WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.800 For more than four decades, a string of murders of 2 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:14.160 vulnerable women across the United States when unsolved and for 3 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:19.839 the most part, unnoticed too. Police in different states investigated 4 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:23.879 these deaths in isolation, never realizing they were chasing a single, 5 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.559 elusive killer. It wasn't until twenty twelve that a cold 6 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:32.600 case DNA match finally put a name to the phantom responsible. 7 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:38.000 The man would eventually confess to murdering a total of 8 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:43.000 ninety three women between nineteen seventy and two thousand and five, 9 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.159 making him the most prolific serial killer in the United 10 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:53.679 States history by confirmed victim count. This is the true 11 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:59.200 story of Samuel Little. My name's Ben, I'm. 12 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.640 Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true 13 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.000 crime podcast. 14 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:07.680 The following. 15 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:35.400 Material in more material audience listener discretion. Well, I didn't 16 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.599 get the memo to do it earlier here, Well, I. 17 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.519 You weren't supposed to. I did mine, then you did yours. 18 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:42.719 It's separated a little bit, you know. 19 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.000 Happy American Thanksgiving? 20 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.799 Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving for everyone down south. We got a all. 21 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:51.599 Our friends, which is the majority of you. 22 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:53.719 Really Well, I was going to say, we've got an 23 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.799 interesting case to celebrate the occasion. Yeah, the most prolific 24 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:01.400 us serial killer for your Thanksgiving. 25 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:05.319 I guess, well Thanksgiving was yesterday. Today's Black Friday. So 26 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.120 I think it's okay. I think we're all right. 27 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:09.199 I hope everyone's getting some good deals today. 28 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:09.759 Yeah. 29 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:12.000 Black Friday has changed a lot in the recent years. 30 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.240 Have you noticed that with online shopping and everything and 31 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:15.400 consumerism changing. 32 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:15.960 Mm hmm. 33 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:18.400 There's not like stampedes for things anymore. 34 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.199 No, my email inbox is just lit to be honest, 35 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:25.159 but it's honestly been that way for at least a week. 36 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:28.280 So it starts quite a bit earlier. And while we're 37 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:32.479 in Canada and we still pretty much celebrate Black Friday, 38 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:34.800 I guess just for the Black Friday part of it. 39 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.199 Well know, it's more of a corporate thing, you know, 40 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.719 trying to get the sales, the consumerism, all that sort 41 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:43.560 of stuff. So it's spread beyond the United States, to 42 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.120 say the least. And regardless, I hope you're getting some 43 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:49.599 good deals, but be wary because of course companies are like, 44 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.800 oh my gosh, this item is only two hundred dollars 45 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.240 right now, regular five hundred. Yeah, they just tack that 46 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:58.719 five hundred on to make it look like they can. Yeah, 47 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.280 it's always been two hundred dollars. So be warry, be smart, 48 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.199 and get the good deals, the good deals, not the 49 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:04.639 fake one. 50 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:09.199 My best deals were Lululemon. I got some smoke and deals. 51 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:10.000 Well I'm glad. 52 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:11.639 I think you thought I was in there working and 53 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.039 you came to see what I was doing and I 54 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:13.879 was like just shopping. 55 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.319 Yeah, that was an interesting little endeavor. But hey, you 56 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:19.360 got deals. That's what matters, right, Yeah. 57 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:20.919 Well I needed it anyway, so it. 58 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:24.520 Was perfect touche. All right, Well, I think we should 59 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:26.520 get on with the show instead of talking about our 60 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.639 shopping habits and everything. Yes, this is quite the. 61 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:31.960 Case, it sounds. So. 62 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:36.159 I really like to focus on victims when I talk 63 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:41.439 about cases. Unfortunately, with a case this massive, it's pretty 64 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.319 much impossible to focus solely on the victims. So this 65 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.080 is unfortunately focused more on the killer in this one, 66 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.400 So heads up on that. But I do talk about 67 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:51.639 the victims as much as I can. 68 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:54.039 Well, yeah, that's fair enough. 69 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:58.759 Okay, So with that, let's get going. Samuel Little was 70 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:03.280 born on June seventh, nineteen forty, in Reynolds, Georgia. He 71 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:06.039 was also known by his last name Samuel McDowell, which 72 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:10.960 was his father's surname. Now, Samuel's childhood was troubled. He 73 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.120 later claimed that his mother was a sex worker, but 74 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:16.800 the nineteen forty census listed her occupation as a maid, 75 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.399 so it's hard to really say for sure. She could 76 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:21.959 have definitely been doing it on the side right now. 77 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.439 As an infant, he was abandoned by his mother and 78 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:29.519 was raised by his grandmother in Lorain, Ohio. By his 79 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:33.519 teenage years, Samuel had started down a delinquent path, and 80 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.160 he was soon sent to a reform school, the Boys 81 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:39.759 Industrial School in Ohio. It was in nineteen fifty four, 82 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:42.959 and he was sent there for stealing a bicycle. There, 83 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:47.959 he also racked up a dozen or so of disciplinary infractions. Then, 84 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.040 in nineteen fifty six, at the age of sixteen, he 85 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:53.560 was arrested for breaking and entering and ended up at 86 00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:58.920 a youth authority facility for burglary. Samuel's early adulthood was 87 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:02.199 marked by frequent run ins with the law across multiple states. 88 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:05.759 In fact, he drifted around the country doing odd jobs, 89 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.079 at one point working as a cemetery caretaker and even 90 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:12.639 as an ambulance attendant. But he mainly supported himself through 91 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:16.720 his criminal endeavors. By nineteen seventy five, at the age 92 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:20.000 of thirty five, he'd been arrested a total of twenty 93 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.079 six times in eleven separate states, for charges ranging from 94 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:29.519 theft to fraud, to assault and even attempted rape. Needless 95 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.279 to say, he was a repeat offender. I was gonna 96 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:34.199 say repeated offender, but I mean either way. 97 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:37.560 Yeah, that's quite a rap sheet there, definitely for a 98 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.439 pretty young age, oh for sure. 99 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:43.639 Now, during one of his prison terms, he had a 100 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.759 stint as a boxer, which honed a lot of powerful 101 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:51.120 punches and techniques that he would eventually use on his victims. 102 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.800 But despite this extensive criminal record, Samuel managed to avoid 103 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.600 long term incarceration for decades. In fact, throughout his life 104 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:04.160 he would be arrested over one hundred times, yet in total, 105 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.800 spent less than ten years in jail before his final capture. 106 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.079 That's such bullshit. How often do we hear that? Hey? 107 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:13.439 All too often? 108 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:15.759 Unfortunately, I just can't understand that. 109 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:21.040 Now, authorities often treated his offenses as transient troubles. He'd 110 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.879 serve short stints or skirt serious punishment, then move along 111 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:26.800 to a new city. To go through it all again. 112 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.759 This pattern of brief arrests and release, well, it allowed 113 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:35.160 him to remain free and dangerous for an alarmingly long time. 114 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.519 Right from the beginning, though, there were signs of the 115 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:42.959 violent impulses that would later define Samuel's crimes. He would 116 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:46.920 later confess that he had sexual fantasies about strangling women, 117 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:50.480 starting all the way back to his childhood, an obsession 118 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.279 that would grow as he got older. In nineteen sixty six, 119 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.439 he was arrested in Cleveland for assaulting woman, hinting at 120 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:01.199 his tendencies for violence against women even in his twenties. Now, 121 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:07.000 Samuel himself described outright experiencing quote strong desires to choke women, 122 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:10.839 and that it was a compulsion that he couldn't exactly control. Now, 123 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:14.519 these dark fantasies, they went unchecked, and eventually they turned 124 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.480 into real acts of violence as he moved from you know, 125 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:21.800 the petty crimes into more serial ones, being more murder. 126 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:25.360 What the fuck? We just have these people running around 127 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:30.439 that are just envisioning strangling women. We do, okay, Well, 128 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:32.879 that makes us, That makes me feel great. 129 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:37.079 Now. Samuel's first known murder took place at the dawn 130 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:41.240 of the nineteen seventies. On New Year's Eve nineteen seventy, 131 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.759 in the Miami area of Florida, he met a thirty 132 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.959 three year old woman named Mary Brosly at a bar. Now. 133 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.240 Mary was a mother of two from Massachusetts who had 134 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:54.160 fallen on hard times and became a strange from her family. 135 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:58.879 Samuel was drawn to her petite, vulnerable appearance. She was 136 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.839 very small, in fact, kind of frail, where she was 137 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:04.240 weighing barely eighty pounds in total at the time. She's 138 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:07.199 very small, and perhaps he was also drawn to the 139 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.800 fact that she was living on society's margins, you know, 140 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.000 potentially unlike to be missed quickly, especially as if she disappeared. 141 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.360 So after some time talking at the bar, he offered 142 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.160 her a ride and she went along with them, probably 143 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:23.759 expecting nothing more than a short drive or maybe an 144 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:26.639 intimate encounter with someone she just met at a bar. 145 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:27.720 Yep. 146 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.000 Instead, however, Samuel drove her to a secluded area near 147 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:36.360 the Everglades. There his long harbored fantasy of strangulation. While 148 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:39.360 it became a reality once they were alone in that 149 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:44.320 remote stretch near the Everglades, he attacked. He easily overpowered 150 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.200 her as his hands tightened around her neck and began 151 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:52.600 squeezing until she stopped breathing and stopped moving. Now, after 152 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.519 the killing, he dragged her body from the vehicle to 153 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:57.759 a secluded patch of the woods and left her in 154 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:01.159 a shallow grave concealed by branches and brush. There was 155 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.960 no rush or panic, just cold calculation. Then he got 156 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.759 back in his vehicle and drove away as if nothing 157 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:08.600 had happened. 158 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:10.480 Oh that's brutal. 159 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:15.240 Now. Mary Brosely's remains were found on January twenty fourth, 160 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:18.840 nineteen seventy one, in the wooded area near Miami, but 161 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:21.240 at the time she was not identified and her murder 162 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:24.600 received very little attention. In fact, she remained a Jane 163 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.720 Doe for decades. It wasn't until twenty seventeen that advances 164 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:33.279 in forensic testings finally identified those nineteen seventy one skeletal 165 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:36.000 remains that were Mary Broseley. 166 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.120 That is so sad hey exactly. 167 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:42.759 Now. By then, Samuel was in custody, and in twenty 168 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:48.120 eighteen he would formally confess to killing her. Now authorities 169 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.240 now recognize Mary as Samuel's first murder victim, But back 170 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.679 in nineteen seventy one, However, there was no suspect and 171 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:58.200 no connection made to a larger pattern. Her death, like 172 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:02.000 so many of Samuel's early victim slipped through the cracks. 173 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:04.080 Well, and that was his intention, right as you mentioned 174 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:05.679 exactly now. 175 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.840 After her murder, Samuel Little continued to roam the country 176 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.320 throughout the nineteen seventies, leaving a trail of victims in 177 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:16.559 his wake. Many of these crimes remain only partially documented 178 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.519 because Samuel prayed on women who lived on the fringes, 179 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.240 you know, sex workers, runaways, or women struggling with addiction, 180 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.240 and in some cases, their deaths were not initially even 181 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:30.120 recorded as homicides at all. Samuel later claimed that during 182 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.759 the nineteen seventies he even quote lost count of how 183 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.039 many people he had killed. He specifically confessed to multiple 184 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:40.000 murders in Florida and the Midwest during this period, Though 185 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:44.120 many of the victim's names remain unknown, what is clear 186 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.200 is that Samuel deliberately targeted those he believed the police 187 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.159 and society were less likely to care about, something we 188 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:55.639 see all too often when it comes to monsters like this. 189 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:00.960 As one FBI analysis put it, Samuel thought uote no 190 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.720 one was accounting for his victims end quote, which for 191 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.960 many years he was sadly true. He chose women who 192 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.039 might not have strong family support or media attention, so 193 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.919 their disappearances, you know, they attracted very little scrutiny. And 194 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.399 this strategy would ultimately let him operate in the shadows 195 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:25.399 for an extremely long time. His EMMO was already established 196 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:28.039 in this area. He's a former boxer who would often 197 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:32.440 knock out his victims with a punch, stun or incapacitate them, 198 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.480 and then strangle them to death with his large, powerful hands. 199 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:39.279 He usually did not use weapons or leave obvious injuries 200 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.960 like stab wounds or gunshot wounds. Now, this lack of 201 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:46.639 visible trauma it meant that some of his victims' deaths 202 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:52.399 were in fact even misclassified by authorities potential drug overdoses, accidents, 203 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:56.279 or even natural causes. In some cases, the women's bodies 204 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:59.960 were not even immediately found or ever found at all. 205 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.240 All of these factors, the profile, the method of killing, 206 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.480 the transient lifestyle, the mislabeling of deaths, it made it 207 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:11.559 extraordinarily difficult for law enforcement to detect a serial killer 208 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:15.360 at work, and with that, he simply kept under the 209 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:20.519 radar in the nineteen seventies and honestly even today, which 210 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.720 is sad to think about, some police departments might chalk 211 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:27.159 up a lone woman's death to an unfortunate circumstance and 212 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.480 never realized that a roaming killer could potentially be responsible. 213 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.320 One early example of how Samuel slipped through the system 214 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:38.399 can be seen in a nineteen seventy seven case in Miami, Florida. 215 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.120 In that year, Samuel picked up a seventeen year old 216 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:46.879 runaway girl named Dorothy Gibson near Miami bus Station. He 217 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:51.120 later confessed that after agreeing to some sex, he attacked 218 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:54.360 and strangled Dorothy, dumping her body in bushes behind a motel. 219 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.759 At the time, however, police did not link the crime 220 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:01.399 to Samuel. In fact, they pursued a different suspect, a 221 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:06.080 mentally impaired man named Jerry Frank Townsend, who ended up 222 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:11.480 falsely confessing to Dorothy's murder among others under police pressure. 223 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:16.639 Oh man, Okay, so he's all like, let alone, going 224 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.879 about killing all these people, but he's also putting other people, 225 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:26.120 making other people seem responsible for their his crimes. Well, 226 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:28.600 not him, but that you know, it's getting mixed up. 227 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:31.399 Yeah, he's not out there framing people. I do want 228 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.679 to clarify it. Yeah, but other people are being pinned 229 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:35.720 on these murders. 230 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:39.519 Yes, and they're just completely innocent. Oh my goodness. 231 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:43.679 So Jerry he was convicted and spent twenty two years 232 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:47.080 in prisons for crimes he did not commit, including the murder, 233 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:51.240 the murder of Dorothy Gibson. Now decades later, Jerry was 234 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.440 thankfully exonerated and the case was reopened. 235 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.080 But still twenty two years, that is so long, and 236 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:01.320 it would probably been like his prime year. Yeah, exactly, 237 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.240 middle aged kind of thing, right, like free. 238 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:09.279 So with Samuel's later confessions in twenty eighteen, it it 239 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.320 did become evident that Dorothy Gibson was actually a victim 240 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.320 of Samuel. So it also it helped clear Jerry's name 241 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.360 in that aspect too. Not only was he exonerated, but people, 242 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:21.879 you know, still had speculation. So he's exonerated, he's out there, 243 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:25.399 and then finally the reveal of here's the real killer. 244 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.879 It helped finally clear that slate. 245 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.120 But still I don't know, I don't even know. I 246 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.159 would be so bitter. I don't even know how it 247 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.480 could go on. That'd be to my life. 248 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:38.879 Yeah, it'd be really tough now. This tragic miscarriage of 249 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.320 justice shows how in the nineteen seventies, even when authorities 250 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:46.039 tried to solve a murder well in Samuel's wake, they 251 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:48.919 caught the wrong person, allowing a true killer to remain free. 252 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:53.679 And throughout the nineteen seventies, Samuel continued to evade serious consequences. 253 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.200 In September of nineteen seventy six, he was arrested, though 254 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:01.159 it was in Missouri for assaulting woman who survived a 255 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:04.159 brutal attack at his hands. He had choked her with 256 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.080 an electrical cord and raped her. Yet he served only 257 00:15:08.279 --> 00:15:14.039 three months in prison for this violent crime. Incidents like 258 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:19.039 this reinforced Samuel's confidence massively. The fact that he could 259 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.960 do this, get caught, then get away with it was huge. 260 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:25.279 He must have felt like he could get away with 261 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:30.240 almost anything at that point. By the early nineteen eighty 262 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.519 Samuel Little had been killing for over a decade already, 263 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.240 yet he was still not even on law enforcement's radar 264 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.879 as a serial killer. However, this period did bring some 265 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:42.639 close calls with the law that could have ended his 266 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:47.279 deadly spree much sooner, if only they'd gone differently. In fact. 267 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:51.240 In nineteen eighty two, Samuel found himself facing murder charges 268 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:55.559 for the very first time, but he managed to slip 269 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:58.399 away due to a lack of evidence and a shaky 270 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:02.840 witness testimony. It was in November of nineteen eighty two 271 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.440 Samuel was arrested for shoplifting in Pascagoula, Mississippi, But this 272 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.120 routine arrest took an unexpected turn when local authorities realized 273 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:16.759 he matched the description of a suspect in an unsolved homicide. 274 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.840 The case was the recent murder of twenty two year 275 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:23.320 old Melinda Rose Laprie, a young woman who'd gone missing 276 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:27.919 in Pascagola in September of nineteen eighty two. So, with 277 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:31.799 Samuel now in custody, police in Mississippi decided to charge 278 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:35.840 him with Laprie's murder. It was a significant development, a 279 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:39.639 potential break in a murder case, and possibly the first 280 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:44.679 time Samuel was formally accused of one of his killings. However, 281 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.960 the evidence they had didn't hold up, and by nineteen 282 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.639 eighty three, a grand jury in Mississippi declined to indict 283 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:56.559 Samuel Little from Melinda Laprize's murder, citing lack of concrete 284 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.559 evidence tying him to the crime. The case then went 285 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:05.240 cold yet again. Now years later, though after Samuel's confessions, 286 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:10.240 Mississippi investigators did reopen the case, confirming that Samuel had 287 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.599 indeed killed her. But in nineteen eighty two and eighty three, 288 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:15.400 the conclusion was different. 289 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.720 How do people like this? They some of them, they 290 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:22.559 just seem like they get so lucky and they don't 291 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:23.079 deserve that. 292 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:25.400 Even in the least, there seems to be a lot 293 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:27.440 of luck on his side. Yeah, for sure. 294 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:29.839 I don't know. It just makes you feel like, what 295 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:33.039 the hell is karmauff? You know these people are getting 296 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:33.720 luck like this? 297 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.279 Well, just u eight because this story is just starting 298 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:42.720 to unfold now. After this trial, although Mississippi had released Samuel, 299 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:45.960 they did not set him free outright because while he 300 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.359 was still a suspect in Laprize's murder, authorities discovered that 301 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:53.559 Samuel was wanted in Florida for other charges relating to 302 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:57.440 another woman's death. So once this trial ended and he 303 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:00.599 was found not guilty because of lack of evidence, he 304 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:03.839 was then extradited to Florida to stand trial for the 305 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:07.680 murder of twenty six year old Patricia Ann Mount. Now, 306 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.359 Patricia had been seen in Samuel's company on the night 307 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:14.359 she disappeared in nineteen eighty two, and her beaten, partially 308 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:17.920 nude body was found in a field in Alchuca County, Florida. 309 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.039 It was in September of that year when she was found, 310 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:26.160 and at trial, several prosecution witnesses testified they saw Samuel 311 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:30.440 with Patricia on the evening before she was killed, and 312 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.119 for a moment, it seemed like Samuel might finally be 313 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:39.279 held accountable for murder. However, the Florida case against Samuel 314 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:44.079 crumbled as well. In January of nineteen eighty four, after 315 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:48.240 a short trial, a jury acquitted Samuel Little of Patricia 316 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:53.799 Mount's murder. Jurors later said they distrusted the witness's credibility, 317 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:57.279 and there was no physical evidence like DNA available in 318 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.759 nineteen eighty four, and the case wasn't strong enough to convict, 319 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:06.519 so the verdict came swiftly. Reportedly, after less than thirty 320 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:11.000 minutes of deliberation, the jury found that he was not 321 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:12.680 guilty on all charges. 322 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:15.480 Really, yeah, dang. 323 00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:19.640 So Samuel Little walked out of that Florida courtroom a 324 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:24.240 free man. For him, it was another lucky break, but 325 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:29.039 for law enforcement it was a huge missed opportunity. If 326 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:34.000 he had been convicted in nineteen eighty four, dozens of 327 00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:39.759 subsequent murders might have been prevented. Instead, Samuel took the 328 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:44.319 acquittal as affirmation that he could continue his violent ways 329 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:46.279 without getting caught. 330 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:49.039 Well, yeah, he could literally just get away with anything 331 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:50.240 at this point. 332 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:53.079 Well, you know, convincible, as the saying goes can get 333 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:56.359 away with murder. Yeah, literally, this is how it's applying. 334 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.279 Oh, it makes me angry that they would have had 335 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.400 that little evidence, I guess for the jury to only 336 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:04.920 have deliberate, deliberate thirty minutes. 337 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:08.039 Yeah, it speaks volumes on what sort of evidence they 338 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:08.880 had at the trial. 339 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:09.759 Not enough. 340 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:12.720 Yeah, so it makes sense that, of course he's going 341 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:17.559 to walk free. Dang now. In later interviews, investigators reflected 342 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.279 on those early nineteen eighties close calls with a lot 343 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.720 of frustration. Samuel had literally been in their grasps, arrested 344 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:29.119 for murder even but he managed to wriggle free due 345 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:32.319 to insufficient evidence. And these failures to convict him meant 346 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:35.599 Samuel was free to keep killing, and that's exactly what 347 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:39.400 he did. Immediately after beating the Florida murder charge. In 348 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:43.319 nineteen eighty four, Samuel Little left the South and moved 349 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:46.279 out to the west coast of California, likely trial, trying 350 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:47.799 to get out from under the eye of the law. 351 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.559 He drifted onto San Diego in that area, and it 352 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:55.279 didn't take him long to reoffend. In October of nineteen 353 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:59.279 eighty four, Samuel was arrested in San Diego after he kidnapped, 354 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:03.079 beat and strangled a twenty two year old woman named 355 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:08.440 Laurie Barros, who miraculously survived the attack. Now, just one 356 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:11.000 month after that incident, in November of nineteen eighty four, 357 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.039 San Diego police found Samuel in the back seat of 358 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:16.880 his car with an unconscious, badly beaten woman who had 359 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:20.960 also been strangled and left for dead. This victim miraculously 360 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.279 survived as well, albeit barely. 361 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.319 Why was he even had the opportunity to get her, Hey, 362 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:30.720 exactly a month prior he had done something similar. Yeah, 363 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:32.279 Oh my goodness. 364 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.640 So these back to back assaults led to some serious charges, 365 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:39.519 including attempted murder, and Samuel was put on trial in California, 366 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.160 and one might think that his luck had finally run 367 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:45.359 out at this point, Yet once again fortune favored him 368 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:49.440 for some reason, and the jury in San Diego, well, 369 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:53.759 they deadlocked and could not unanimously convict him on the 370 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.039 most serious charges, and rather than retry the case, prosecutors 371 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:04.599 allowed Samuel to strike a plea deal, so he pled 372 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:08.039 guilty to lesser charges of assault and false imprisonment with 373 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:11.319 these two attacks. Now, this time, at the very least, 374 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.799 there was some consequences, even if far too light. Samuel 375 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:19.240 Little was sentenced to four years in prison for the 376 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:24.720 San Diego assaults. However, even that consequence was still quite 377 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.240 watered down by the system, as he ended up serving 378 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:31.279 only about two and a half years behind bars. In 379 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.079 February of nineteen eighty seven, he was released on parole 380 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:37.559 and immediately left San Diego, heading north up to the 381 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:42.000 Los Angeles area. Samuel had literally gotten away with murder 382 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:44.319 up to this point, and even when caught for lesser 383 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.799 violent crimes, he paid the bare minimal price for it. 384 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:51.519 By now, he was in his late forties and far 385 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:54.799 from being reformed by prison, he was eager to continue 386 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:59.319 indulging in his violent desires. Unfortunately, his time in California 387 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:05.200 was about to become the most deadly chapter of it all. Now, 388 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:09.359 after his release, Samuel Little settled into la and almost 389 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:13.720 immediately while he resumed killing. Los Angeles in the late 390 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:17.160 nineteen eighties was a city grappling with crime, drug epidemics, 391 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:21.559 and a large population of transient or vulnerable individuals. In 392 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.160 other words, the very kind of environment in which Samuel 393 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.440 Little preferred because he could operate without drawing much attention. 394 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.480 In fact, he later claimed that in nineteen eighty seven alone, 395 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:36.759 he killed seven women in Los Angeles, seven in nineteen 396 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:37.519 eighty seven. 397 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:39.440 And one year in one year span. 398 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:42.799 Now, police at the time did not realize these were 399 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:46.519 connected murders, or even all murders at all. One of 400 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:50.559 Samuel's known Los Angeles victims that he would eventually be 401 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.799