Serial killer jailed for strangling California women may be linked to 90 more murders

ODESSA, Texas -- A convicted serial killer who was serving a life sentence in California for murdering three women in the state may be connected to 90 more murders across the country.

Samuel Little, 78, was found guilty in 2014 in the slayings of three Los Angeles women in the 1980s but he has long been suspected in numerous other deaths.

Little now claims he was involved in about 90 killings nationwide spanning nearly four decades, and investigators already have corroborated about a third of those, authorities said Thursday.

Investigators say Little gave details on murders he may have committed from 1970 to 2005 in multiple states. Thirty murders have been confirmed by authorities. A Texas prosecutor said the victims' families may finally get justice.

"There are people all over this country that haven't had answers, haven't had justice, but now they will," said Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland. "So even though it was delayed, it will not be denied."

Little was extradited to Texas in July and charged with the 1994 murder of a woman in the state.

If the number of killings Little claims to have committed proves true, it would make him one of the most prolific killers in U.S. history. Ted Bundy confessed to 30 homicides from about 1974 to 1978. John Wayne Gacy killed at least 33 boys and young men in the 1970s.

When Little was convicted in 2014, Los Angeles cold-case detectives suspected he was a serial killer, a transient and former boxer who traveled the country preying on drug addicts, troubled women and others. His criminal history includes offenses committed in 24 states spread over 56 years - mostly assault, burglary, armed robbery, shoplifting and drug violations.

Those detectives determined that Little often delivered a knockout punch to women and then proceeded to strangle them while masturbating, dumping the bodies and soon after leaving town.

(with inputs from The Associated Press)