Timeline · No. 08
Thirty-five years
- The line
- Event
- Missed chance
- The catch
Notation
- The line
- Time, left to right. Down the screen on a phone.
- Event
- A fact on the record.
- Missed chance
- The system had him and let him go.
- The catch
- The error that ended it, knocked out of line.
- Open case
- No one charged.
- A wait
- Time passes and nothing moves.
Data table
| Year | Event | Notation |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | charged, not convicted | Missed chance |
| 2012 | DNA match | The catch |
| 2014 | convicted | Event |
Drawn from: FBI ViCAP, Oct 2019 · People v. Little, Los Angeles County, 2014
The case
Women on the margins, many of them Black women, sex workers, women struggling with addiction. Dozens of their deaths were never recorded as homicides. Samuel Little confessed to ninety-three murders. The FBI has confirmed at least fifty and calls him the most prolific in American history. He had been arrested dozens of times, charged with murder twice in the 1980s, never convicted. In 2012 his DNA matched three Los Angeles murders. Convicted 2014.
The mechanism
How did Samuel Little avoid a murder conviction for thirty-five years?
Samuel Little chose women on the margins, and dozens of their deaths were never recorded as homicides. That bought him thirty-five years. In 2012 his DNA matched three Los Angeles murders, and he was convicted in 2014. Victim selection delays. Evidence decides.
Who he chose bought him thirty-five years. What he left on them ended it. Victim selection delays. Evidence decides.
The rule
Thirty-five years was not skill. It was who we failed to count.
The record
Sources
FBI press release, Oct 6, 2019 — 93 confessions, 50 confirmed; ‘most prolific serial killer in U.S. history’
Texas DPS, ‘New Details Released in Unsolved Samuel Little Murders’, Dec 1, 2021 — more than 60 of his 93 confessions matched to victims by DNA or corroborated interviews
People v. Little, Los Angeles County Superior Court, 2014 (3 counts)
Transcript52.7 s
- 0:00
Claim
Concealment decides how long. Biology decides whether.
- 0:04
Case
Women on the margins, many of them Black women, sex workers, women struggling with addiction. Dozens of their deaths were never recorded as homicides. Samuel Little confessed to ninety-three murders. The FBI has confirmed at least fifty and calls him the most prolific in American history. He had been arrested dozens of times, charged with murder twice in the 1980s, never convicted. In 2012 his DNA matched three Los Angeles murders. Convicted 2014.
- 0:34
Mechanism
Who he chose bought him thirty-five years. What he left on them ended it. Victim selection delays. Evidence decides.
- 0:43
Rule and source
Thirty-five years was not skill. It was who we failed to count. Source: FBI ViCAP, 2019; People v. Little, 2014.
Educational analysis. Adjudicated cases only. Victims named with respect.
Questions
Who were Samuel Little’s victims?
- Women on the margins, many of them Black women, sex workers and women struggling with addiction. Dozens of their deaths were never recorded as homicides.
How many people did Samuel Little kill?
- He confessed to 93 murders. The FBI had confirmed 50 by October 2019 and called him the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. The Associated Press reported nearly 60 confirmed at his death.
How was Samuel Little caught?
- By DNA. In 2012 his DNA matched three Los Angeles murders. He was convicted of three counts in Los Angeles County in 2014.
Had Samuel Little been arrested before?
- Dozens of times. He was charged with murder twice in the 1980s and never convicted.