Samuel Little: Most Prolific Serial Killer In US History
0
9
0
Have you ever wondered who is the most prolific serial killer in U.S history?
His name was Samuel Little and he was a black man who killed at least 60 people before he was sentenced to life in prison.
Want to know more about him?
Keep reading to learn about his childhood, his victims, and how they finally caught Samuel Little.
Who Is Samuel Little?
Samuel Little was the most prolific serial killer in the United with more than 60 victims confirmed by the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. He has confessed to 93 killings and sketched more than 26 of the victims.
Despite Little being the most prolific serial killer in the U.S. he is only ranks 16th on the list of most famous serial killers.
Where Was Samuel Little Born?
Samuel was born in Reynolds Georgia to Bessie Mae Little and Paul McDowell. He was originally name Samuel McDowell but his name was changed at some point.
When Was Samuel Little Born?
Samuel was born on June 7, 1940.
What Was Samuel Little Childhood Like?
Little's family moved to Lorain, Ohio shortly after his birth. He was raised by his grandmother. During school he was a poor student with disciplinary problems.
As early as kindergarten, he was having sexual fantasies about strangling women according to the LA Times. The first woman he remembers wanting to choke was his kindergarten teacher.
During his teenage years he collected true crime magazines with pictures of people choking women. He committed burglary when he was 16 years old, which would be the first of 26 arrests between the age of 16 and 35 years old.
What Did Samuel Little Do?
Samuel Little committed a variety of crimes including aggravated assault, armed robbery, driving under the influence, fraud, murder, shoplifting, solicitation, and rape.
Little’s first arrest for murder was in Pascagoula, Mississippi In 1982 for the death of 22-year-old Melinda Rose LaPree. SHe had gone missing that year, but there wasn’t enough evidence for a grand jury to indict Samuel Little.
Florida thought they had enough evidence to convict him for the death of 26-year-old Patricia Ann Mount so they extradited him to charge him with murder. Witnesses were able to identify Little as the last person Mount was seen with before she disappeared, but the jury wasn't convinced. They found Samuel Little not guilty in January 1984.
Little immediately moved out to San Diego, California where he was arrested in October 1984 for kidnapping, beating, and strangling 22-year-old Laurie Barros who lived to tell the tale. He was found in the back of his car with another woman who had been strangled. He only served 2.5 years for those crimes.
When he got out in 1987, Little went to Los Angeles where he killed at least 10 other people. They didn’t catch him then though. He disappeared and didn’t resurface for 15 years.
How Many People Did Samuel Little Kill?
According to the FBI, Samuel Little killed at least 60 people across at least 15 states, but admitted to 93 murders when the FBI interrogated him in prison. The majority of the people he killed were homeless people or sex workers because he knew people are less likely to seek out answers for the crimes.
The majority of his victims were black women under the ages of 35 years old, but he deviated from this profile on occasion.
Given he was able to continue his depraved lifestyle for at least 35 years, I would say that his assumption was correct.
How Did Samuel Little Kill His Victims?
Samuel Little would find a woman who looked like she was vulnerable. She would commonly be alone outside of a building or in a bar. He would pick her up, take her somewhere secluded, sometimes have sex with them, and strangle them with his bare hands.
While there were some instances where he deviated from this strategy, this is why you should never get in the car with a stranger.
Why Did Samuel Little Kill?
While Samuel never gave a direct answer as to why he killed all these people, Jillian Lauren spent hundreds of hours interviewing him in prison. She explained:
“A judge in Missouri thought three months was an appropriate sentence [for Little] for rape and assault…” “Law officials in Mississippi in the ’80s didn’t believe it was possible to commit a crime against a Black prostitute… In a tradition of many serial killers before him…he chose to dispose of victims society already thought were trash.”
I can’t shake the thought that this was a mommy issue. Reports say his mother was a prostitute who left him with his grandma. Then he got aroused at women holding their necks as early as kindergarten. Many of the victims fit the profile of his mother, young, black, escort. Combine that with little to no punishment for his early killings and it’s not surprising that he continued killing until he was forced to stop.
How Was Samuel Little Caught?
Samuel Little was caught because it became much more affordable to analyze and use DNA evidence to convict criminals. California did DNA analysis on unsolved crimes and were able to establish that he was responsible for the deaths of three women in the 1980s.
They then put out a warrant and he was found in Louisville, Kentucky living in a homeless shelter.
When Was Samuel Little Caught?
September 5, 2012 was the date when Samuel Little was finally caught in Louisville, Kentucky. He was then extradited to stand trial in California.
What Was Samuel Little Charged With?
Samuel Little was charged with three counts of murder tied to the July 13, 1987 murder of Linda Alford, the September 3, 1987 murder of Guadalupe Duarte Apodaca, and the August 14, 1989 murder of Audrey Nelson Everett in Los Angeles.
Little was sentenced to life in prison without parole. While in prison, Samuel Little started talking to a Texas Ranger and confessed to 90 more murders. 60 of them were successfully confirmed by the FBI. He pled guilty to an additional 5 murder charges before he died.
How Did Samuel Little Die?
Samuel Little’s cause of death was not indicated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but he was an 80-years old with diabetes and heart problems so it was likely natural causes.
Samuel Little FAQ
Where To Watch The 93 Victims Of Samuel Little?
You can watch the 2020 documentary about the 93 victims of Samuel Little on the following sites:
How Tall Was Samuel Little?
According to NDTV World, Samuel Little was 6ft 3in (1.9m). That would make him substantially larger than many of his victims, making it easier for him to commit murders by strangling them.
Final Thoughts
I find it surprising that the serial killer with the most confirmed victims is a black man. Given most U.S. serial killers are white males, it seems quite odd that a black man would be able to evade capture for so long given black men make up 38.9% of the prison population.
Was it his transient nature, a lack of empathy for the women whose lives he took, or something else that helped him commit so many crimes over decades?
Related Posts
