LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man authorities say was the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, with nearly 60 confirmed victims, died Wednesday in California. He was 80.

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

California corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said there was no sign of foul play, and his cause of death will be determined by a coroner.

A career criminal who had been in and out jail for decades, Little denied for years he’d ever killed anyone.

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. During approximately 700 hours of interviews, however, Little provided details of scores of slayings only the killer would know.

A 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.

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

Authorities, who continue to investigate his claims, said they have confirmed nearly 60 killings and have no reason to doubt the others.

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

The numbers dwarf 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 poor people living on the edges of society. 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.

Indeed, local authorities in 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 soon after meeting them during chance encounters. He drowned one, a woman he met at a nightclub in 1982.

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. Once a strong, strapping boxer who used his powerful hands to strangle his victims, he was now using a wheelchair to get around.


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. Although known as an expert interrogator, Holland himself said he could only guess at why Little opened up to him.

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. Pepper and grits and discussing their mutual interest in sports. He also gave Little assurances that he wouldn’t be executed.


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 told “60 Minutes” he hoped his confessions might exonerate anyone wrongly convicted of his crimes.

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.

A 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.

“It was like drugs,” he told Holland. “I came to like it.”

His last killing 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 caught up with him in 2012 after he was arrested on drug charges and his DNA linked him to three California

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

One killing was solved after Little recalled the victim wore dentures. Another after he told Holland he’d killed the victim near a set of unusual looking arches in Florida. A victim he met outside a Miami strip club in 1984 was remembered as being 25 years old with short blond hair, blue eyes and a “hippie look.”

As he continued to talk, authorities across the country rushed to investigate old cases, track down relatives and bring closure to families.

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

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

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

“I don’t think there was another person who did what I liked to do,” he told “60 Minutes.” “I think I’m the only one in the world. And that’s not an honor, that is a curse.”

Source: https://www.newsbreakapp.com/n/0YAVIhFb?s=a99&pd=06QqqFh3

His mug shots over the years for different crimes, yet no one knew he was a mass murderer.

Drawings of some of his victims. 60 confirmed. He confessed to 93.

Why do great sinners live so long? It's for them to have the opportunity to repent. I hope this one repented. Shekau too and his BH devils will die one day.

Denise Brothers, shown at left at age 15, was killed by Little in 1994, when she was 38.

10mobile:
Why do great sinners live so long? It's for them to have the opportunity to repent. I hope this one repented. Shekau too and his BH devils will die one day.

Very hard to understand.

After a court appearance. Treated like a human being by the police.

Pearl Nelson, left, in 2015 holds a photo of her mother Audrey, who was killed by Samuel Little. To her right is Mary Louise Frias, whose godmother was one of Little’s victims. Photograph: Al Seib/LA Times via Getty Images

This one will be senior special assistant to Satan on all matters

Texas Ranger James Holland, the man who got Samuel Little to confess to his crimes.

His Lawyer.

Old mugshots for petty crimes.

10mobile:
Why do great sinners live so long? It's for them to have the opportunity to repent. I hope this one repented. Shekau too and his BH devils will die one day.

Shekau dying is not my problem because he has died multiple times this year, my problem now is that it doesn't take Shekau's mother 3 days to give birth to another adult Shekau

Sherri Nelson holds a picture of her late sister Audrey Nelson who was murdered by LittleCredit: AP:Associated Press

FBI calls for help in identifying victims.

V7place:
His Lawyer.

Nawa oh! They even gave him a lawyer after every every??





Nigeria starring at Samuel Little right now

Incredible..

And he died a natural death.

EmptyGarden:
And he died a natural death.

Isn't it obvious?

American justice system is quite annoying when it comes to punishing this bastards, pardon my word.
They hardly give the death penalty.
See the way he's being treated like he committed a petty crime.

Nairalandian:
American justice system is quite annoying when it comes to punishing this bastards, pardon my word.
They hardly give the death penalty.
See the way he's being treated like he committed a petty crime.
I don't even like the way criminals like him are executed. Quick death; I hate it.
Bludgeon their head, stop for a while so they can recover, repeat again, till the beast is half dead. Then call a doc to help revive him.
Continue this process for months till they wear out and die painfully and slowly.
A slow painful death is what suits them.
Vicious idiots.
There was a time I took my time to read about this serial killers, omo, I nearly choke. Funny thing is that some were released after some decades and are still roaming around looking for who to devour.

That's serious.

And u think anywhere in d world is secure? Scam!

Evil has no race, gender, height or weight. Gone were the days we thought only Caucasians are serial killers.

Let him rot.

Funny that out of all mass murders, most of whom are whites still killing people, they turn a black sheep in their family into celebratrity.

The news about the Tennessee bomber has died down fast because he was white. In a few years or if the Press do their job, we will find out how many people he killed in plain sight like Jeffrey Dahmer.

BeeBeeOoh:
Isn't it obvious?

Obvious isn't the point here o. Just painful to realise that he killed a good number in their youth and prime... But he had to live to 80 and die of natural causes.

Evil has no race, gender, height or weight. Gone were the days we thought only Caucasians are serial killers.

United State Of America is the number one most deadly and unsafe place to live in the whole world.

You can be killed anytime,anywhere and anyhow.

But their SYSTEM is perfect in hiding this,and hyping them to be a paradise on earth.

Not only do they know how to hide it by crying Freedom every minute, they harbor more people in prisons than Communist Russia, China and North Korea.

Number one per capita prison inmates in the world. If you look deeper into a state like Texas, mostly in southern states, minorities led by blacks make about half of prison population. Though Blacks are only about 13% of US population.

Yet our number one destination. If you want to anger Nigerians, say anything bad about America.

lagusboyyy:
United State Of America is the number one most deadly and unsafe place to live in the whole world.

You can be killed anytime,anywhere and anyhow.

But their SYSTEM is perfect in hiding this,and hyping them to be a paradise on earth.

laiperi:
Not only do they know how to hide it by crying Freedom every minute, they harbor more people in prisons than Communist Russia, China and North Korea.

Number one per capita prison inmates in the world. If you look deeper into a state like Texas, mostly in southern states, minorities led by blacks make about half of prison population. Though Blacks are only about 13% of US population.

Yet our number one destination. If you want to anger Nigerians, say anything bad about America.

You are spot on bro.

lagusboyyy:
United State Of America is the number one most deadly and unsafe place to live in the whole world.

You can be killed anytime,anywhere and anyhow.

But their SYSTEM is perfect in hiding this,and hyping them to be a paradise on earth.

Factually incorrect. I have lived in both countries and I can confirm that.
America cant be the most unsafe place and yet not only the number 1 destination in the world, it's also the country with the least number of people trying to get out? For example, there are more Nigerians in just the city of Baltimore, Maryland than Americans in the whole of Nigeria.

The difference between the West especially America and less developed countries like Nigeria is targeted and untargeted crime. 95% or more of all violent crimes in America are between people who know each other. Gang members, fellow criminals, husbands and wives, friends, business partners, neighbors..Meaning you can be in America for 100 years and never experience violent crime if you don't move in the wrong circles. On the other hand, EVERY Nigerian I know has either experienced armed robbery or other violent crime or personally knows someone who has.
Random crime like serial killers, mass shootings is what they fear in America, as it means it cant be predicted and almost anyone can be a victim.
It's this random crime that's prevalent in Nigeria; armed robbers attack anyone, kidnappers can operate on any road.
Rampant random violent crime is a sign of ineffective policing, bad government or no government at all.