DALLAS (AP) — The FBI has released sketches drawn by an admitted serial killer of some of his victims, along with other information on a string of unsolved cold-case homicides to which investigators say the man confessed.
The bureau updated on Tuesday information it had posted in November on its website. The update included drawings made recently by admitted serial killer Samuel Little, based on his memories of some of his victims.
Two of the drawings depict women Little allegedly killed in Texas: A woman killed in Wichita Falls in 1976 or 1977 whose remains were left somewhere outside the city, and another woman killed in Houston "between 1976 and 1979 or in 1993."
An FBI statement says Little targeted "marginalized and vulnerable women who were often involved in prostitution and addicted to drugs." The bureau hopes the information will generate tips and clues from the public that could help solve the dozens of unsolved homicides.
The FBI says Little, who's 78, is in poor health and is expected to remain in a Texas prison.
The Texas Rangers say Little to date has confessed to 90 homicides nationwide over the past four decades.
Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland in Odessa, Texas, said 50 cold homicide cases have been closed as a result and most of the unsolved homicides remaining are in California.
The FBI says Little, whom the bureau said "may be among the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history," has a criminal record dating to 1956. But only recently has he opened up about the long list of killings he has said he committed. Agents who have interviewed Little say he remembers his victims and the killings in great detail, including where he was and what car he was driving. But he could provide little help on dates, creating a challenge that the FBI hopes Little's drawings can help surmount.
"Little’s run-ins with the law date back to 1956, and there are clear signs of a dark, violent streak among his many shoplifting, fraud, drug, solicitation, and breaking and entering charges," the FBI says on its website. "But law enforcement has only recently begun unraveling the true extent of his crimes."