77º

FBI attempting to match Florida slayings to 'most prolific' serial killer's confessions

Samuel Little confessed to killing Ocala woman, 92 others, FBI says

The man the FBI calls the "most prolific serial killer" in the U.S. has been connected to at least 50 women's slayings, including victims in Florida, and agents are still trying to find dozens more Samuel Little has confessed to killing.

Little, now 79, has provided information on more than 90 killings authorities say he committed across the country from 1970 to 2005, including 20-year-old Rosie Hill's 1982 slaying in Marion County.

Witnesses told investigators Hill left a bar with an unknown man matching Little's description and was never seen alive again. Her body was found in a wooded area off County Road 326 in August 1982 near a hog pen. Detectives said she was strangled or suffocated to death.

In 2014, Little was convicted of killing three women in California and sentenced to three life terms in prison.

After he was transferred to Texas on a separate murder case, Little would later confess to Texas Ranger James Holland and FBI investigators to killing 93 women across the country, including Hill.

Hill's mother, who now lives in Tennessee, and said she's found peace knowing who her daughter's killer is.

"I asked the Lord to forgive him, and I'm going to forgive him. It's between him and the Lord," Minnie Hill said. "I just thank God that we did find out that it was a male who killed her. That did bring us some closure of wondering who did it."

She said Hill left behind a 2-year-old daughter who is now 39 years old with her own family. 

Marion County Sheriff's Office officials said that due to Little serving three life sentences and his indictment in the slaying of a Texas woman, they won't be pursuing charges in Hill's death.

"For years, we have been working on this case, it never went away, never stopped," said Marion County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Paul Bloom.

Holland conducted interviews with Little over a period of 700 hours recording his confessions that would total more victims than Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer combined.

However, there are still dozens of confessions with unnamed victims, including more than half-dozen in Florida. Little told Holland he killed the most in Florida and California.

For the past several years, the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program investigators and Texas Rangers have been working with the Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies across the U.S. searching for cases that match Little's confessions.

CBS' "60 Minutes" featured his case Sunday, offering a look inside the mind of a killer and how he was able to evade law enforcement officers for decades.

The FBI has released video of Little's confessions that describe the women and the homicides in detail. The convicted killer has also drawn sketches of his unnamed victims, available at fbi.gov/SamuelLittle.

In a recent interview, Little recalled details of a victim in Miami known to him as Marianne or Mary Ann. 

[WARNING: Graphic content.]

Little has confessed to killing three women in the Miami area, as well as women in Kendall, Fort Myers, Tampa Bay, Plant City and Homestead.

It's also possible Little began his string of killings in Florida, according to the FBI map of Little's confessions.

Little began killing in the early '70s, according to the FBI. Among the first slayings were two Homestead, victims, Little told FBI investigators. He confessed to slaying an unidentified white woman in 1970 or 1971 in Homestead and another woman killed in 1971 or 1972, who possibly worked on Homestead Air Force Base.

Little told the FBI his victims from the Miami area were slain in the early '70s.

Anyone with information about potential cases are asked to contact the FBI's main tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.


Recommended Videos