Samuel Little: The Most Prolific Serial Killer in U.S. History and the 68 Women Still Nameless

About this episode

This episode examines the case of Samuel Little, the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, and the lives of the women he victimized, many of whom remain nameless.

Samuel Little is believed to be the most prolific serial killer in United States history , confessing to 93 murders across multiple states between the 1970s and early 2000s . For decades, many of his victims remained unidentified, their disappearances overlooked as Little traveled from city to city targeting vulnerable women. In this episode, we examine the disturbing case of Samuel Little and the women whose lives were taken during his forty-year killing spree. After his arrest in 2012, investigators uncovered shocking confessions from Little that revealed a pattern of violence stretching across the entire country. Many of his victims were Black women, women living in poverty, sex workers, or women struggling with addiction people whose disappearances often received little attention from authorities at the time. One of the most haunting pieces of evidence in this case came from detailed sketches Little drew from memory of the women he killed . These drawings have helped investigators identify some victims and reopen cold cases that had been unsolved for decades. But many of the women in those sketches are still unknown. Today, 21 victims have been identified , while dozens more…

Topics covered

• serial killer
• unidentified victims
• true crime
• systemic neglect
• violence against women
• cold cases

Keywords

• Samuel Little
• serial killer
• unidentified victims
• true crime
• cold cases
• violence against women
• systemic neglect

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: detailed sketches

Places: United States, multiple states, city

More episodes of When Killers Get Caught: A True Crime Podcast

• Inside the Mind of Ted Kaczynski: The 17-Year Unabomber Hunt · June 11, 2026 · 34 min
• The Price of the Pyramid: Wanda Holloway and the Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot · June 4, 2026 · 40 min
• John List & The Calculated Disappearance of a Family Annihilator · May 28, 2026 · 32 min
• What Happened to Natalee Holloway? The Aruba Case, Confession & Years of Lies · May 20, 2026 · 26 min
• The Beast of Royal Street: The True Story of Madame LaLaurie (Revisited) · May 14, 2026 · 42 min
• Gisèle Pelicot: Shame Must Change Sides · May 7, 2026 · 34 min