The ranger did work tirelessly to create and maintain a bond with the killer during their hundreds of hours of interviews, bringing him favorite snacks such as pizza, Dr. Although known as an expert interrogator, Holland himself said he could only guess at why Little opened up to him. Holland has described Little as both a genius and a sociopath, adding the killer could never adequately explain to him why he did what he did. Once a strong, strapping boxer who used his powerful hands to strangle his victims, he was now using a wheelchair to get around. He was nearly 80, in failing health and serving a life sentence in a California prison when he began confiding to Holland in May 2018, after years of refusing to talk to other authorities. He drowned one, a woman he met at a nightclub in 1982. Little strangled most of his victims, usually soon after meeting them during chance encounters. Indeed, local authorities in states across the country initially classified many of the deaths as accidents, drug overdoses or the result of unknown causes. They were individuals, he said he believed would leave few people behind to look for them and not much evidence for police to follow.
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The numbers dwarf those of Green River killer Gary Ridgeway (49), John Gacy (33) and Ted Bundy (36).Īnother family tells police serial killer’s sketch of victim is their loved oneĪlmost all of Little’s victims were women, many of them prostitutes, drug addicts or poor people living on the edges of society. Nothing he’s ever said has been proven to be wrong or false,” Holland told the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” in 2019. Most of the slayings took place in Florida and Southern California.Īuthorities, who continue to investigate his claims, said they have confirmed nearly 60 killings and have no reason to doubt the others. Serial killer Samuel Little says this is a sketch of a woman he killed in Memphis in the 1990s.īy the time of his death, Little had confessed to killing 93 people between 19. During approximately 700 hours of interviews, however, Little provided details of scores of slayings only the killer would know.Ī skilled artist, he even provided Holland with dozens of paintings and drawings of his victims, sometimes scribbling their names when he could remember them, as well as details such as the year and location of the murder and where he’d dumped the body. Then, in 2018, he opened up to Texas Ranger James Holland, who had been asked to question him about a killing it turned out Little didn’t commit. Serial killer says drawing of woman was victim he met in MemphisĪ career criminal who had been in and out jail for decades, Little denied for years he’d ever killed anyone. He also killed people in Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas and other states.Ĭalifornia corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said there was no sign of foul play, and his cause of death will be determined by a coroner. His last killing was in 2005, he said, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was serving a life sentence for multiple counts of murder.Īt least two of those victims, and perhaps more, were believed to be from the Memphis area. Samuel Little, who had diabetes, heart trouble and other ailments, died at a California hospital. history with nearly 60 confirmed victims, died Wednesday in California, officials said. LOS ANGELES (AP) - The man authorities say was the most prolific serial killer in U.S. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.