Facebook/Wise County Jail Nancy Stevens/Samuel Little
Nancy Stevens is believed to be one of the 93 victims of serial killer Samuel Little. Little may be the most prolific serial killer in history.
The case is featured on Investigation Discovery’s Serial Killer Week in a four-hour special, “The 93 Victims of Samuel Little.” Part 1 airs at 9 p.m. EST Monday, August 31, 2020, and continues at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, September 1, 2020.
Nancy C. Stevens was 46 when she encountered Little at a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi. Stevens was from Decatur, Alabama. Her case went cold, until Little confessed to killing her in 2018, along with a string of other women.
Here’s what you need to know:
Little Confessed to Killing Stevens in an RV Outside Walmart & Dumping Her Body
lee county Sheriff Jim Johnson announces arrest in 2005 cold case murder of 46 year old Nancy Stevens of Decatur Alabama. Suspect is 78 year old Samuel Little. He is in jail in Texas #wcbinews
Stevens was one of many women Little confessed to killing. In 2018, he began sketching portraits of his murder victims from a California State Prison. The sketches of the women, many who are still unidentified, were compiled into an FBI database. The database an interactive map which links his confessions to sketches, locations, and dates, along with any known information about the victims.
The Stevens case began on August 8, 2005, when the Lee County Sheriff’s Department in Mississippi responded to a report of a deceased woman. She was found laying on the side of a road. Finger prints were used to identify the woman as Stevens, according to WAAY 31 ABC.
Her autopsy revealed that someone used their hands to strangle her to death. Investigators contacted the Decatur Police Department in Alabama, Stevens’ hometown, and followed leads until the case eventually went cold. In 2018, Texas Rangers contacted the investigators on Stevens’ case, and told them Little confessed to killing a woman named “Nancy” possibly in the Tupelo area, WAAY reported.
The Mississippi authorities traveled to Wise County Jail in Decatur, Texas to interview Little, where he had been housed to work closely with Texas Rangers and close cases. There, Little told investigators he was riding in an RV with Stevens when he killed her in a Walmart parking lot and left her body along the road. Little had been in the area in 1995, and had knowledge of the location. At that time, he spent 30 days in the Tupelo city jail for theft, according to The Lee County Courier. WAAY reported the case would be presented to a grand jury in Lee County, Mississippi in January, 2019.
Little Told Mississippi Authorities He Had a 2-Week Relationship With Stevens & That He Liked Her
lee county Sheriff Jim Johnson announces arrest in 2005 cold case murder of 46 year old Nancy Stevens of Decatur Alabama. Suspect is 78 year old Samuel Little. He is in jail in Texas #wcbinews
Little told Mississippi authorities about the time leading up to Stevens’ death, and provided details in the case that corroborated his confession, investigators told The Lee County Courier.
“He (Little) was very cordial, gave good information and had a very good memory,” Lt. Scott Reedy told the newspaper. “He told us things about the case no one would know. He didn’t necessarily know street names but we showed him a picture of the West Main Walmart parking lot and he noticed they’d changed the color on the store, since he was there.”
Little generally did not respect women. In interviews, certain things would make him stop talking, as Mississippi authorities were warned by Texas Rangers.
“He didn’t mind being refered to as a ‘serial killer’ but did not want anyone calling him a ‘serial rapist.’ He does not, in general, have any respect for women,” Reedy said.
Reedy said he believed Little confessed because he had some degree of remorse, but mainly because he wanted someone to know what he did before he died. He said Little thinks differently than most people, and told investigators that he liked Stevens.
“According to him he liked Nancy, and his relationship with her was about two weeks. But certain things set him off. I think he knows the difference between right and wrong — he just looks at things very differently,” Reedy said. “I wish I had gotten to interview him more, because of my job. It helps in my line of work to try to understand what goes on in the mind of a person like that.”
The Lee County Courier reported it is unlikely Little will ever face charges in Stevens’ case. He is already imprisoned for life for eight other murder convictions.
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