SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Samuel Little, the man the FBI calls the most prolific serial killer in US history has died.
Little was convicted for several violent crimes he committed in San Diego when he lived in the area in 1984.
"In my mind he represented an evil person, and the world is better without him," said Wayne Spees, a former San Diego police officer who arrested Little in 1984.
September 1984. Downtown San Diego. Late at night, 22-year-old Laurie Barros was walking along 10th avenue, when she was attacked from behind by Little, thrown into his car, raped and choked unconscious. Little later dropped her off at a vacant lot near Highway 94.
A month later, Spees, a rookie cop, and his partner checked out that same lot. It’s where the officers discovered Little. Wedged inside his car was Tonya Jackson. The prostitute was naked, bloodied and unconscious.
"He said, 'I didn't rape that ****. I just kicked the **** out of her.' Also said, 'I'm going to kill the whore.'" said Spees.
After a plea agreement, Little served two and a half years for those two crimes before his release. In 2012, he was arrested after DNA matched him to three murders in Los Angeles. As part of an agreement waiving the death penalty, Little confessed to strangling 93 women between 1970 and 2005 all across the country.
On Wednesday morning, he passed away at a hospital in Los Angeles County at the age of 80. The cause is still undetermined.
"Not a lot of reaction. Good riddance. It’s about time," said Spees.
Spees hopes the victims and the families will feel some peace.
"I don’t think it will fill that void that many victims feel, but it may give them something -- and maybe that’s just closure, something they can put behind them now," said Spees.
The identities of dozens of his confessed victims remain a mystery.
Spees doesn’t believe the death of Little, interviewed for some 700 hours, is a big investigative loss.
"He was 80. I think he had a hard time, based on what I saw of the interviews, recounting some of the facts. I think they got as much as they were going to get from him," said Spees.
Authorities have not identified any other victims in San Diego.
