Samuel Little

Samuel Little
Little in 2012
Born
Samuel McDowell

(1940-06-07)June 7, 1940
Reynolds, Georgia, U.S.
DiedDecember 30, 2020(2020-12-30) (aged 80)
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Other namesSamuel McDowell
The Choke-and-Stroke Killer
Mr. Sam
Known forBeing the most prolific serial killer in United States history by number of confirmed victims
Conviction(s)Murder (x8)
Criminal penaltyFour life sentences without the possibility of parole
Details
Victims60 confirmed
93 claimed and suspected[1][2]
Span of crimes
1970 – 2005 (confirmed)
1960 – 2012 (possible)[3][4]
CountryUnited States
State(s)California, Texas, and Ohio (convicted)
Sixteen others (accused)[3]
Date apprehended
September 5, 2012

Samuel Little (né McDowell; June 7, 1940 – December 30, 2020) was an American serial killer of women who confessed to committing 93 murders between 1970 and 2005.[5] The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program has confirmed his involvement in at least 60 murders, the largest number of confirmed victims for any serial killer in American history.[2][6][7][8][9][10] Little provided sketches for twenty-six of his victims although not all have been linked to known murders.[1][11][12]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference vicap was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Warren, David (June 7, 2019). "Prosecutor: More than 60 deaths now linked to serial killer". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 90plus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Caniglia June7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Samuel Little: FBI confirms 'most prolific' US serial killer". BBC News. London, England: BBC. October 8, 2019. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  6. ^ Almasy, Steve; Lynch, Jamiel (June 7, 2019). "Confessed serial killer Samuel Little now linked to 60 deaths of women". CNN. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference O'Rourke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Allyn, Bobby (June 7, 2019). "'Most Prolific Serial Killer' in America Confesses to Murdering 5 More Women in Ohio". NPR. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Levenson, Eric; Johnston, Chuck (November 28, 2018). "A convicted murderer says he killed 90 people and got away with it. The FBI believes him". CNN. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2018. In all, Little confessed to about 90 murders in that interview and in others, according to the Texas Rangers and the FBI.
  10. ^ Lowery, Wesley; Knowles, Hannah; Berman, Mark (November 30, 2020). "How America's deadliest serial killer went undetected for four decades". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Indifferent Justice Part 1: The Perfect Victim
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference fbi1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "New Details Released in Unsolved Samuel Little Murders". Texas Department of Public Safety. December 1, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2022.