Loralei.
Many things about Loralei’s disappearance didn’t sit quite right with investigators. First, the scene showed no indications of a struggle. Who would even know that there was a newborn in the house? Then, the next morning, divers were getting ready to search a pond near the home when investigators suggested Paula come to the station for a formal statement. Her response was “No, I want to be here when they bring her body up”. She quickly realized what she said and rephrased “No that’s not what I mean. I mean my baby is alive and I want to be here when they bring her on to the porch”. Despite this shocking statement, the divers did not find anything that day. Investigators strongly suspected Robert and Paula of foul play and heavily questioned the couple, prompting them to hire an attorney.
On June 24th, 1986, the search for Loralei was still in action. The police decided to search a wooded area in the opposite direction of the home from what Paula Sims had explained as the intruder’s path. When they mentioned searching the area, Robert Sims advised they not search there due to heavy poison ivy, which drew even more suspicion from the investigators. Why would anyone be worried about poison ivy when their daughter is missing? Dogs were brought to the area and after a quick search the body of Loralei Marie Sims was found.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation by either a hand or blanket being held over the baby’s mouth and nose. However, the Sims were no longer cooperative with authorities and there was not enough physical evidence (apparently) to secure an indictment in the case. Robert and Paula picked up and moved to Alton, Illinois.
In February 1988, Randall Troy Sims was born to Robert and Paula Sims. Nurses at the hospital described Robert as very attentive and proud father. Robert built a privacy fence around their Alton home and Paula kept the curtains covered with shades. Neighbors found the family to be very quiet and noted that they kept to themselves. By all accounts, they seemed happy.
On March 18th, 1989, Paula gave birth to another child, Heather Lee Sims. The same nurses who cared for Paula during the birth of Randy described Robert as inattentive and uninterested in the birth of his daughter. While in the hospital following Heather’s birth, Paula told an interesting story to her roommate. She told the story of her first child, Loralei Sims. She explained to her hospital roommate that a masked gunman knocked her unconscious while she was taking out the trash and kidnapped her daughter, a different story than she told authorities.
On April 29th, 1989, police were called once again to the Sims home. This time, Robert called the police to tell them he came home from work to find his wife Paula lying on the kitchen floor unconscious. He was able to wake her, but when he went to check on his children, he found that Heather, then six weeks old, was missing. Two-year old Randy was safe in his bed. A shaken Paula told police that she was taking out the trash when a masked intruder forced her by gunpoint into the house and then knocked her unconscious. She claimed the intruder must have stolen her baby. Again.
The investigators were immediately suspicious. Paula had no injuries noted. No signs of blunt force trauma, no scrapes, not even a bump on the head. No signs of a struggle were noted in the home. Even more suspicious, Paula made a comment to her husband in front of investigators “My son is alright. That’s all the matters”.
A massive search effort was made to find Heather Sims. However, it wasn’t until May 9th, 1989, when a fisherman in East Alton, Missouri, just over the Mississippi River from Alton, found Heather’s body in a trash bag in a bin. The cause of death was once again determined to be asphyxiation by someone placing either a hand or blanket over the nose and mouth of the baby. Randall Sims was moved to foster care while the case was investigated to ensure his safety.
In the Forensic Files episode on the case, they explain that the trash bag Heather’s body was found in was forensically connected to the Sims. It was determined the bag was made within ten seconds of a roll of trash bags of the same brand found in the Sims home. The pathologist also determined that Heather’s body had different degrees of decomposition externally and internally, indicating the baby’s body had been frozen after her death. Paula Sims was arrested and charged with murder on July 2nd, 1989. There was not enough evidence to charge Robert Sims with a crime.
During her trial, the defense presented evidence that Paula Sims did not prefer boys to girls. They showed doll clothes she had saved from her own childhood for her future daughters. However, this evidence paled in comparison to the evidence against her and the testimony of bizarre behavior in the Sims home. Investigators testified that during questioning of Robert Sims, Robert described that after Heather disappeared the couple had a night of satisfying sex while their daughter was missing. This was odd enough on its own, but friends of Paula testified that Paula was banned from the marital bed after both Loralei and Heather’s births, but not after the birth of her son. A friend described Paula venting to her about frustrations over the marital situation and Roberts rules for the marriage. Along with the forensic evidence, this testimony was enough to convict Paula Sims on January 30th, 1990. The judge sentenced her to life in prison without parole but spared her the death penalty.
Later in 1990, Robert divorced Paula Sims and regained custody of their son Randy. Paula eventually confessed to the murders of both Loralei and Heather. She never implicated her ex-husband in the killings. Robert went on to raise Randy and remarried in 2002. He was said to live a Christian life and often preached outside abortion clinics. Randy grew up to be a teacher a Collinsville Christian Academy. Tragically, both Robert and Randy were killed in a drunk driving accident while on a religious mission trip in Mississippi in 2015.
Paula Sims appealed her conviction multiple times despite confessing to the crimes. She claimed her attorney did not provide her proper representation and requested that post-partum depression be entered as a defense. A clemency request was denied by Governor Bruce Rauner. In 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker did grant clemency to Paula Sims as she claimed to be a victim of postpartum psychosis. She was paroled shortly after. She initially relocated to Alabama with family. As she is required to registered on Illinois's Murderer and Violence Against Youth Registry, she is currently living in East Peoria, Illinois.
Do you believe that Paula Simms has postpartum psychosis? Do you believe that her husband was innocent? Do you find it ironic that Paula is the only Sim still alive after all of this?
Also featured in that episode, I talked about Tammy Eveans (Corbett). She lived not far from Paula Simms and also smothered three of her children, later admitting so. In 2013, she gave interviews in which she claimed that postpartum psychosis was also to blame and that she heard voices. She blames mental illness for the murders as well. Tammy had a history of mental issues. Currently, she is still serving a life sentence without an opportunity for parole. Just as her case did not garner the attention that Paula Sims did in the 1980s, she has not received the political support of our governor either, not that she deserves it.
References
Illinois Department of Corrections: Offenders (illinois.gov)
Harris (2019) People Magazine; Mom Killed 2 Baby Daughters 3 Years Apart, But Now Claims Post-Partum Psychosis and Wants New Trial; Retrieved at: Woman Seeks New Trial 30 Years After Killing Infant Daughters | PEOPLE.com
Forensic Files Now (2019) Paula Sims: A Mother Snaps Twice; Retrieved at: Paula Sims: A Mother Snaps Twice – Forensic Files Now
Precious Victims (1993) Made for Television Movie: Retrieved at: Based On a True Story ✬ Precious Victims ✬ Lifetime movies based on True Stories - YouTube
Forensic Files (1998) Similar Circumstances: Season 3 Episode 6; Aired 11/5/1998; Retrieved at: Medical Detectives (Forensic Files) - Season 3, Ep 6 : Similar Circumstances - YouTube
Murderpedia; Paula Marie Sims; Retrieved at: Paula Sims | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
Schmidt (2019) The Telegraph; Paula Sims, the Alton woman who murdered her 2 children in 1989, asks court for a new trial; Retrieved at: Paula Sims, the Alton woman who murdered her 2 children in 1989, asks court for a new trial - Alton Telegraph (thetelegraph.com)
The Telegraph (2015) The Telegraph: Light After Darkness: Robert and Randy Sims led Christian Life; Retrieved at: Light after darkness: Robert and Randy Sims led Christian life - Alton Telegraph (thetelegraph.com)
Gillerman (2015) St. Louis Post Dispatch; Ex-husband, son of Alton woman who killed two daughters die in crash; Retrieved at: Ex-husband, son of Alton woman who killed two daughters die in crash | Law and order | stltoday.com
People Vs. Sims (2001) People Vs. Sims; Retrieved at: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/il-court-of-appeals/1257236.html
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