13 Facts About Gary Little

The public allegations against Little, and his subsequent suicide, followed a decade of rumors that had circulated about him, including several media exposes that had been quashed before publication, and a state investigation of Little which had been sealed.

Gary Little was born in Seattle, the son of truck driver Sterling Gary Little, who died in August 1947 after hanging himself in a jail cell in the King County Courthouse where he was being held on a burglary charge.

Gary Little, described as a "driven and able" student, graduated from Lincoln High School and earned a scholarship to Harvard University.

Gary Little graduated from Harvard and went on to earn a juris doctor from the University of Washington School of Law.

Gary Little subsequently was retained as general counsel for the Seattle School District, and was later credited with engineering the district's "sweeping desegregation program".

Gary Little was elected to the King County Superior Court in 1980.

In 1981, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng quietly opened an investigation into rumors that had been circulating about Gary Little having inappropriate contact with juvenile defendants outside the courtroom.

In 1985 Superior Court presiding judge Norman Quinn directed that Gary Little not hear criminal cases involving juveniles after he discovered Gary Little had taken a 14-year-old defendant from Bellevue, Washington, Christmas shopping for the boy's father.

Gary Little defended his involvement with the boy, stating that it was important for those in the criminal justice system to "intervene in a dramatic and decisive way in the lives" of young people to deter them from a future life of crime.

Gary Little had earlier been contacted by Duff Wilson who informed him about his soon to-be published story.

Later, concern was expressed that indicators of possible wrongdoing by Gary Little had been covered up by Seattle's historically cloistered social and political elite.

Gary Little was viewed by colleagues and community members as "funny, articulate, [and] brilliant" and seamlessly embedded himself as a fixture within Seattle society despite his modest origins.

Gary Little was known to be a "dapper" dresser who frequented the city's finest clubs and restaurants.