The most prolific serial killer in US history, Samuel Little was a demented man who lived for a single purpose in life – to rape and kill women. He was conclusively linked to 60 murders and confessed to killing over 90 women throughout his life. According to investigators, his crimes spanned over five decades – from the 1960s into the 2010s – though the last confirmed murder he committed was in 2005.
How did Samuel Little’s crimes start?
Samuel Little started having run-ins with the law as a teenager. When he was 20, he was sentenced to three years in prison for breaking into a furniture store. Post-release, he was arrested over two dozen times for crimes including theft, attempted rape, assault, fraud, and burglary. As per his own accounts, his head housed fantasies about strangling women since he was a kid. He mentioned this originated when he saw his school teacher touch her neck.
Later in his 40s, Samuel Little was captured multiple times for the murder of women. However, he was always acquitted, for one reason or another.
What was Little’s MO?
One major reason why Samuel Little was able to get away with his crimes was that he always picked up women who were marginalized, vulnerable and who had nobody to worry for them.
He got extreme gratification out of strangling women – so he never, stabbed, cut, or bit any of his victims. That’s one reason why there was always a dearth of forensic evidence. Samuel Little said in one of his interviews, “I don’t like blood.”
How was Little captured?
Little was arrested in 2012 on narcotics charges. After going through his long history of crimes, the investigators decided to see if he could be linked to unsolved murder cases from the 80s. They were right. DNA testing proved he killed three women in the late 80s. The domino effect was set in motion and a number of old unsolved cases were also cracked. Ultimately, Little was found guilty of the murder of at least 60 women. When incarcerated, Little confessed to killing 93 women.
Where is Samuel Little now?
Samuel Little was serving a life sentence at California State Prison. He died on December 30, 2020, in hospital. He was suffering from a number of health conditions including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Though Little was arrested over 100 times, he only spent around 18 years of his life in prison in total. That’s a reflection on law enforcement and the judicial system.
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