With white hair and beard, wrinkles and a wheelchair, a 78-year-old man named Samuel Little could be one of the biggest serial killers in US history. In 2014, after being sentenced to life in prison for three murders that took place in the 1980s, Little confessed to investigators another portion of violent crimes.

With a criminal history that began in 1956, Samuel has a long list of misdemeanors. Crimes include robberies, shoplifting, fraud, drug-related crimes, solicitation (when someone pays or induces another person to commit an offense), and charges of breach of residence.

Sinister

His arrest did not take place until September 2012, in a hostel in the state of Kentucky. At this time, the prosecution referred to crimes involving narcotics. It was during Little's custody that Los Angeles Police Department detectives got DNA samples. The genetic material eventually linked the man to three unresolved homicides that occurred in 1987 and 1989. The victims were women who were beaten and then strangled, their bodies were later spawned in places like alleys and parking lots.

In addition to DNA, the testimony of other women who survived Samuel's assault was crucial to his conviction 2 years later, in 2014. The killer was constantly on the move, always moving from place to place, roaming dozens of states and never stayed in one place for long. By the time of his conviction, the FBI had already raised a warning for the pattern that had formed between his moves and the various unresolved homicides in the country.

Among them, a 1994 murder in Odessa, Texas, drew the attention of investigators. Denise Christie Brothers had been killed in the same way as the three Los Angeles victims. The strangled body was found in an empty parking lot. During the investigation of the case, police conducted a series of interviews with Little, who ended up confessing dozens of other deaths with their details.

Samuel reported during the interviews that he had killed at least 90 women. Their victims were usually marginalized, involved in drugs or prostitution. The deaths occurred nationwide, from Los Angeles to Miami, from Houston to Cleveland, and over several years. The criminal managed to go unnoticed, according to his confession, from 1970 to 2005. Despite his "collaboration", only 34 murders were confirmed by the authorities.

Map shows places where Samuel reportedly killed women, according to his confessions (FBI)

Although confused about the dates, Samuel Little - aka Samuel McDowell - remembers the victims in detail and how he killed them. In July 2018, he was finally charged with the murder in Odessa. Authorities are now in the process of verifying the other murders, and no further formal charges have been made - yet. Diseased, the criminal remains imprisoned in Texas, while investigators conduct almost daily interviews seeking more details about his confessions.

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