CLEVELAND — A Northeast Ohio serial killer who claims to have killed more than 90 people has been indicted in two Cleveland cold cases.
Samuel Little, 78, is charged with four counts of aggravated murder and six counts of kidnapping in Cuyahoga County court. The county prosecutor's office says the charges stem from the 1984 and 1991 killings of two Cleveland women.
Little, who grew up in Lorain under the name Samuel McDowell, is already serving a life sentence for a trio of murders in California and another life sentence for a fourth murder in Texas, where he remains incarcerated. Now in poor health, Little has confessed to the murders of five Ohio women, three of which were from the Cleveland area. Two have been identified.
The prosecutor's office says the 1984 murder occurred between May and June. Little allegedly met 21-year-old Mary Jo Peyton at a bar near E. 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. Little drove Peyton to an abandoned factory and allegedly strangled her to death with his hands before throwing her down a basement stairwell. Her body was found July 3, 1984.
The 1991 killing happened around Aug. 24 while Little was driving in the E. 55th Street and Central Avenue portion of Cleveland. He allegedly met 32-year-old Rose Evans and offered her a ride before taking her to a vacant lot near E. 39th Street, where he also strangled her.
The prosecutor's office says Little covered Evans' body with tires in the vacant lot until she was found the following morning.
A third Cleveland victim has not been found or identified, though the case remains under investigation.
Authorities say Little left Ohio in the late 1950s and lived a nomadic life, often targeting female victims who lived high-risk lifestyles.
Little, who is now in poor health, has provided details in more than 90 deaths in exchange for transfer to a Texas prison. In December, authorities had concluded he was responsible for 36 killings.
The FBI has released sketches that Little has drawn of his victims from memory.
According to a map issued by the FBI, Little's alleged victims were killed in several portions of the U.S., as far west as Los Angeles and as far east as the area just outside of Washington, D.C.
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.