The most prolific serial killer in the United States, Samuel Little, confessed to a slew of nearly 90 murders that spanned across half a century. How could someone possibly live with the guilt, let alone evade arrest for so long? His shocking revelations about the events that occurred decades ago will give you chills.
Who is Samuel Little?
Samuel Little was born in Reynolds, Georgia in 1940. He had a difficult childhood. His mother was a “lady of the night” as Little described, and when his family moved to Lorain, Ohio, several problems arose…
His Crimes Started Young
When Little moved to Ohio, he was mostly raised by his grandmother. He struggled with behavioral issues and lack of motivation in junior high school, and was convicted of breaking and entering on a property in 1956. He never thought the consequences would be this bad…
Juvenile Detention Center
After breaking and entering, Samuel was detained in a Juvenile Detention Center in Omaha, Nebraska. But his problems would only go downhill from here.
Never Finding His Purpose
After his release, Samuel moved to Florida and worked a string of odd jobs. He took up positions as a cemetery worker, an ambulance attendant, and a day laborer. But the stability of a job still didn’t help him clean up his act…
Building a Criminal Record
Samuel traveled frequently and had several run-ins with the law. He was arrested in 8 states for a shocking list of crimes…
The Start of Something Evil
Samuel’s initial crimes were for driving under the influence, fraud, shoplifting, solicitation, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and rape. While in prison, he took up boxing and referred to himself as a prizefighter.
The First Disappearances
In 1982, Samuel was arrested and charged in Pascagoula, Mississippi for the murder of 22 year-old prostitute Melinda LaPree, who had gone missing a few months prior. However, Samuel was not indicted…
How Could He Get Away?
Samuel was never indicted for LaPree’s murder. While under investigation, he was transferred to be brought to trial for another murder…
The Rising Death Tolls
Over the next several years, Samuel was tried for the murders of 26 year-old Patricia Mount, 22 year-old Laurie Barros, Carol Elford, and Guadalupe Apodoca. He was acquitted every time. Until…
Justice, They Thought
Samuel served 2.5 years for the murder of Barros, but when he was released it is believed that he immediately went on to murder ten more women. He was arrested again based on evidence from the previous murder of Carol Elford, but that was only the beginning…
A Shocking Confession
By the late 1980s, Samuel was tested for involvement in 60 murders of women committed across several US states. But still, that wasn’t the last of the incriminating evidence.
Taken To Court
Samuel’s trial for the deaths of Elford, Nelson and Apodaca began in September 2014. The prosecution presented the DNA testing results as well as testimony of witnesses who were attacked by the accused at different times throughout his criminal career…
The Verdict
On September 25, 2014, Little was found guilty and was sentenced life imprisonment without possibility of parole. On the day of the verdict, Little continued to insist on his innocence. As of 2016, Little was serving a sentence in California. The verdict stood until recently…
Never-Ending Information
Authorities wonder just how someone with such a high body count could go on killing women in the same calculated way without ever getting caught. The secret lies in where Samuel found his victims…
What All the Victims Had in Common
Samuel had a very specific type of victim. He preyed on women who were impoverished, addicted to drugs, or homeless, because he knew that population of people rarely were reported missing and the cases were usually not looked into. But that isn’t even the worst part…
He Thought He Was a Hero
Samuel said he chose victims who were so down and out because he felt like HE was chosen to end their lives, and that they’d been waiting for him to finish the job. Nobody would ever find out, and he would be doing them a favor.
Authorities Never Caught On
Because Samuel chose his victims carefully, police reports never came in regarding a missing homeless woman or a drug addict. Samuel thought he was the perfect killer…
A Gruesome End
Samuel’s preferred method of killing his victims was to punch them and knock them unconscious and then strangle them intermittently until they eventually dead. The FBI wrote off those deaths as drug overdoses, accidents, or natural causes if a body never turned up…
Cruel and Calculated
Samuel even chose victims with a specific type of neck that he found appealing to him. That alone is enough to make your skin crawl…
Later Confessions
On November 9, 2018, Samuel confessed to several murders that had since been unsolved. He admitted to dozens of killings and authorities now believe he is connected to potentially 90 deaths across the United States between 1970 and 2005.
Confessions Confirmed
On November 27, 2018, the FBI announced that they had confirmed 34 of Samuel’s confessions. Samuel was revealing information in exchange for a transfer out of the Los Angeles County Prison where he was being held.
More Victims Identified
Samuel confessed to killing several women in Ohio and transporting their bodies to other states, or to simply dumping their corpses in a vacant location. He was both extremely calculated and sometimes extremely careless…
He Still Remembers Every Detail
While in prison, Samuel spends his time drawing the women he’s killed. He wants to keep them close. He never wants to forget what he’s done…
Samuel Little Isn’t Unique
Ted Bundy also tried to draw out his sentence in exchange for information. Here’s a look at his chilling case…
A Charismatic Young Man
Ted Bundy was a promising young law student. He was smart, charismatic, and handsome. He seemed to have everything going for him…
Love At First Sight
Bundy even had a long-term girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer. They met at a bar and it was love at first sight. The two were together for years, Bundy even acting as a father to Elizabeth’s young daughter.
A Troubled Childhood
Bundy’s mother was only a teenager when he was born, and she left him in an orphanage for the first three months of his life. The issue of his paternity has been questioned for decades, with one theory stating that it’s possible his own grandfather is actually his father.
Something Not Quite Right
Though friends and neighbors agreed Ted was a charming young boy, there was something not quite right about him. His Aunt Julia recalls a moment when she woke up from a nap and three year old Ted had surrounded her with kitchen knives. But it gets worse…
An Abusive Grandfather
The case of Sam Cowell, Ted’s grandfather, is incredibly dark. Ted worshipped him despite his explosive anger and his violent outbursts. There are stories of Cowell kicking neighborhood dogs and swinging cats around by their tails…
An Estranged Mother
When Ted found out his mother hadn’t been married when he was born, it caused a major rift in their relationship, which had been strained to begin with. Could this have been what set him off? The need for his mother while still feeling repulsed by her…
The Making of a Predator
Ted was frustrated by the clean-cut lifestyle of the 1950’s. He wanted to fit in, but had trouble navigating friendships and relationships. He had a quick temper and his friends knew it. He would regularly take bike rides through his neighborhood alone…
A Confused Adolescent
By the time Ted was a teenager, he had lots of feelings about girls that he didn’t know how to express. There were instances when he’d try to assault his female classmates because he didn’t know how else to get their attention, and as a result he was beaten up.
When Love Equals Force
Eventually, Ted outgrew the awkward boy who couldn’t talk to girls. He learned that he didn’t have to talk in order to get what he wanted. Violent fantasies filled his head and he assumed loving someone meant controlling them…
His First Victim
Ted Bundy’s victims were all young women, typically brunette. During his early killings, he would break into their windows and beat and rape them. He even broke into a sorority house and killed two women.
His Tactics
In extreme cases, Bundy would pretend to be an injured hitchhiker and lure women back to his car under the impression that they were going to “help” him. Then he would beat and kidnap them and take them to a wooded location and kill them and leave the body…
The Trial
Bundy served as his own lawyer and fought incessantly for his innocence. He had an answer to every question in order to prove he wasn’t guilty. He was sporadic and charming and his trial was televised, turning him into a sort of celebrity. Women thought he was an attractive criminal.
His Bizarre Marriage
While on the stand, Bundy asked Carole Ann Boone to marry him. If anything, it was simply a tactic to make more of a spectacle of himself. The judge found him ridiculous and arrogant, but viewers ate it up.
An Expected Ending
Bundy was of course, not innocent. He’d committed every crime he’d been accused of, but refused to ever come clean in order to push off incarceration or the death penalty. Little did he know his efforts would be useless…
One Last Confession
After being found guilty and sentenced to live in prison along with the death penalty, Bundy did his best to push off his execution by incrementally giving up information about murders he hadn’t already confessed to…
The Electric Chair
On the night of the execution, Bundy confessed to every murder he was accused of and more. He confessed to his old girlfriend Liz Kloepfer and his mother. It wasn’t enough to buy him more time.
Idealizing Serial Killer Culture
In recent years pop culture has taken on a fixation with serial killers. Why? Is it the fascination with how their minds work? Is it the way we like to scare ourselves?
Zac Efron Portrays Ted Bundy
Casting Zac Efron as Ted Bundy is problematic – he’s attractive, and the whole reason Ted Bundy was celebritized was because of his looks. Netflix seems to be playing right into that…
Historical Accuracies
Though this is a fictionalized take on the Ted Bundy case, much of the plot remains accurate to historical events. That is not always the case for other serial killer biopics…
“My Friend Dahmer”
It’s difficult to tell if this biopic is an accurate depiction of Jeffrey Dahmer’s youth, because there isn’t much documentation on his childhood.
Casting Familiar Faces
Ross Lynch is a rising actor and familiar face to younger audiences, which is most likely why he was cast. But that also idealizes the image of Jeffrey Dahmer, making him appear as a coveted Hollywood role when really the effect his crimes had on numerous families should be respected.
“Zodiac”
“Zodiac” places the real events of the Zodiac Killer in the plot of a murder-mystery film, most likely because the case remains unsolved. However, there are real victims and real families who might not appreciate the adaptation.
“The Haunting of Sharon Tate”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of actress Sharon Tate’s death at the hands of Charles Manson. Tate’s sister released a statement claiming she feels the film is tasteless and disrespectful of Sharon’s image and their family.
“The Lovely Bones”
“The Lovely Bones” is loosely based around true events, though the dramatization of Sebold’s murder and the fanfare behind the subsequent film overshadow the real life story of a real death.
“Psycho”
“Psycho” is based on the real life murderer Ed Gein, portrayed in the fictional character of Norman Bates.
“Monster”
“Monster” details the life of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a woman who murdered her husband and several lovers while on the run.
“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer”
Baesd on the true events of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, Lucas claims to have confessed to nearly 600 murders. It turns out, many of his confessions were false.
“Halloween”
“Halloween” and the infamous Michael Myers are based on the real killer Edmund Kemper.
“To Catch a Killer”
“To Catch a Killer” is based on the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who strangled at least 33 young boys.
“The Silence of the Lambs”
The killer in this film, Buffalo Bill, is based on Gary Michael Heidnik, who confined and tortured six women.
“The Boston Strangler”
The killer behind this film is real-life Albert DeSalvo. He killed 13 women by sneaking into their homes with no sign of forced entry from 1962-64.
“The Deliberate Stranger”
The killer in this film is based on Ted Bundy. It follows Bundy’s trial and is fairly accurate. It details how Bundy killed 30+ women and his various tactics to entice them.
“Wolf Creek”
“Wolf Creek” is based on killer Ivan Milat, who committed the “backpacker murders.” Currently serving seven consecutive life sentences, Milat murdered seven young people in Australia from 1989 to 1993.
“Summer of Sam”
 “Summer of Sam” is about serial killer David Berkowitz. In 1976, he killed six people and wounded eight using a .44 caliber revolver. He also sent insulting letters to the police as they tried to find the killer. In 1977, police arrested Berkowitz, who said he’d followed orders from a demon who took the form of a dog named Sam.
“Eaten Alive”
Eaten Alive is about a hotel owner who murders people and feeds them to his crocodile. The film is inspired by Texas saloon owner Joe Ball, who kept six alligators in his pond.