Samuel Little Dies at 80: CBS Los Angeles Report, December 2020

Name: Samuel Little Dies at 80: CBS Los Angeles Report, December 2020
Uploaded: 2020-12-31T00:00:00Z
Duration: 1 min 49 s
Description: CBS Los Angeles reports the death of Samuel Little on December 30, 2020, with a short excerpt of his Texas Ranger interview and the reaction of the daughter of Los Angeles victim Carol Alford.

CBS Los Angeles reports the death of Samuel Little on December 30, 2020, with a short excerpt of his Texas Ranger interview and the reaction of the daughter of Los Angeles victim Carol Alford.

Subject: Samuel Little
Recorded: about December 30, 2020
Runtime: 1:49

Content warning: Little speaks of murdering women; the report says a victim was strangled and left in an alley. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is a short CBS Los Angeles news report, 1 minute 49 seconds long, broadcast on the evening Samuel Little died and posted by the station the next day. It is not a full interview. The report includes an excerpt of about 20 seconds in which Little answers questions from Texas Ranger James Holland, whose videotaped interviews in 2018 led to his confessions. The same exchange appears in the 60 Minutes report "The Ranger and the Serial Killer". The report closes with a 2013 clip of Brenda Gordon (named in CBS LA's on-screen strap), the daughter of Carol Alford, one of the three Los Angeles women Little was convicted of killing.

Historical Context

Little was convicted by a Los Angeles County jury on September 25, 2014, of the first-degree murders of Carol Alford, Audrey Nelson Everett and Guadalupe Duarte Apodaca, three women killed in the late 1980s, and was sentenced to three consecutive terms of life without parole. From 2018 he confessed to 93 murders in 19 states, committed between 1970 and 2005; the FBI later said at least 60 had been confirmed.

Circumstances

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Little was pronounced dead at 4:53 a.m. on December 30, 2020, at an outside hospital, while serving his sentences at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, in Lancaster. He was 80. The cause of death was left to the coroner; the report says authorities had ruled out foul play.

What the Interview Covers

In the excerpt, Little says he "got away with numerous murders of women" over 50 years. Asked where he killed the most, he says Florida and California; asked which cities, Miami and Los Angeles; asked how many in Los Angeles, "approximately 20." These are his claims. The narration says he told investigators and 60 Minutes that most of his victims were women struggling with addiction or prostitution. The report then describes the 1987 killing of Carol Alford, 41, and plays her daughter's account of her relief when Little was charged with the murder in January 2013 (he had been arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 5, 2012).

What Makes the Recording Significant

It is the same-day report on Little's death from the city where he was convicted, and it pairs his own claim about Los Angeles with the voice of a Los Angeles victim's family.

Archival Importance

The report's added value is the daughter of Carol Alford and its record of how Little's death was reported in Los Angeles.

Important Caveats

His figures ("approximately 20" in Los Angeles) are his claims, not established fact. The narration's "93 people in 19 states" and "more than 90" match his confession totals; the confirmed count was lower. The crime-scene location ("East 27th Street near downtown L.A.") is the station's statement and has not been checked. The daughter is not named aloud; CBS LA's on-screen strap names her as "Brenda Gordon, victim's daughter", and her clip is tagged "2013" (earlier coverage, not a 2020 interview). The presenters are not named in the video. The anchor's "arrested and charged with her murder in 2013" compresses the dates: Little was arrested on September 5, 2012, and charged on January 7, 2013. The description's "an area hospital" is "an outside hospital" in the state's announcement.

Cbs La Anchor: America's worst serial killer has died. His name was Samuel Little, and he confessed to more than 90 murders. He claimed 20 of his victims were in the Los Angeles area. Little was convicted in 2014 of killing three women in South L.A., but claimed many more. He was serving three consecutive life sentences at the state prison in Lancaster. The cause of death is under investigation, but authorities say tonight foul play was not involved. In 2018, Little began to reveal that he had murdered 93 people in 19 states, starting in 1970. He told investigators and 60 Minutes that most of his victims were women struggling with addiction or prostitution.

Samuel Little: I got away with numerous murders of women in my life, over a span of 50 years.

James Holland: Where did you kill the most?

Samuel Little: Oh, that's [unclear: "totally" / no word], that's easy. Uh, Florida and California.

James Holland: Yeah. What city did you kill the most in?

Samuel Little: Miami and Los Angeles.

James Holland: How many did you kill in Los Angeles?

Samuel Little: Los Angeles, approximately 20.

Cbs La Anchor: Now, one of those L.A. victims was 41-year-old Carol Alford. In 1987, she was strangled and left to die in an alley at East 27th Street near downtown L.A. When Little was arrested and charged with her murder in 2013, it was, as you can imagine, a big relief for her daughter, who had been waiting all those years for justice.

Brenda Gordon: I was really, really, really excited. I was happy. I was [unclear: "discussing it"], you know, I was, you know, I had thought they had given up, but I do thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Cbs La Anchor: And the FBI tonight is still trying to solve dozens of cases Little has taken responsibility for. [01:48 to 01:49: no further speech; clip ends.] ---