Samuel Little: America's Most Prolific Serial Killer

Samuel Littler was arrested in 2012 for murdering three women in the 1980s, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2014. Although he attempted to maintain his innocence, he soon confessed to a number of murders by strangulation that took place in 19 states; he claimed to have murdered 93 women. The FBI confirmed that Samuel was connected to 50 of those cases.

Early Life

Samuel Little was born as Samuel McDowell on June 7th, 1940. He was raised by his grandmother in Ohio. He was committed to a life of crime at an early age. By age 16, he was sent to a juvenile detention center after he was convicted of breaking and entering. After he finished serving his time, he dropped out of high school and moved to Florida to live with his mother. He had various stints in prison for various crimes ranging from aggravated assault and rape.

There isn't a lot of record about Samuel's early life, other than the fact that he was an avid boxer and was in and out of prison. By the time he was 35, he had been arrested 26 different times. He spent three years in prison after breaking into a furniture store. And reports say that he had a habit of robbing people for drug and alcohol money, then he would blow it and move on to the next place.

Samuel had fantasies about killing women at a young age, he would always focus on women's' necks and even pinned an image of a woman who had been strangled to death on his wall. When he married or had girlfriends, he would avoid looking at their necks.

Samuel's first murder took place around 1970, he confessed to up to 93 murders over 30 years, but due to the time in between the actual murder and the confessions, not all the murders have been identified.

His Victims

Samuel's first alleged victim was Mary Jo Brosley, this would begin a pattern that he would follow throughout his life. Mary was an alcoholic who was estranged from her family. She abandoned her seven-year-old son to move from Massachusetts to Florida. Her family ended up reporting her missing two days after she left, they didn't have any idea where she ended up until 45 years later. Her body was found in a shallow grave, but her remains were not identified until 2017. A year after, Samuel confessed to her murder. He knew a large amount of details for someone who committed up to 92 other murders after her. He remembered what she was wearing, complications regarding burying her body, and also that she had problems with alcohol. This would show to be a pattern for Samuel, he would gravitate towards killing women who had substance abuse problems or who had run-ins with the law. It was easier for him to get away with these crimes, he believed. And to some degree, he was right about that.

Although Mary's shallow grave made it obvious to authorities that someone was involved in her murder, other cases weren't so obvious. Many of his victims were not even identified as murder victims for decades. Authorities believed that many of the women had died from an overdose or an accident. To this day many of the victims wouldn't have been linked to Samuel if he didn't confess.

But his initial confession was over 50 years after his first murder. Samuel would continue his murder spree, killing an alleged two dozen women between 1970-1982. In 1982 he would be charged with the murder of 22-year-old Malina "Mindy" LaPree, but he ended up not being indicted. During this time he was also charged for the murder of 26-year-old Patricia Ann Mount. In both these cases, witnesses testified and linked Samuel to the victims, but the testimony came from sex workers and the jury did not trust these accounts, and without any physical evidence to link Samuel to the murders, he was not convicted.

Samuel would punch his victims unconscious and then proceed to strangle them to death. DNA was not used to link serial killers to victims until the late 80s. So, Samuel was able to evade the run-ins with law enforcements and grand juries for decades.

After he was released in 1984, Samuel struck again. He would end up being arrested twice in less than two months for the strangulation of women in California. Although he was convicted for these two crimes, he was still not linked to any previous murders. He served two and a half years in prison, he was released in 1987 and moved to Los Angeles. Here alone he killed another 10 women before he traveled again. Over the next ten years he would commit murders that took place in Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, and Arizona. He would continue killing until 2005.

His Final Arrest

In 2012, Samuel was living in Kentucky in a homeless shelter. He would be arrested on a narcotics charge. His DNA would be collected and would link him to multiple murders from the late 80s. The three victims had been found on the streets of Los Angeles after they were murdered. Samuel would be extradited to a jail in California and charged with the murder of the three women. Now investigators had a lead in dozens of murder cases from the 70s to 90s. The LaPree case was also reopened after he was charged. Samuel was finally convicted for murder in 2014, he originally pleaded not guilty and claimed that he was innocent. He was sentenced to three life sentences without parole.

The Confession

There was little news coverage surrounding Samuel's murders until he started to confess to other murders in 2018. Many detectives, sheriffs, and other authorities tried to get information out of him from his first conviction, but failed until James "Jimmy" Holland came to speak to Samuel. James Holland is a Texas Ranger who heard about Samuel's case in 2017. He had many years of experience as a Texas Ranger, this was the official title for a group of around 100 Texas detective who handle the state's more serious crimes. Samuel had murdered Denise Christie Brothers in Odessa, Texas in 1994, he was later charged for the crime.

James is known as "a serial killer whisperer" so it would make sense for him to speak to Samuel. With the help of the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, James was able to talk to Samuel about a handful of cases that took place throughout the country. He didn't get a confession at first, so he started to use caution while speaking to Samuel about strangulation, rape, and the other crimes that he was accused of committing. The first time that the two met, James told Samuel he was at the prison just for a visit.

The interrogation lasted for two and a half hours, and during their time together, Samuel grew fond of James. They bonded over spending time in Texas, the types of sodas they liked, and nicknames that their parents had given them. Samuel vented to James about the local police and James was patient as Samuel started to give him details about one of his alleged murders. By the time the interview ended, Samuel said that he stopped counting the amount of murders that he committed at 84.

His Sketches

James took into account that Samuel was creative, he provided him with art supplies, this resulted in Samuel drawing photos of his victims - over 20 sketches in total. Samuel recalled the clothes that they wore, how he met them, and conversations they had before he strangled them. He confessed that many of the victims were sex workers or unlikely to be "missed" by family or friends who would have searched for him.

His confessions were linked to various crimes and sheriffs all over the country were making announcements that Samuel was involved with cases that hadn't been solved for over 20 years.

His Death

Samuel confessed to murders until his death in December 2020. A month before he confessed to killing two women in Florida. When the story was matched up with details from other disappearances in the state, detectives realized they wrongfully convicted another man of the same crime.

Samuel died in a hospital in Los Angeles. No cause of death was determined, however foul play was not suspected. Samuel suffered from diabetes as well as heart trouble. He was 80 at his time of death. The FBI are still working to connect his confessions to various killings throughout the United States.