Deputies: Serial killer Samuel Little confesses to 2 Macon murders

MACON, Ga. -- Bibb County Sheriff’s Office says it has closed two unsolved Macon homicide cases -- one from 1977 and another from 1982 -- after interviewing convicted killer Samuel Little, 78, of Reynolds.

Little was arrested in Los Angeles for three separate homicides from 1987-89 and has been serving a double life-sentence in a California prison since 2014.

He recently confessed to committing more than 90 homicides of women over four decades across the United States, including two homicides in Macon -- one near Washington Park in 1982 and another off Riverside Dr. in 1977. Deputies say Little used to frequent Macon -- and he even worked for the Macon city sanitation department in 1975 at the time of a DUI arrest where he provided officers with the fake name "William Lewis."

Bibb deputies say both homicide cases had still been under investigation when they were contacted by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council of Georgia in July. Captain Shermaine Jones and Investigator Daniel Shurley flew to Decatur, Texas to interview Little -- who had been extradited to Texas to speak with investigators about a cold case there.

"First, Little confessed to committing a homicide that took place on August 19, 1982, near Washington Park. A female’s body was found in the back yard of a residence on Magnolia Street," Bibb deputies say in a release. "The female was found to have been strangled to death. Bibb Sheriff’s Investigators determined that the homicide that Little had confessed to was that of Fredonia Smith."

Deputies say according to the original case report, the Macon Police Department was dispatched to 1088 Magnolia Street in reference to skeletal remains being found. Detectives determined that the remains were from a female. The homeowners -- the Hockman family -- purchased the house two weeks prior and found the skeletal remains as they were cleaning out an overgrown area in the backyard.

"A missing person’s report was taken on July 10, 1982," deputies say. "The report stated that a female was missing from 873 Washington Avenue. The clothing description of the missing female matched with the clothes found at the crime scene. Detectives sent the remains to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab and identified the remains as those of Fredonia Smith."

As for the 1977 homicide, deputies say the body of a female was found on property off Riverside Drive near Sue Drive.

"On September 8, 1977, at around 4:21p.m., deputies were dispatched to a call of a person down," the release reads. "Deputies arrived on the scene and met with the property owners, the Bowman family. It was reported that the Bowman’s discovered skeletal remains of a human, lying in the yard, near the edge of the woods. They stated that they could smell an odor for over a month and thought that it was possible from a dead animal. Mrs. Bowman was out in the yard when she noticed something lying in the yard. When her husband arrived home, they found the human remains."

The victim’s identity is still unknown, deputies say. In 2017, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation completed a reconstruction of the homicide victim’s skull from the Riverside Drive investigation.

Little gave investigators specific details and information which linked him to both “cold case” homicides, according to deputies. Little admitted to strangling both women.

Deputies say investigators consulted with the Bibb County District Attorney’s Office about the info they received in Texas. Based on this, they were able to bring a resolution to the two homicide investigations.

Sheriff David Davis said, “This chain of events bringing closure to these homicides illustrates the fact that these cases, while considered “cold “are never forgotten. With fresh information, Investigators were able to solve these decades’ old murders as if they’d happened yesterday.”