Samuel Little (1940-2020) was an American serial killer who was convicted of the murder of at least 50 women over several decades.
Little was born in Reynolds, Georgia, and was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother. During his teenage years, he moved to Florida and began to get into trouble with the law, being arrested several times for misdemeanors such as burglary and burglary.
In the 1980s, Little began to be suspected of several murders of women across the country, although he was not convicted of any of them at the time due to lack of evidence. In 2012, however, he was arrested at a homeless shelter in Kentucky on a misdemeanor arrest warrant in California. While he was in custody, investigators linked him to several unsolved murder cases and began questioning him.
In 2014, Little was convicted of the murder of three women in Los Angeles in the 1980s. In 2018, he confessed to killing more than 90 women nationwide, though investigators could only confirm responsibility for 50 of those murders. Many of Little’s victims were poor and marginalized women, and their bodies were often found in isolated or abandoned areas, making it difficult to investigate the cases.
Little died in prison in California in December 2020 at the age of 80. His story is one of the most shocking in the history of crime in the United States, and continues to be the subject of interest and study for investigators and the general public.
Your family
Not much information is available about Samuel Little’s family. It is known that his mother was a domestic worker and that she died when he was only 16 years old. Little was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother in Georgia. Not much is known about his father.
Little is believed to have been married twice, although not much information is available about his marriages. It is also known that he had several children, although it is not known how many or where they are currently.
Given Little’s criminal history, his family may have tried to distance themselves from him and keep a low profile. However, any additional information about your family is scarce and can be difficult to find.
Modus operandi
Samuel Little’s modus operandi varied depending on the victims and the circumstances in which he found himself. However, some common patterns that emerged in their way of operating were:
Victim selection: Little focused on vulnerable and marginalized women, many of them sex workers, addicted to drugs or homeless. Their victims were often in isolated areas or in marginal urban areas.
Strangulation: Most of Little’s victims died of strangulation, often using their bare hands. He also used objects such as ropes or belts to carry out chokes.
Hiding from victims: After killing his victims, Little often left them abandoned in remote or little-traveled areas, such as landfills, parks, and vacant lots. Sometimes, he even buried them.
Avoiding detection: Little was very careful in selecting his victims and hiding his crimes, which allowed him to avoid detection for decades. He was constantly moving and using false names, making it difficult for investigators to track him down.
Overall, Little’s modus operandi was subtle and carefully planned. He often took advantage of the vulnerability of his victims to commit his crimes and avoided leaving traces that could lead to his arrest.
Age of his first murder
It is unclear what Samuel Little’s age was at the time of his first murder, as it is unknown with certainty how many murders he committed and when he committed them. What is known is that Little was involved in various misdemeanors since his teens, and that his criminal behavior intensified in the 1980s, when he began being suspected of several murders of women.
Most of Little’s confirmed crimes were committed in the 1980s and onwards, when he was at least 40 years old. He may have committed murders before that time, but if so, there is not enough evidence to confirm them. In any case, his criminal career was very prolonged, and his crimes were not discovered until decades after he had committed them, allowing him to continue murdering with impunity for many years.
Samuel Little type of psychosis
There is no evidence to suggest that Samuel Little was diagnosed with any kind of psychosis. While his violent behavior and crimes are indicative of a personality disorder and other mental disorders, it is not known if Little received a formal diagnosis of any kind.
Psychologists and criminal behavior experts who have studied Little suggest that he may have suffered from personality disorders such as antisocial personality disorder or borderline personality disorder, which may contribute to impulsive and violent behaviors. In addition, his history of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as his difficult childhood, could have contributed to his criminal behavior.
However, it is important to note that violent and criminal behavior is not exclusive to people with mental disorders or psychoses, and that the vast majority of people with a mental disorder are not violent.
Place where he was arrested
Samuel Little was arrested at a homeless shelter in Louisville, Kentucky, in September 2012. Los Angeles police had issued an arrest warrant for him for a drug-related offense, and Kentucky police detained him at the shelter after identifying him and confirming his identity.
Little was extradited to California, where he was eventually charged with three counts of murder in 2013. During his incarceration, he began confessing to other murders, which eventually led to his conviction for several crimes in several states.
Death of Samuel Little
Samuel Little died on December 30, 2020, at the age of 80. He died at a hospital in California, where he had been serving several life sentences for murder and other related crimes.
The official cause of his death was not publicly disclosed, but it was reported that Little had been suffering from age-related health problems. Prior to his death, it had been reported that his health was deteriorating and that he had been hospitalized several times during the last years of his life.
With Little’s death, the criminal career of one of the most prolific and dangerous serial killers in American history ends. Little is believed to have been responsible for at least 60 murders nationwide, though the exact number of his victims remains unknown.
