Samuel Little, America’s biggest serial killer

The United States is the country with the highest number of serial killers, especially during the twentieth century. Samuel Little was one of them. But not one more.

Samuel Little has gone down in history as the most prolific serial killer, surpassing the previous one, Gary Ridgway. In 2018, he confessed to having committed more than 90 murders, and to date the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed his participation in at least 60.

A nomadic serial killer

Samuel Little always led a nomadic lifestyle, something that made it easy for him to find victims in different places in the United States. Besides, He had no specific preferences regarding his victims.: black, white, Latin… although most were young, with shiny lips and big eyes, as I would later reveal.

The lack of a defined profile for the victim complicated the work of the investigators, since The crimes were not related to the same serial killer. Furthermore, his first crimes began before DNA was adopted as evidence.

In 2012, he was arrested in the state of Kentucky, in a homeless shelter. At that time, he was only being investigated for drug-related crimes. However, As soon as biological samples were taken, his profile was linked to the murder of three women in 1987 and 1989.

The victims had been murdered by strangulation, and their bodies had subsequently been abandoned in rarely traveled places, such as an alley, a landfill, and a garage. For these three murders he was sentenced to three life sentences. Nothing more was heard of Samuel Little until In 2018, he began to confess his dark secrets.

The Secrets of Samuel Little

In 2018, he confessed something that investigators already feared: that there were many more victims. What they did not expect is that the list of his confessions was so extensive, since he confessed to up to 93 murders, committed between 1970 and 2005.

At first they didn’t take him seriously, but after hours and hours of interrogation, Samuel Little’s memory revealed all those secrets he had been hiding. He spoke enthusiastically about the murders he had committed, offering highly relevant details about the crimes he claimed to have committed. Once investigated, their validity was verified and they were able to link him to more than fifty.

Samuel Little was 1.9 meters tall and knocked out his victims with his punches (he had experience as a former boxer) before strangling them, leaving no obvious signs that would give rise to suspicion. Added to this was the social context of the victims, since Many of them were in poverty or had addiction problems..

Additionally, some had prior records, so their deaths were attributed to causes such as drug overdoses, accidents, or even natural causes.

The portraits of his victims

This case is especially interesting because of the photographic memory of Samuel Little, who liked to kill, But he was also passionate about drawing, and proof of this are the drawings in the form of portraits of his victims. These portraits include details, such as the color of the eyes and the characteristic hairstyle of the victims.

Detective Holland, who obtained her confession, stated that the first thing that caught his attention was her memory and recollection of the details. As he explained, “Little remembered some strange arches near the place where he killed a woman outside Miami. Of course, when Miami detectives went to investigate, they found those same arches“. Details like that gave a name to the victim: Miriam Chapman, murdered in 1976.

Researchers have this material of great forensic value; However, it has not been enough. Although the data provided has helped solve more than thirty cases, Samuel Little’s memory failed to remember the dates and chronology of the murders. Thus, the FBI decided to make the portraits publicin order for someone to identify them.

According to Holland, “Nothing he has said has turned out to be false. We have been able to verify almost everything he has said“. Those women that Samuel Little drew existed, and some of them are somewhere, because their murderer remembered them.

The end

At no time did he show remorse.. As he expressed: “If God has made me like this, why should I ask for forgiveness?“.

When Samuel Little died at the age of 80, in a California hospital, He was serving three life sentences without parole after being convicted in 2014. Currently, investigations are still open in order to clarify the murders that he would have confessed to.

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