Samuel Little was born as Samuel McDowell on June 7,1940, in Reynolds, Georgia.
56 Facts About Samuel Little
2.
Samuel Little claimed that his mother, Bessie Mae Samuel Little, was a teenage prostitute who had abandoned him; authorities believe that she might have given birth to him while she was in jail.
3.
The census from the year Samuel Little was born said Bessie Mae worked as a maid and that his father was 19-year-old Paul McDowell.
4.
Samuel Little attended Hawthorne Junior High School, where he had problems with discipline and achievement.
5.
In 1956, after being convicted of breaking and entering into property in Omaha, Nebraska, Samuel Little was held in an institution for juvenile offenders.
6.
Samuel Little claimed that he took up boxing during his time in prison, referring to himself as a former prizefighter.
7.
In 1961, Samuel Little was sentenced to three years in prison for breaking into a furniture store in Lorain; he was released in 1964.
8.
In 1982, Samuel Little was arrested in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and charged with the murder of 22-year-old Melinda Rose LaPree, who had gone missing in September of that year.
9.
However, while under investigation, Samuel Little was extradited to Florida and tried for the murder of 26-year-old Patricia Ann Mount, whose body was found in September 1982.
10.
Samuel Little moved to California, where he stayed in the vicinity of San Diego.
11.
Samuel Little served two and a half years in prison for both crimes.
12.
Samuel Little was arrested on September 5,2012, at a homeless shelter in Louisville, Kentucky, and extradited to California to face a narcotics charge, after which authorities used DNA testing to establish that he was involved in the murders of Linda Alford, killed on July 13,1987; Guadalupe Duarte Apodaca, killed on September 3,1987; and Audrey Nelson Everett, killed on August 14,1989.
13.
Samuel Little was extradited to Los Angeles, where he was charged on January 7,2013.
14.
Samuel Little was tried for the murders of Alford, Nelson, and Apodaca in September 2014.
15.
On November 9,2018, Samuel Little confessed to the 1996 fatal strangulation of Melissa Thomas.
16.
On November 13,2018, Samuel Little was charged with the 1994 murder of Denise Christie Brothers in Odessa, Texas after having confessed the crime to a Texas Ranger in May 2018.
17.
The Ector County, Texas District Attorney and Wise County, Texas Sheriff's Office announced on November 13 that Samuel Little had confessed to dozens of murders and may have committed more than 90 across 14 states between 1970 and 2005.
18.
On November 15,2018, the Russell County, Alabama District Attorney announced that Samuel Little had earlier that month confessed to the 1979 murder of 23-year-old Brenda Alexander, whose body was found in Phenix City, Alabama.
19.
On November 16,2018, Macon, Georgia sheriffs announced that Samuel Little had credibly confessed to the 1977 strangling murder of an unidentified woman and the 1982 strangling murder of 18-year-old Fredonia Smith.
20.
On November 19,2018, Harrison County, Mississippi sheriff Troy Peterson said that Samuel Little had confessed to strangling 36-year-old Julia Critchfield in the Gulfport area in 1978 and dumping her body off a cliff.
21.
On November 20,2018, Lee County, Mississippi law enforcement officials announced that Samuel Little had admitted to killing 46-year-old Nancy Carol Stevens in Tupelo, Mississippi in 2005 and that the case would be presented to a grand jury in January 2019.
22.
On November 21,2018, Richland County, South Carolina authorities announced that Samuel Little had confessed to murdering 19-year-old Evelyn Weston, whose body was found near Fort Jackson, South Carolina in 1978.
23.
Samuel Little confessed to having killed 20-year-old Rosie Hill in Marion County, Florida in 1982.
24.
Samuel Little began making the confessions in exchange for a transfer out of the Los Angeles County prison in which he was being held.
25.
In December 2018, Samuel Little was indicted for strangling Linda Sue Boards, 23, to death in May 1981 in Warren County, Kentucky.
26.
Samuel Little's body was found on May 15,1981, near US Route 68.
27.
One of Samuel Little's victims was identified in December 2018 as Martha Cunningham of Knox County, Tennessee, who was 34-years-old when Samuel Little murdered her in 1975.
28.
On May 31,2019, Cuyahoga County, Ohio prosecutors announced indictments, with four counts of aggravated murder and six counts of kidnapping, that accuse Samuel Little of killing Mary Jo Peyton in 1984 and Rose Evans in 1991 in Cleveland.
29.
Samuel Little picked up Peyton at a bar near East 105th and Euclid avenues.
30.
Samuel Little described her as a short, plump woman in her 20s with brown hair.
31.
Samuel Little confessed to killing another Cleveland woman in 1977 or 1978.
32.
Samuel Little was likely black and somewhere between 17- and 35-years-old.
33.
Samuel Little killed the other woman between 1980 and 1999.
34.
On June 7,2019, Samuel Little was indicted in Hamilton County, Ohio for murdering the two women killed in Cincinnati.
35.
In November 2020, Samuel Little confessed to two Florida murders, for one of which another man had been wrongfully convicted.
36.
Samuel Little admitted to more than 93 different murders in total, and 60 deaths have been formally connected to him by the police.
37.
The majority of Samuel Little's victims were prostitutes, drug addicts, or homeless individuals, and most of them were female.
38.
Samuel Little claimed that he thought these persons would leave fewer clues for authorities to find and leave fewer persons to search for them.
39.
Samuel Little claimed to have strangled more than 93 people between 1970 and 2005, though many of his victims' deaths were first ruled as accidental or overdoses.
40.
Miami, Florida : Samuel Little confessed to strangling an 18 or 19-year-old black transgender woman in 1971 or 1972, and leaving her body in the Everglades near Highway 27.
41.
Samuel Little was between 5'6 and 5'7, weighing about 140 pounds.
42.
Samuel Little sketched this victim during one of his confessions in 2019.
43.
Samuel Little was between 5'5 and 5'7, weighing about 200 pounds.
44.
Samuel Little was arrested for shoplifting from Kroger by the Samuel Little Rock police on April 20,1994.
45.
Samuel Little said that after killing her he placed her body on a pile of branches near a cornfield.
46.
Samuel Little sketched this victim during one of his confessions in 2019.
47.
Covington, Kentucky : Samuel Little confessed to strangling a 25-year-old white female outside of a strip club in 1984.
48.
Samuel Little remembered she had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a "hippie" appearance.
49.
Samuel Little drove the woman south on Interstate 75 toward Miami, Florida before driving into a hilly area near the highway.
50.
Samuel Little sketched this victim during one of his confessions in 2019.
51.
Las Vegas, Nevada : Samuel Little confessed to strangling a thin, black female around 40 years old in 1993.
52.
Samuel Little sketched this victim during one of his confessions in 2019.
53.
Los Angeles, California : Samuel Little confessed to strangling a thin, white female in 1996.
54.
Los Angeles, California : Samuel Little confessed to strangling a short, thick, black female in 1984.
55.
Dorsey and Samuel Little were together until she died of natural causes, a brain hemorrhage, in Los Angeles in 1988.
56.
Samuel Little died on December 30,2020, in a Los Angeles County area hospital.