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Another after he told Holland he’d killed the victim near a set of unusual looking arches in Florida. One killing was solved after Little recalled the victim wore dentures.

His paintings, they said, indicated he had a photographic memory. When he began recounting the other slayings, authorities were astounded at how much he remembered. Kentucky authorities finally caught up with him in 2012 after he was arrested on drug charges and his DNA linked him to three California killings. He also killed people in Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas and other states. His last killing was in 2005, he said, in Tupelo, Mississippi. “I say if I can help get somebody out of jail, you know, then God might smile a little bit more on me,” he said.Ī transient who traveled the country when he wasn’t in jail for larceny, assault, drugs or other crimes, Little said he started killing in Miami on New Year’s Eve 1970. He told “60 Minutes” he hoped his confessions might exonerate anyone wrongly convicted of his crimes. Holland would address Little by his childhood nickname, Sammy, while Little called Holland Jimmy and once told the Los Angeles Times he’d “found a friend in a Texas ranger.” He also gave Little assurances that he wouldn’t be executed. Pepper and grits and discussing their mutual interest in sports. 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, who would leave few people behind to look for them and not much evidence for police to follow.

The numbers dwarf those of Green River killer Gary Ridgway (49), John Wayne Gacy (33) and Ted Bundy (36).Īlmost 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. 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.īy the time of his death, Little had confessed to killing 93 people between 19. 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. He was serving a life sentence for multiple counts of murder.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.Ī career criminal who had been in and out jail for decades, Little denied for years he’d ever killed anyone. Samuel Little, who had diabetes, heart trouble and other ailments, died at a California hospital, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. history, with nearly 60 confirmed victims, died Wednesday in California.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The man authorities say was the most prolific serial killer in U.S. (California Department of Corrections via AP) He had been serving a life sentence at a California prison since being convicted of three counts of murder in 2013. California corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said Little died Wednesday, Dec. Little, the man authorities say was the most prolific serial killer in U.S. 24, 2018, booking photo provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Samuel Little.