Serial killer gets life for 3 LA killings in '80s, suspected in 40 more

LOS ANGELES -- A serial killer was sentenced Thursday to three consecutive life sentences in prison for the murders of three women in South Los Angeles more than 20 years ago.

Samuel Little, 74, was convicted on Sept. 2 for the killings of 41-year-old Carol Alford, 35-year-old Audrey Nelson and 46-year-old Guadalupe Apodaca. Authorities say he murdered the three women in the late 1980s and dumped their bodies in abandoned buildings or alleyways.

The murders went unsolved for decades until DNA evidence found under Nelson's fingernails linked Little to the crimes. Prosecutors said she clawed for her life while being beaten and strangled.

In 2012, LAPD detectives found Little living at a shelter in Kentucky.

"I cannot imagine the horror that went through my sister's mind when the defendant was choking her to death," Nelson's sister, Sherri Ann Nelson, told the court.

Little showed no remorse at the sentencing hearing, even interrupting family members of one victim to say he didn't kill anyone.

"The obsession with labeling me a serial killer without any proof," he said, "was a legal lynching."

Prosecutors said Little lured his victims with dope, beat and strangled them for sexual pleasure.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said Little is likely responsible for at least 40 killings nationwide since 1980.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.