CA CA/OH/LA/MS/TX - SAMUEL LITTLE, aka Samuel McDowell, 1970's thru 2012, Serial Killer

Can we go into the missing files for these states and help identify possible victims


  • Total voters
    11
Possible killer of 90 helps SC sheriff solve cold case

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Texas Rangers called Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott to let him know one of their prisoners had confessed to shooting a woman in the head 40 years ago in his county, Lott knew immediately what case they were talking about.

Back then, the sheriff was finishing his first year as an investigator. He examined 19-year-old Evelyn Weston's body that muggy night in September 1978, noting she had been shot in the head.

Possible killer of 90 helps SC sheriff solve cold case

From this article I find this a bit of interest

Weston's death matches Little's pattern of roaming the country, preying on drug addicts and troubled women, often near military bases, Lott said.
 
Monday, Nov. 26th:
*Pretrial Hearing (@ 1:30pm CT) - TX - Denise Christie Brothers (38) (Feb. 2, 1994, Odessa) - *Samual Little, aka Samuel Little & Samual/Samuel McDowell (78) indicted (7/16/18) & arraigned (7/23/18) for 1st degree murder. Confessed to killing. Held without bail.
He was extradited from California & brought to Ector County in Texas. Little has cooperated and provided details for more than 90 murders going back to the 1970s, Wise County officials said.
He’s suspected of killing women in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Ohio, California, Indiana, Arizona, New Mexico and South Carolina between 1970 & 2005. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have also interviewed him.
Trial set for 1/7/19.

CA - Carol Alford (41) (found dead on July 13, 1987), Audrey Nelson (35) (whose body was discovered Aug. 14, 1989) & Guadalupe Apodaca (46) (found Sept. 2, 1989) - Little was arrested (9/5/12) & indicted (1/7/13) with 3 counts of 1st degree murder. Plead not guilty. Held without bail.
January, 2013: DNA evidence cases were linked to him through the California Department of Justice's DNA Combined Internet Index System (CODIS) offender databank earlier this year on the Audrey Nelson & Guadalupe Apodaca cases. Alford case DNA linked on 11/27/12.
Sept., 2014: Jurors deliberated just two hours before convicting him of three counts of first-degree murder. Sentenced 9/25/14 to three consecutive terms of life in prison without chance of parole.
Little waived extradition & was brought to Los Angeles in October, 2012. His alleged crimes were sexually motivated strangulations, targeting women with high risk life styles, some of them prostitutes.

Dec. 1976: Little is convicted of assaulting Pamela Kay Smith in Sunset Hills, Mo., with the intent to ravish-rape and is sentenced to three months in county jail.
Little was accused to two murders & two attempted murders in Gainesville, Fla., & Pascagoula, Miss. in the early 80's. Back then he was known as Samual McDowell. He avoided conviction in those cases.
Little was acquitted (Jan., 1984) by a Florida jury in the strangulation murder of 26-year-old Patricia Ann Mount, whose body was discovered Sept. 12, 1982 in rural Forest Grove, Fla.
He was never brought to trial in the three Mississippi cases, which include the strangulation death of Melinda LaPree, 24, on Sept. 14, 1982 in Gautier, Miss. cemetery. That case has been reopened by the Pascagoula Police Department in light of new evidence, authorities said. During the [Melinda LaPree] investigation two prostitutes come forward & allege Little also assaulted them in Pascagoula in 1980 & 1981.
Police are now investigating if he is connected to any other cases. Little also served two years in a San Diego prison after being convicted of assault & false imprisonment of two San Diego women in separate cases. Shortly after being paroled, he moved to Los Angeles.

Marion County Sheriffs Office detectives have solved the 1982 homicide case of 56-year-old Rosie Hill after serial killer Samuel Little confessed to her murder. He recently confessed to committing more than 90 homicides of women over four decades across the United States, including two homicides in Macon -- one near Washington Park in 1982 and another off Riverside Dr. in 1977. Deputies say Little used to frequent Macon -- and he even worked for the Macon city sanitation department in 1975 at the time of a DUI arrest where he provided officers with the fake name "William Lewis." Confessed to committing a homicide that took place on August 19, 1982, near Washington Park. A female’s body was found in the back yard of a residence on Magnolia Street. The female was found to have been strangled to death was that of Fredonia Smith.
Little provided details on two killings in Houma, Louisiana, Dorothy Richard, 59, was found dead in 1982, and the body of Daisy McGuire, 40, was discovered in 1996. Both Denise Christie Brothers was 38 years old when she vanished in the winter of 1994. She had last been seen alive in a motel parking lot in Odessa, Texas and was reported missing on Jan. 1. Her body was discovered a month later in a vacant lot only blocks away, authorities said. She had been strangled.

 
He Says He Got Away With 90 Murders. Now He’s Confessing to Them All.

“By the time we are done, we anticipate that Samuel Little will be confirmed as one of the most prolific serial killers in American history,” said Bobby Bland, the district attorney of Ector County, Tex., where Mr. Little is being held after a grand jury indicted him this summer for a 1994 killing.
 
Texas Authorities Believe They Have The Most Prolific Serial Killer In U.S. History In Custody

11.26.18

"...As detailed by the New York Times, Samuel Little, a 78-year-old man who has spent the past four years in prison serving three life sentences for the killings of three women in Southern California in the ’80s, recently confessed to the murders to a Texas Ranger named James Holland who visited him in Los Angeles County prison. He’s since been transferred to Ector County, Texas, where he is currently being held after being indicted by a grand jury for a 1994 killing.

Authorities believe Little killed over 90 women in at least 14 states, and have connected his claims to around 30 murders so far, thanks to specific details that only the killer would know. And given all Little has volunteered so far, investigators have few reasons to doubt his other confessions. Little would allegedly pick up the women from bars or nightclubs, then lure them to his car where he then strangled them. He apparently suffered from erectile dysfunction, and would receive sexual gratification from strangling his victims.

“By the time we are done, we anticipate that Samuel Little will be confirmed as one of the most prolific serial killers in American history,” Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland told the NY Times:

The authorities say Mr. Little displays no sign of remorse while discussing the killings. He is exacting with certain details, they say, including where he left the women’s bodies years ago: A dumpster, near a hog pit, under a pecan tree. The investigators say he is matter-of-fact about his actions, and sometimes even chuckles about them; other times, they said, he speaks so quickly, with such excitement, that they struggle to understand his words.

“Believe it or not, you only see evil a few times in your career,” said Tim Marcia, a cold case detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, who dealt with Mr. Little on the three killings he was convicted of there. “Looking into his eyes, I would say that was pure evil.”
..."

Authorities Catch The Most Prolific Serial Killer In U.S. History
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Tracking 17 thus far?

Alabama
Brenda Alexander - August 26, 1979
https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/crime/article221293070.html

California
Carol Alford - July 13, 1987
Audrey Nelson - Aug. 14, 1989
Guadalupe Apodaca - Sept. 2, 1989

https://www.christianpost.com/news/1980s-murder-suspect-arrested-samuel-little-cold-case-serial-killer-87891/

Florida
Rosie Hill -
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspected-serial-killer-samuel-little-confesses-florida-slaying-rosie-hill-n936831?icid=related
Patricia Mount - Sept. 12, 1982
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19840118&id=RexQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3-kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4394,833894

Georgia
Kimberly Kessinger - 24-26 May 1982 (found in Georgia/missing out of Florida)
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19820719&id=BMNaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J1kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6596,655475
Fredonia Smith - Aug. 19, 1982
UID - circa 1977

https://www.41nbc.com/2018/11/16/man-confesses-90-homicides-solving-two-macon-cold-cases/

Louisiana
Dorothy Richard - Sept. 14, 1982
Daisy McGuire - Feb. 6, 1996

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspected-serial-killer-s-confessions-solve-two-louisiana-murder-cases-n937341
Melissa Thomas - 1996
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_495ef8fc-e925-11e8-bada-5747bc629971.html

South Carolina
Evelyn Weston - Sept. 18, 1978
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article222013245.html

Texas
Denise Brothers - Feb, 1994
https://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Serial-killer-admits-to-slaying-Odessa-woman-in-cold-case-500416562.html


Great timeline at the end of this article:
Serial Killer Sam Little escorted out of Ector Co. Jail
 
I went through NamUs to try and find the Jane Doe's the FBI is referring to. I think i found them.


FBI: Macon, Georgia: Confession Matched to a Jane Doe: Black female between 30-40 years old killed in 1977.
Unidentified Person Case
This Jane Doe was found on September 8, 1977 in Macon, GA. She is described as a Black Female between the ages of 28-52


FBI: Prince George’s County, Maryland: Confession Matched to a Jane Doe: White female between 20-25 years old killed in 1972. Victim possibly from Massachusetts.
Unidentified Person Case
This Jane Doe was found on December 1, 1972 in Laurel, MD. She is described as a white female between the ages of 20-25


FBI: Pascagoula, Mississippi: Confession Matched to a Jane Doe: Black female between 35-45 years old killed in 1977. Met the victim in Gulfport, Mississippi. Victim possibly from Pascagoula. Victim possibly worked at Ingalls Shipyard.
Unidentified Person Case
This Jane Doe was found on December 27, 1977 in Moss Point, Mississippi. She is described as a black female between the age of 35-45
 
Last edited:
Dade County, Georgia
  • Confession Matched to a Jane Doe: Black female between 25-30 years old killed in 1980 or 1981. Met the victim in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
I can't seem to find a Jane Doe that closely matches this description.

Unidentified Person Case
What about this one?
 
Interesting about his methods and unfortunate that not all the victims may be discovered. BBM


ViCAP Links Murders to Prolific Serial Killer — FBI


"Little’s method of killing also didn’t always leave obvious signs that the death was a homicide. The one-time competitive boxer usually stunned or knocked out his victims with powerful punches and then strangled them. With no stab marks or bullet wounds, many of these deaths were not classified as homicides but attributed to drug overdoses, accidents, or natural causes.


In addition, DNA evidence was often not available or could not provide a clear link back to Little. A large number of the killings occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s, before DNA profiling was part of the law enforcement toolbox. After DNA analysis came into play, the victims’ work as prostitutes complicated the ability of police to gather telling physical evidence."
 
Link includes an interactive map. Scroll down. I count 34 on the map.

ViCAP Links Murders to Prolific Serial Killer — FBI

Yep, me too. Adding the last four UIDs that were linked in previous posts onto the list I have, puts this list at 22. these are only the "matched" on the map with dates, or EDD (Estimated Date of Death) in one case and names where known.

Earliest 1972 and most recent date 2005, but articles state that he is confessing to killings going back to 1970. I'd believe that IMP because the earliest matched thus far is 1972, he was 22. This guy was prolific and highly mobile. Where are the names for the missing years, because you just know there are victims for the empty spaces below.

70
71
72 - 1 X UID Maryland
73
74
75
76
77 - 1 x UID Georgia, 1 x UID Mississippi
78 - 1 x UID Maryland, 1 x Mississippi, 1 x South Carolina
79 - 1 x Alabama
80 - 1 x Tennessee (EDD only: 81 or 82)
81
82 - 2 x Florida, 2 x Georgia, 1 x Louisiana, 1 x UID Maryland, 1 x Mississippi
83
84
85
86
87 - 1 x California
88
89 - 2 x California
90
91
92
93
94 - 1 x Texas
95
96 - 2 x Louisiana
97
98
99
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005 - 1 x Mississippi


Alabama
Brenda Alexander - August 26, 1979
https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/crime/article221293070.html

California
Carol Alford - July 13, 1987
Audrey Nelson - Aug. 14, 1989
Guadalupe Apodaca - Sept. 2, 1989
https://www.christianpost.com/news/1980s-murder-suspect-arrested-samuel-little-cold-case-serial-killer-87891/

Florida
Rosie Hill - 1982
Suspected serial killer confesses to murdering 20-year-old woman in Florida
Patricia Mount - Sept. 12, 1982
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19840118&id=RexQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3-kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4394,833894

Georgia
Kimberly Kessinger - 24-26 May 1982 (found in Georgia/missing out of Florida)
The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search
Fredonia Smith - Aug. 19, 1982
UID - circa 1977
https://www.41nbc.com/2018/11/16/man-confesses-90-homicides-solving-two-macon-cold-cases/

Louisiana
Dorothy Richard - Sept. 14, 1982
Daisy McGuire - Feb. 6, 1996
Suspected serial killer's confessions solve two Louisiana murder cases
Melissa Thomas - 1996
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_495ef8fc-e925-11e8-bada-5747bc629971.html

Maryland
UID - 1972

https://www.cleveland19.com/2018/11/28/maryland-murder-latest-crime-linked-confessed-killer-lorain/
UID – Dec. 1, 1978
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/vicap-links-murders-to-prolific-serial-killer-112718

Mississippi
Melinda LaPree - Sept. 26, 1982
Pascagoula cold case heats up after suspected serial killer is arrested in California
Julia Critchfield - Jan. 22, 1978
She was strangled, thrown in a Coast dirt pit in 1978. Now a suspected serial killer has confessed.
Nancy Carol Stevens - Aug. 8, 2005
https://www.decaturdaily.com/news/morgan_county/decatur/man-who-confessed-to-deaths-says-he-killed-decatur-woman/article_8cef95dd-0e0d-5b90-a6a0-6ab0e5aad8fa.html
UID – Dec. 27, 1977
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/vicap-links-murders-to-prolific-serial-killer-112718

South Carolina
Evelyn Weston - Sept. 18, 1978
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article222013245.html

Tennessee
UID - Found Jan. 19, 1991 (EDD: 80-81)

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/vicap-links-murders-to-prolific-serial-killer-112718

Texas
Denise Brothers - Feb, 1994
https://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Serial-killer-admits-to-slaying-Odessa-woman-in-cold-case-500416562.html
 
Last edited:
The Hunt: Serial killer confesses to 7 unsolved Georgia murders
FBI confirms, a man who claims to be the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history has confessed to more than a half-dozen murders in the state of Georgia, including three in Atlanta.


November 28, 2018

"...Samuel Little’s Georgia confessions*:
(*Indicates confirmed cases linked to Little by the FBI as of Nov. 15, 2018.)

Atlanta, 1981, black female, 35-40 years old
Atlanta, 1983 or 1984, white female, 26 years old (possibly from Griffith, Ga.)
Atlanta, 1984, black female, 23-25 years old, possibly a college student
Savannah, 1974, black female, 22-23 years old
Savannah, 1984, black female, 23 years old
*Macon: 1977, black female, 30-40 years old (matched to a Jane Doe)
*Dade County, 1980 or 1981, black female, 25-30 years old (matched to a Jane Doe)

While the FBI is acknowledging his seven Georgia confessions, there may be at least one more victim in Macon that Little confessed to.

Two Bibb County Sheriff's Office investigators traveled to Texas to interview Little, who told them about two murders he committed in Macon—one in 1977 and another in 1982.

He confessed to the strangulation death of Fredonia Smith on Aug.19, 1982 near Washington Park, according to a report from our Macon station, WMAZ...."

The Hunt: Serial killer confesses to 7 unsolved Georgia murders

55a9619a-0b60-4f54-8e7e-32b6306941cd.jpg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
https://www.google.com/amp/s/articl...ews/2014/09/former_pascagoula_prostitutes.amp

"Our first skeletal remains were found in December 1977, about four months after Little left Pascagoula," he said. "The remains are still unidentified, but that might be another victim. I can only imagine."


http://************************.com...ed-suspect-considered-for-60-vicious-murders/

All the women Little is suspected of killing were beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death, some only days apart. The victims also lived high-risk lifestyles, making them easier targets for the transient Little, authorities said.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/articl...ews/2014/09/former_pascagoula_prostitutes.amp


https://************************.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/samuel-little-2.png?w=584

"He was a thief by day and a murderer by night," Versiga said. "He would steal, steal, steal all day long and then flash his money to get these girls in his car and then strangle them."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/articl...ws/2014/09/samuel_little_gets_three_conse.amp

Little lured his victims with dope and then beat them and strangled them for his sexual pleasure, prosecutors said. He dumped their half-naked bodies in garbage.
this makes me think of little Delta Dawn found in the river , he could have killed her Mom and thrown her in same time frame , same area!
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
185
Guests online
2,347
Total visitors
2,532

Forum statistics

Threads
589,962
Messages
17,928,403
Members
228,020
Latest member
DazzelleShafer
Back
Top