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THE FBI HAS released 16 chilling portraits drawn by a man who may be the most prolific serial killer in US history in an attempt to identify some of his victims.
Samuel Little, a 78-year-old drifter, has confessed to 90 murders committed between 1970 and 2005 and law enforcement authorities have corroborated more than 40 of them so far.
Little, a 6ft 3in former boxer also known as Samuel McDowell, is serving a life sentence for murder in a Texas prison.
Little mainly targeted drug addicts and prostitutes during his decades-long coast-to-coast murder spree and many of his victims were never identified.
Little usually strangled his victims, the FBI said, and many of the deaths were not investigated as homicides but were attributed to drug overdoses, accidents or natural causes.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday published the 16 portraits drawn by Little from memory in his prison cell and asked the public for help in identifying them.
The drawings include details such as the color of a victim’s eyes or hair or the blue headscarf she was wearing when she was abducted.
One picture, for example, depicts a white woman with green eyes and brown hair aged between 20 and 25 years old who was killed in Maryland in 1972.
Another is of a black woman between 23 and 25 years old with bright red lipstick and red earrings. She was killed in 1984 in Georgia and may have been a college student.
Another is of a black woman with purple hair aged between 25 and 28 years old who was killed in Houston, Texas, decades ago.
Nomadic life
Bobby Bland, the district attorney in Ector County, Texas, told AFP in December that the total number of confirmed killings attributed to Little is now more than 40.
“He’s talking about things, cases that happened up to 50 years ago, and he’s giving details on all these different murders, and none of the statements he’s made have proven to be false,” Bland said.
The FBI has been working with federal, state and local agencies to match Little’s confessions to unsolved murders across the country.
If all 90 confessions are confirmed, Little would be the most prolific known US serial killer.
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.
Little 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 he 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.
Little grew up in Ohio, dropped out of high school and lived a “nomadic life,” shoplifting or stealing to buy alcohol and drugs, according to the FBI.
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.
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Why do the journal not name the tramps that have been charged with the vicious assault on Tom Niland?
@Gavin Linden: they will be named soon enough.
@OConnelj: They are named every where else though.
@Gavin Linden: I didn’t know that Gavin, I haven’t looked.
@OConnelj: when you say “everywhere else” do you mean reputable news sources or some posts on social media?
@OConnelj: RTÉ have named them on their site
@Gavin Linden: they are named in the article about them
In all honesty, though, who gives rice milk to children and thinks it’s a healthy choice?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: It’s scary that they even have to tell people this, but I remember some poor Belgian child dying a few years ago cause their vegan parents somehow thought it was a good idea to wean them on to the like of this. Remember this is a world where they need to put warnings on microwave manuals, to not put animals in them.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: people who’s children have an intolerance to diary which is very common. The problem is people try alternatives without consulting a nutritionist. Probably due to the expense.
@Rmaybe: goats milk is a safe alternative, the makeup of goats milk is the nearest of all milks to breast milk.
The world is gone mad isn’t it?
@Paul Gorry: is it though? Was it always? And now we are of an age to see it for what it really is?
@Dearbhla O Reilly: caps of to you Dearbhla very fair point.
Cows milk is for calves. I’ll take my chances with arsenic atm
@Susan McMahon: cows milk may be for calves but if you think drinking something natural like that is wrong how to you reconcile drinking milk from rice. Rice! Surely something that can only exist as a result of an industrial manufacturing process can’t be better than drinking cows milk? Does your cat feel the same way? I mean how do you even milk rice? Their nipples must be tiny.
@Susan McMahon: I’m sure you drank your fair share of milk when you were young, so if it’s only for calves, that would make you a cow now.
@Susan McMahon: cows milk is for calves. Correct. There is no evidence to show that cows milk is harmful for humans. Also correct
@Susan McMahon: It’s been good enough for humans for the last 10,000 years. So much so that we’ve almost lost our adult lactose intolerance that other mammals keep. Now that’s progress!
@Ivan Connolly: Cats have lactose intolerance. Even though they may enjoy the odd plate of milk, they tend to have nasty diarrhoea afterwards.
@Susan McMahon: Thats not what the article is about, it about possibly poisoning children with oat extract.
Vegan warriors trying to push their way on us .. if I want a sizzling steak with cheese and a big pint of milk I will have it so pipe down . 95% of the country like it that way
@Gerrard: who are you telling to pipe down? Reading through the comments it doesn’t look like anyone is trying to dictate to you.
This got a mention on Joe Duffy yesterday as a viable alternative.
@Pat Barry: As part of a balanced diet, rice milk can be fine. As a substitute for infant formula or breast milk – not so much.
Rice extract can be a usual diet supplement. It is not milk, nr is any of the other overly prices “milks” being sold. It is extract from nuts.
The arrogance of people to decide to feed a child a substance that can kill the child due to their beliefs is frightening.
Not surprising as there are plenty of anti vaxers out there.
As for vegans, fine if you want to be one, off you go. Just please do not hold a high and mighty attitude and lecture us. Who choose not to be. I respect your decision, not respect mine. I dont want to be told that I am eating a baby, when eating meat. I am eating a farm animal. Possibly a young farm animal. Not a baby. Besides all you do is make me more determined to eat more meat. I try and eat as much free range and ethically farmed meat as possible. It is not always possible on a pension. I am not a middle class professional earning good money.
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