The man who admitted to killing 90 people nationwide pleaded guilty to murder Thursday in the 1994 strangulation of a West Texas woman.
Samuel Little, 78, entered a plea in Odessa, where the body of Denise Christie Brothers was discovered in a vacant lot about a month after she disappeared in 1994. Little was sentenced to another life prison term in addition to a sentence he was already serving for a murder case in California.
“Due to the efforts of law enforcement agencies from around the country, dozens of victims’ families now have answers,” Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said in a statement.
“Although this is a conviction in Ector County, Texas, I hope it will serve as justice for all those atrocious murders committed across this nation in this unprecedented era of terror and mayhem caused by Samuel Little.”
According to the Associated Press, an FBI spokesman said so far, investigators have concluded that Little was the killer in 36 cases. Bland said in his statement more than 40 cases have been confirmed.
With at least three-dozen confirmed homicides, Little is among the most prolific known serial killers in American history.
Little also went by the name Samuel McDowell.
He was arrested in Lubbock in 2006 for shoplifting. In the Lubbock case, Little pleaded guilty and served 14 days in jail.
There are no murder cases in Lubbock for which Little is thought to be the suspect.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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