# FBI is asking the public to help confirm the confessions of a serial killer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498 "2019-10-08T21:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/1 "2019-10-08T21:46:37Z")
The story is chilling. Some 18 months ago, a Samuel Little (already in custody) started confessing to a string of murders. Checking them out, most of those confessions were verified as being true - the FBI was able to find the relevant victims and match them to the confessions, with specific details. The confirmed victims of this guy already make him the most prolific serial murderer in the history of the FBI. And now the FBI is asking input from the public to help match the remaining unconfirmed confessions. I am not in the US and cannot help with this, but I think the link in itself is worth spreading. Maybe someone out there knows something and can help. Link: [Samuel Little: Confessions of a Killer — FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/samuel-little-most-prolific-serial-killer-in-us-history-100619) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/2 "2019-10-09T02:10:11Z")
This is one of the most bizarre true crime stories I’ve heard about, ever. Makes one wonder how many other people like him are out there. He’s been able to draw all 93 (possible) victims from memory, with their names, dates, and locations, and talks about it like he’s talking about dropping in at Starbucks for a latte. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/3 "2019-10-09T02:16:02Z")
All women. Put him in a box. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/4 "2019-10-09T15:45:19Z")
Are you sure the one in Little Rock, Arkansas isn’t part of the Clinton body count? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/5 "2019-10-09T16:03:55Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Are you sure the one in Little Rock, Arkansas isn’t part of the Clinton body count? Why would she have been? Was she a dalliance of Bill’s? In all seriousness, Samuel Little is a perfect example of the idea that there are disposable people in the world, and one can kill them pretty much at will, and without interference, for a very long time before being discovered. Especially if he didn’t have an accomplice or bragged about his deeds. The various CSI shows are great entertainment, but poor examples of what police work can actually do. Kill the President, and much of the forensic magic they show (and a lot of classified stuff beyond that, I’m sure) will be used. Kill a poor minority prostitute, and nobody really gives a shit. Hell, just make it a poor person period. So long as the killer isn’t personally known to the victim, or related to the victim through business—Pay your drug debts, people!—it’s awfully tough to know where to start to look for whodunit. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/6 "2019-10-09T17:06:55Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > All women. Put him in a box. I’m not sure what these sentence fragments are supposed to mean, but the first victim described in the OP’s link was male. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/7 "2019-10-09T17:12:27Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’m not sure what these sentence fragments are supposed to mean, but the first victim described in the OP’s link was male. > [@](#): > > Little said the male presented himself as a woman and was known to Little as Marianne or Mary Ann. So Little thought it was a woman he was killing. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/8 "2019-10-09T20:51:21Z")
It’s shocking how he can remember so many details from these killings that stretch back 50 years and even draw pictures of the victims. I hope they can bring closure to all of these. How sad. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/9 "2019-10-09T21:19:19Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So Little thought it was a woman he was killing. Little certainly knows _now_ that the person he killed was male. We don’t know when he discovered that. It could have been before or after the murder. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/10 "2019-10-10T02:38:20Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > All women. Put him in a box. 93 people is 93 people. All of the known victims of John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Herbert Baumeister were male, and that doesn’t make their crimes any less despicable. I wonder if he was responsible for any of the West Mesa victims in the Albuquerque area? > **[West Mesa murders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Mesa_murders)** > > The West Mesa Murders are the killings of eleven women whose remains were found buried in 2009 in the desert on the West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Several suspects have been named, but none were arrested or charged. While the killings were initially believed to be the work of a serial killer, the involvement of a sex trafficking ring has been suspected. > An anonymous tip to authorities at APD and FBI linked the murders to a suspect from Central America. Police have also susp... Or the Long Island serial killer(s)? > **[Long Island serial killer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_serial_killer)** > > Long Island serial killer may refer to: ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/11 "2019-10-10T05:23:45Z")
It’s possible but unlikely that he’s the Long Island serial killer: “The media has speculated about a profile of the killer, referred to by police as “Joe C” (unknown subject). According to the New York Times, it is most likely a white male in his mid-20s to mid-40s who is very familiar with the South Shore of Long Island and has access to burlap sacks, which he uses to hold the bodies for disposal. He may have a detailed knowledge of law enforcement techniques, and perhaps ties to law enforcement, which have thus far helped him avoid detection.” There are no NY victims that Little is linked to, and the Gilgo Beach area where the bodies were found is quite remote. He seemed to operate in cities and towns or near big highways and I think that it’s quite unlikely that he’d go off the beaten track to Gilgo. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/12 "2019-10-10T05:54:59Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > It’s possible but unlikely that he’s the Long Island serial killer: > “The media has speculated about a profile of the killer, referred to by police as “Joe C” (unknown subject). According to the New York Times, it is most likely a white male in his mid-20s to mid-40s who is very familiar with the South Shore of Long Island and has access to burlap sacks, which he uses to hold the bodies for disposal. He may have a detailed knowledge of law enforcement techniques, and perhaps ties to law enforcement, which have thus far helped him avoid detection.” > > There are no NY victims that Little is linked to, and the Gilgo Beach area where the bodies were found is quite remote. He seemed to operate in cities and towns or near big highways and I think that it’s quite unlikely that he’d go off the beaten track to Gilgo. TYVM. I also wondered about the Cleveland Torso Killings, until I looked those up and found out that they happened before he was even born. :smack: There is some speculation that the Long Island “killer” may be more than one person, because at least one of the bodies did not fit the profile of the majority of them. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/13 "2019-10-10T06:01:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 93 people is 93 people. > > All of the known victims of John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Herbert Baumeister were male, and that doesn’t make their crimes any less despicable. > > [Long Island serial killer - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_serial_killer) I just mean that preying on the already disadvantaged is worse (in my mind). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/14 "2019-10-16T13:46:09Z")
You know in this modern age, we are sort of shy from using the word, but this guy is simply evil. He is not crazy in the way most of us use the term. He has a good memory. He has had a number of jobs. He functioned in society mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/15 "2019-10-16T14:36:15Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > In all seriousness, Samuel Little is a perfect example of the idea that there are disposable people in the world, and one can kill them pretty much at will, and without interference, for a very long time before being discovered. Sadly this is true. And it’s why serial killers target sex workers, runaways, hitchhikers and other disadvantaged people rather than the children of the rich and powerful, or the rich and powerful themselves. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-is-asking-the-public-to-help-confirm-the-confessions-of-a-serial-killer/841498/16 "2019-10-17T04:33:55Z")
Jeffrey Dahmer killed several young men and a 14 year old boy, none of them rich or powerful. The 14 year old tried to escape but the police returned him to Dahmer: "Two women, Sandra Smith and Nicole Childress, discovered the victim, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, after he had managed to escape from Dahmer’s apartment, naked, bleeding from the rectum and heavily under the influence of drugs. They called 911; Officer Balcerzak and his partner Joseph Gabrish were dispatched. Though the Laotian immigrant had been in the country for ten years and spoke English fluently, in his drugged and brain-injured state, Konerak was unable to communicate. . . Dahmer found the boy with the police and convinced them that the boy was his 19-year-old lover. Smith and Childress recognized the boy from the neighborhood and were convinced that Sinthasomphone’s life was in peril. They communicated this to the officers and tried to save the boy. However, Balcerzak and his partner returned Konerak to Dahmer’s apartment. . . . Later that evening, Dahmer sexually abused, killed, and dismembered the boy. Balcerzak’s and Gabrish’s positions and roles within the Milwaukee Police Department were terminated after their actions were widely publicized, including an audiotape of the officers making homophobic statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having reunited the “lovers”. The officers had never checked the boy’s ID or verified his identity. The officers did not check Dahmer’s identification; had they done so, they would have discovered that Dahmer was a sex offender previously convicted for molesting Sinthasomphone’s older brother." > **[John Balcerzak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balcerzak)** > > John A. Balcerzak (born 1957)\[citation needed\] is an American former police officer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. > Balcerzak and Joseph T. Gabrish gained national attention in 1991, when they were suspended with pay and later fired for having handed over an injured 14-year-old boy to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer despite bystanders' protests, as well as for the homophobic remarks made by the officers during the incident. > The officers appealed their termination and were subsequently reinstated wi...