The man named the most prolific serial killer in US history dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Authorities say he was the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, with nearly 60 confirmed victims, who died Wednesday in California. He was 80 years old.

Samuel Little, who had diabetes, heart problems and other illnesses, died at a California hospital, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was serving a life sentence for several counts of murder.

California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Vicky Waters said there were no signs of brutal gambling and that her cause of death will be determined by a coroner.

A career criminal who had been in and out of prison for decades, Little denied for years that he had ever killed anyone.

Then, in 2018, he opened up to Texas ranger James Holland, who had been asked to ask about a murder that turned out Little did not commit. However, during approximately 700 hours of interviews, Little provided details of dozens of murders that only the killer would know about.

Expert artist even provided the Netherlands with dozens of paintings and drawings of his victims, sometimes writing his names when he could remember them, as well as details such as the year and location of the murder and where he had left the body.

At the time of his death, Little had confessed to killing 93 people between 1970 and 2005. Most of the killings took place in Florida and Southern California.

Authorities, who are continuing to investigate their claims, said they have confirmed about 60 murders and have no reason to doubt the others.

“Nothing he has said has ever been proven wrong or false,” Holland told CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” in 2019.

The numbers surpass those of Green River killer Gary Ridgeway (49), John Gacy (33) and Ted Bundy (36).

Almost all of Little’s victims were women, many of them prostitutes, drug addicts or the poor who lived on the fringes of society. He believed they were individuals who would leave few people behind to look for them and there will not be too much evidence to follow for the police.

In fact, local authorities across states across the country initially classified many of the deaths as accidents, drug overdoses or the result of unknown causes.

Little strangled most of his victims, usually shortly after meeting them during casual encounters. One drowned, a woman he met at a nightclub in 1982.

He was about eighty years old, with health issues and serving a life sentence in a California prison, when he began trusting the Netherlands in May 2018, after years of refusing to talk to other authorities. Once a strong, rope boxer who used his powerful hands to strangle victims, he now used a wheelchair to get around.

Holland has described Little as a genius and a sociopath, adding that the killer could never properly explain to him why he did what he did. Although he was known as an expert interrogator, Holland himself said he could only guess why Little was opened up to him.

The ranger worked tirelessly to create and maintain a bond with the killer during his hundreds of hours of interviews, bringing him favorite snacks like pizza, Dr. Pepper and grain and discussing their mutual interest in sports. He also gave small guarantees that he would not be executed.

Holland would address Little by his childhood nickname, Sammy, while Little called Holland Holland and once told the Los Angeles Times that he had “found a friend in a Texas ranger.”

He said in “60 Minutes” that he hoped his confessions could exonerate anyone unjustly convicted of his crimes.

“I say that if I can help get someone out of jail, you know, then God can smile a little more,” he said.

A passenger who traveled the country when he was not in jail for theft, assault, drugs or other crimes, Little said he began killing in Miami on 1970 New Year’s Eve.

“It was like drugs,” he told Holland. “I liked”.

His last murder was in 2005, he said, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He also killed people in Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas and other states.

Kentucky authorities finally reached him in 2012 after he was arrested on drug charges and his DNA linked him to three murders in California.

When he began recounting the other killings, authorities were surprised at how much he remembered. His paintings, they said, indicated that he had a photographic memory.

A massacre was resolved after Little recalled that the victim was wearing dentures. Another after telling Holland he had killed the victim near a set of unusual-looking arches in Florida. It was recalled that a victim he met outside a Miami strip club in 1984 was 25 years old, with short blond hair, blue eyes and a “hippie look”.

As he continued to speak, authorities across the country rushed to investigate old cases, track down relatives and lock up families.

Little did he reveal few details about his own life other than that his grandmother was raised in Lorain, Ohio. Authorities said his name was often Samuel McDowell.

He was married once, Little said, and engaged in two long-term relationships.

She claimed she developed a fetish for the women’s neck after waking up sexually when she saw her kindergarten teacher touch her neck. He was always careful, he added, to avoid looking at the necks of his wife or friends and never hurt anyone he loved.

“I don’t think there was anyone else doing what I liked to do,” he said in “60 Minutes”. “I think I’m the only one in the world. And that’s not an honor, it’s a curse. ”

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Associated Press writer Don Thompson contributed from Sacramento.