LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in Los Angeles convicted a career criminal Tuesday in the serial strangling of three women in the 1980s in Los Angeles.
Jurors found Samuel Little, 74, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder.
The three women were found nude below the waist and had been dragged into debris-strewn alleys.
Little is suspected of killing at least 5 prostitutes and strangling countless other women across the country in the 1980s, according to Pascagoula detective Darren Versiga, who often works cold cases.
Prosecutors linked the former boxer to the killings through evidence recovered at the scenes, which they compared to his DNA profile in a criminal database.
In 2012, Los Angeles detectives found Little living in a shelter in Kentucky and arrested him.
During trial, prosecutor Beth Silverman said outside court that Little is likely responsible for at least 40 killings since 1980. Authorities in California, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and Ohio are looking for possible links.
He already had been arrested in connection with crimes in 24 states, mostly assault, burglary, armed robbery, shoplifting and drug violations. Over 56 years, Little served less than 10 years in prison, authorities said.
Now he could face life in prison. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25.
Little, who was seated in a wheelchair, appeared almost cheerful during the court appearance, which lasted only about 10 minutes.
Asked by Judge George G. Lomeli whether he agreed with that sentencing date, Little replied causally, “It’s your discretion.”
“Well, I need an answer,” the judge said.
“Sure — you’re welcome,” Little responded.
Defense attorney Michael Pentz did not speak to reporters after the hearing.
Little’s victims were 41-year-old Carol Alford, whose body was found on July 13, 1987; 35-year-old Audrey Nelson, found on Aug. 14, 1989; and 46-year-old Guadalupe Apodaca, found on Sept. 3, 1989.
The suspected serial killer first showed up in Pascagoula in 1977, Versiga said, and local investigations discovered at least 2 women who claimed Little had attacked and strangled them in 1980 and 1981.
“He was back in 1982, and picked (LaPree) up on Sept. 26,” Versiga said. “She was found 3 weeks later in a cemetery in what is now Gautier. She was pretty decomposed.”
LaPree had moved to Pascagoula from Florida with her boyfriend, he said, and they were professed shrimpers who were also known narcotics addicts.
LaPree met Little in the seedy Carver Village area, he said, where Little went to sell stolen goods.
Little, who Versiga said traveled with 2 companions and shoplifted for a living, became authorities’ prime suspect in November 1982 after he was spotted in Ocean Springs in a car that matched the description of the last vehicle LaPree was seen getting into.
Little was arrested in connection to the murder, but authorities lacked sufficient evidence in the case and the district attorney at the time decided not to prosecute.
In the process, however, authorities also learned that Little had been indicted on a similar charge related to the 1982 strangulation death of 26-year-old Patricia Ann Mount in Gainesville, Fla.
The Florida jury ultimately acquitted Little, however, because prosecutors had lost a key witness.
