A man already serving three life sentences for crimes he committed in Covington County was convicted of first degree murder in Okaloosa County this week.

Covington County Circuit Judge Charles A. “Lex” Short sentenced Jackie Long to three consecutive life sentences in 2015 after a local jury found him guilty of assault I, robbery I and burglary I stemming from 2005 when Long and his son Shane broke into the home of Henry Jordan in Wing in the early morning and beat him severely enough to cause massive blunt force trauma wounds to his head and face. Jordan lingered for two years before he succumbed to the injuries.

At the time he was sentenced here, Long had also been indicted for the 1981 death of Leonard “Buddie” Phelps. Phelps was a 59-year-old Niceville resident in the boating business when he was found dead on Oct. 2, 1981. An autopsy determined he had been severely beaten but died after being shot in the groin area with a shotgun.

It was the cold case murder investigation in Okaloosa County which uncovered the evidence needed for local charges. Three associates of Long, including his stepmother, testified that he had told them how he killed Phelps.

District Attorney Walt Merrell, who prosecuted Long in the Covington County case, called him at the time “the most dangerous individual I have ever dealt with.”

Because the state did not ask for the death penalty in the Florida case, Long’s sentence will be a fourth life sentence.

According to the Alabama Department of Corrections’ data base, Long, who is 59, was serving his Alabama sentence in the St. Clair Correctional Facility.