Timeline of the whereabouts of suspected strangler
Apr 7, 2013, 6:13 PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Authorities have pieced together a 24-page timeline that tracks accused killer Samuel Little’s activity across the country since his birth. Little stands charged in the slayings of three Los Angeles women in the 1980s, and investigators in other states are now scouring cold case files and running DNA tests to determine whether Little may be a suspect in other crimes. A timeline of his whereabouts, according to police and public records:
June 7, 1940: Samuel Little is born in Reynolds, Ga. He grows up with his grandmother in Lorain, Ohio.
Nov. 29, 1956: Little is arrested for burglary in Omaha, Neb. He serves time with a youth authority.
1957-1975: Little, who sometimes went by Samuel McDowell, is arrested by police officers 26 times in 11 states including Ohio, Maryland, Florida, Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Arizona, Illinois and Georgia. Charges included shoplifting, theft, assault, rape, aggravated assault on a police officer, DUI, fraud, breaking and entering, solicitation of a prostitute.
December 1976: Little is convicted of assaulting Pamela Kay Smith in Sunset Hills, Mo., with the intent to ravish-rape and is sentenced to three months in county jail.
Sept. 12, 1982: The body of Patricia Ann Mount is found in rural Forest Grove, Fla.
October 1982: The skeletal remains of Melinda LaPree are found in a Gautier, Miss., cemetery. She was last seen in Pascagoula a month earlier after getting into a brown wood-paneled station wagon with a man later identified by witnesses as Little. During the investigation two prostitutes come forward and allege Little also assaulted them in Pascagoula in 1980 and 1981.
November 1982: Little is arrested for shoplifting in Pascagoula and police realize he matches the description of the suspect in the LaPree slaying. Little is charged with murder and the aggravated assaults of the two other prostitutes, but a grand jury does not indict. He is extradited to Florida to face charges in the Mount slaying.
January 1984: After several days of trial, a Florida jury acquits Little of murder charges in the Mount case.
October 1984: San Diego police officers find Little with a woman who accuses him of attacking her. He is arrested and charged in that assault and one a month earlier also in San Diego. Little is tried for attempted murder in the cases, but the jury deadlocks. He pleads guilty to assault and false imprisonment and serves about 2.5 years on a four-year sentence.
Feb. 1, 1987: Little is paroled and moves to Los Angeles.
July 13, 1987: Carol Alford is found dead in a South LA alley.
Aug. 14, 1989: Audrey Nelson is found dead in a downtown LA trash bin.
Sept. 3, 1989: Guadalupe Apodaca is found dead in an abandoned commercial garage in South LA.
1990-2006: Little continues to encounter law enforcement in seven states for DUI, burglary, larceny, theft and shoplifting, among other charges.
May-August 2007: Little is arrested for possession of cocaine in Los Angeles. He pleads guilty and is sentenced to a drug diversion program, but he fails to attend or appear in court to report his progress. A judge issues a bench warrant, but it is non-extraditable.
2007-2012: Little has about a dozen contacts with law enforcement officers, some of whom find the outstanding warrant but, because it was non-extraditable, authorities let him go.
April 2012: LAPD Detective Mitzi Roberts gets a DNA match on the Nelson and Apodaca cases, and then a DNA match in the statewide offender database to Little.
Sept. 5, 2012: Roberts receives a call from Louisiana sheriff’s deputies saying they’ve traced an ATM purchase by Little to a Louisville, Ky., minimart. Little is found at a nearby Christian shelter and arrested.
November 2012: Little is sentenced to three years in California on the outstanding narcotics warrant. Meanwhile, detectives get a third DNA match to Little on the Alford cold case.
January 2013: Little is charged with three counts of murder in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He remains in custody with no bail, pending trial. He has pleaded not guilty.
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