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New Record for Serial Killing, May Have Killed Texas Woman


Kyle

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I understand wanting to find out who he may have killed, but it seems like a waste of our money to prosecute a guy already serving life terms. From the article:

 

A man who has admitted killing more than 90 people, including one from Texas, may be one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history if convicted, officials say.

Samuel Little, 78, made the confessions in a series of interviews with federal authorities and law enforcement from 14 states. Investigators have tied him to about 30 of the crimes so far, but don't doubt the confessions, The New York Times reported.

In May, Texas Ranger James Holland traveled to California where Little was serving three consecutive life sentences for the murders of three women in the 1980s. 

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2018/11/26/man-says-killed-90-may-prolific-serial-killer-us-history

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Man who says he killed more than 90 may be most prolific serial killer in U.S. history

 

A man who has admitted killing more than 90 people, including one from Texas, may be one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history if convicted, officials say. 

Samuel Little

Samuel Little, 78, made the confessions in a series of interviews with federal authorities and law enforcement from 14 states. Investigators have tied him to about 30 of the crimes so far, but don't doubt the confessions, The New York Times reported.

In May, Texas Ranger James Holland traveled to California where Little was serving three consecutive life sentences for the murders of three women in the 1980s. 

During the interview, Little admitted to killing Denise Christie Brothers in Odessa in 1994 and gave details that were never released to the public, officials said. Brothers, 38, was found strangled about a month after her disappearance.

A grand jury indicted Little in July in Brothers' killing. On Monday, he appeared in court in Ector County for a pre-trial hearing, the Odessa American reported. 

Holland was able to use the case "as a catalyst to continue to gain trust and information from Little in order to solve dozens of other cases," Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said in a written statement. 

"Due to the dedicated and tireless work of Ranger Holland and the Texas Rangers, Little will be confirmed as one of, if not the most, prolific serial killers in U.S. history," Bland said.

Gary Ridgway, who became known as the Green River killer, was convicted of 49 murders in Washington State during the 1980s and 1990s, the highest number of murder convictions for an American, the Times reported. 

Serial killer suspected in more than 90 slayings charged in Texas cold case

Little, who has heart disease and diabetes and uses a wheelchair, has been held in the Ector County jail since October when he was transferred from Wise County, where he was being interviewed. 

Investigators have said Little may be talking because he prefers the Texas jail to the environment at the Los Angeles prison where he was serving time. He also appears to enjoy the attention he is getting when he speaks about details only he would know, the Times reported.

Little has been interviewed by authorities from Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Ohio, California, Indiana, Arizona, New Mexico, South Carolina, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department.

"As a result of this investigation, not only did the family of Denise Brothers get answers but so will hundreds of family members know the truth after decades of questions," Bland said.

With a confession from Little in October, authorities in Marion County, Fla., were able to close the book on the August 1982 slaying of 20-year-old Rosie Hill. 

Marion County Sgt. Michael Mongeluzzo traveled to Wise County in October to interview Little who confessed to killing Hill. Her remains were found in a wooded area near a hog pen. 

"It's scary the clarity he has about certain things after all this time," Mongeluzzo told the Times. "He remembers names and faces."

During the interview, Little told Mongeluzzo that God put him on this earth to kill Hill, the Marion County Sheriff's Office said in a written statement.

Authorities had tried to connect Little to Hill's slaying before. Detectives interviewed him in Mississippi, where he had been arrested in December 1982 on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and rape of two prostitutes. Little claimed not to know Hill and there was not enough evidence to charge him in the crime, the sheriff's office said. 

Little won't be charged in Hill's murder now because of the three life sentences and indictment in the Odessa case, the sheriff's office said.

Mongeluzzo told the Times he asked Little how he avoided arrest for so long. He said Little told him, "I can go into my world and do what I want to do. ... I won't go into your world." 

Little is thought to have targeted women who were poor or addicted to drugs or alcohol. Detectives said the former boxer would beat the women before strangling them, the Times reported.

He got sexual gratification from the strangulation, said Los Angeles County prosecutor Beth Silverman who won the three murder convictions against Little.

Little was arrested close to 100 times across the country on charges such as kidnapping, rape and armed robbery, but served less than 10 years in prison. He was arrested and acquitted in a 1983 Florida homicide.

The path to the three murder convictions began after DNA found on the bodies of three women killed in the late '80s matched his, the Los Angeles Times reported. Little, also known as Samuel McDowell, was tracked to a homeless shelter in Kentucky. He was convicted in September 2014 and sentenced to three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

 

 

 

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“I can go into my world and do what I want to do,” Mr. Little said, according to Sergeant Mongeluzzo, describing neighborhoods around the nation where poverty, drug addiction and unsolved murders are common. “I won’t go into your world.”

That's both chilling and telling. No one gives a shit about what happens to the poor, impoverished, disenfranchised. This guy killed 90+ women and no one batted an eye. 

Also, apparently the Texas Ranger that first gained his trust and got him to confess is apparently a total badass. From two years ago:

https://www.wcmessenger.com/2017/news/holland-named-dps-officer-of-the-year/

Holland named DPS officer of the year

Texas Ranger Jim Holland describes 2016 as “a good year.”

“Caught a couple of serial killers, so it was a good year,” he said.

Holland assisted on eight cold cases, and his work helped solve six of them. That included the arrest of three suspects who confessed to the murders.

That work last year contributed to him being named the Department of Public Safety Officer Association 2017 Officer of the Year.

Holland, who is based out of Garland and has an office in Decatur, is one of seven officers in the state assigned to the Unsolved Crime Investigation Program. The program investigates cold murder cases or cases that appear to be linked to serial killers.

Many of the cases he assists with have already been looked at by dozens of investigators.

“My job is to go back through and look at (the case) again to see if anyone missed anything, to find out specifically what they missed and come up with a game plan as to how to work it,” he said.

While he can’t talk about specific ongoing cases or the techniques he uses to bring about a confession, Holland said his specialty is interviewing sociopathic and psychopathic individuals.

He also assists law enforcement agencies who are investigating murders that include ritualistic aspects, dismemberment or any “out-of-the-ordinary” murders, he said.

Last year, Holland assisted Oklahoma law enforcement agencies with cases involving William Reese as a suspect. Reese had been linked to a 2015 murder in Oklahoma, but he was also a suspect in three 1997 murders in Texas. One of those cases involved 20-year-old University of North Texas student Kelli Cox, who was abducted from a convenience store parking lot in Denton.

Holland interrogated Reese, who led the ranger to the buried bodies of Cox and another victim, 17-year-old Jessica Cain, who had been missing from Clear Lake since 1997.

The Cox case is pending in Denton County.

Holland also interrogated Donald Wright, who was a suspect in the 1992 murder of Laura Walsh of White Settlement. Wright confessed to Walsh’s murder as well as two other murders.

In the summer of 2016, Holland assisted Weatherford Police Department on a nearly 30-year-old murder case involving 19-year-old Wendy Robinson. He interviewed suspects and eventually obtained a confession from Ricky Lee Adkins, who was indicted for capital murder last November.

Holland’s work often allows families of the victims to achieve the closure they need, or at least provides them with information about what happened to their loved one.

“When you solve a case, when you dig up a missing loved one, when you get to bring the remains back to their family – I’ve had an opportunity to visit with people afterwards, I don’t know that I can explain the feeling, but it just means everything to them,” Holland said. “I can only imagine what it’s like – 20 years ago you kiss your daughter goodbye and that’s the last time you see her. What those families go through – it would be a horrible thing for someone to experience the murder of a loved one. The only thing that I could imagine that would be worse than that is not knowing what happened.”

Holland said he has enjoyed the opportunity to work with really good homicide investigators not only in Texas, but around the country.

Holland assisted the Pennsylvania State Police on a cold case murder dating back to Oct. 19, 1968. Boyd resident Richard Keiper was arrested and ultimately convicted of the murder of Alfred Barnes. Keiper, who lived in Pennsylvania at the time of the murder, is now serving a life sentence.

Edited by irishtexan
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1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

Serial killers must have had a field day in the Old West.

There an account of a serial killing family in the west back in 18something or other. They put themselves out as a tavern of some sort. Guests would be seated at a table in front of a curtain.  

Behind the curtain was brother Cletus who'd crush the unsuspecting victims skull in with an ax or maul of some sort. Robbery was the motive I believe, but apparently lots and lots of victims. 

"Why don't he write any more...."

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