78-year-old man confesses to 90 murders, may be most prolific serial killer in US history
Washington, Nov 29: Samuel Little, a 6ft 3in (1.9m) former boxer also known as Samuel McDowell, was arrested at a homeless shelter in Kentucky in 2012 and extradited to California to face drug charges.
A 78-year-old drifter in prison in Texas has confessed to 90 murders and is being investigated as possibly the most prolific serial killer in US history.
Samuel Little preyed mainly on drug addicts and prostitutes during a decades-long murder spree that stretched from coast to coast, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a report.
Little, a 6ft 3in (1.9m) former boxer also known as Samuel McDowell, was arrested at a homeless shelter in Kentucky in 2012 and extradited to California to face drug charges.
Once there, DNA evidence linked him to three cold cases and Little was convicted in 2014 of murdering three women in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1989. All three had been beaten and strangled.
Sentenced to life in prison, Little was transferred to Texas in connection with the investigation into another murder.
Bobby Bland, district attorney of Ector County where Little is being held, said he eventually confessed to the 1994 murder of Denise Christie Brothers in Odessa, Texas.
And after a Texas Ranger named James Holland gained his trust, Little began confessing to dozens of other murders committed between 1970 and 2005, Bland said.
FBI crime analyst Christina Palazzolo said during the course of an interview in May 2018, Little “went through city and state and gave Ranger Holland the number of people he killed in each place.
“Jackson, Mississippi - one; Cincinnati, Ohio - one; Phoenix, Arizona - three; Las Vegas, Nevada-one...” Palazzolo said.
A total of 90 murders in all, of which law enforcement has so far verified 34 killings.
“Little will be confirmed as one of, if not the most, prolific serial killers in US history,” Bland said in a statement.
The deadliest known US serial killer is believed to be Gary Ridgway, the so-called “Green River Killer” convicted of 49 murders who is serving a life sentence in Washington state.
The FBI said it was working with the department of justice, Texas Rangers and dozens of state and local agencies to match Little’s confessions to unsolved murders across the country.
According to the FBI, Little “remembers his victims and the killings in great detail” but is “less reliable, however, when it comes to remembering dates.” Because his victims were mostly drug addicts and prostitutes, in some cases the women were never identified and their deaths were not investigated.
“Little’s method of killing also didn’t always leave obvious signs that the death was a homicide,” the FBI said.
“The one-time competitive boxer usually stunned or knocked out his victims with powerful punches and then strangled them,” it said.
“With no stab marks or bullet wounds, many of these deaths were not classified as homicides but attributed to drug overdoses, accidents, or natural causes.” Little grew up in Ohio, dropped out of high school and lived a “nomadic life,” shoplifting or stealing to buy alcohol and drugs, the FBI said.
His criminal record dates back to 1956 with arrests for shoplifting, fraud, drugs and breaking and entering. He was accused of murdering women in Mississippi and Florida in the early 1980s but was not convicted.
The FBI said Little is in poor health and is likely to spend the remainder of his days in prison in Texas.
The FBI did not say what ailments he suffers from but The New York Times said he is wheelchair-bound and has heart disease and diabetes.
Sergeant Michael Mongelluzzo, a Florida detective, told the Times that he had asked Little during an interrogation how he managed to avoid arrest for all these years.
“I can go into my world and do what I want to do,” Mongelluzzo recalled Little as saying. “I won’t go into your world.”
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
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IPL 2026 auction to feature 350 players including 240 Indians; Quinton de Kock late addition
Mumbai (PTI): A total of 350 cricketers, including 240 Indians, will go under the hammer in the IPL auction to take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16, with South Africa's comeback man Quinton de Kock a surprise late addition to the final list.
Wicketkeeper-batter De Kock, who recently came out of his ODI retirement, has been kept at a base price of Rs 1 crore. The list also includes Australia batter Steve Smith at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Smith last played in the IPL in 2021.
A total of 1,390 players registered for the Player Auction. The number was pruned to 1,005 players before 350 were finally shortlisted to battle for 77 slots available including 31 for overseas players, across the 10 teams for the 19th edition of the world’s biggest T20 league.
The first set of players in the auction includes India and Mumbai batters Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, who both have kept their base price at Rs 75 lakh each. Shaw had a regular run in the IPL from 2018 to 2024 but had gone unsold in the auction for the last edition, whereas Sarfaraz has not played in the competition since 2021.
The list shared by the IPL features two Australians in Cameron Green and Jake Fraser-McGurk, along with New Zealand and former Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway and South Africa’s David Miller, with each of them keeping a base price of Rs 2 crore.
Venkatesh Iyer, who was released by Kolkata Knight Riders, has listed himself at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Among domestic players, Kunal Chandela and Ashok Kumar, who are among the leading run-getters and wicket-takers respectively in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, are also in the final list.
Three-time winners KKR will go into the auction with the biggest purse of Rs 64.3 crores, followed by five-time champions CSK with Rs 43.4 crores. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have won the IPL once, have the third highest purse of Rs 25.5 crores.
As many as 21 England players feature in the list, including wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, pacer Gus Atkinson, Liam Livingstone and Test opener Ben Duckett.
Green, expected to garner a lot of attention in this auction, leads the list of 19 Australians, with Josh Inglis, Matthew Short, Cooper Connolly and Beau Webster being the other prominent names.
De Kock and Miller are among the 15 Proteas players in the IPL auction, along with fast bowlers Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder.
Fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, Ackeem Auguste, Shai Hope and Roston Chase are among the nine players from the West Indies in the auction.
Sri Lankan spinners Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana and Traveen Matthew will be among the dozen players from the island nation in the auction, along with Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera.
Conway and Rachin Ravindra, who were released by CSK, are among the 16 New Zealand players in the auction.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Naveen ul Haq feature in the list of 10 players from Afghanistan.
