A man convicted of three California murders and long suspected in numerous other deaths now claims he was involved in about 90 killings across the US over nearly four decades.
If the number of killings Samuel Little claims to have committed proves true, it would make him one of the most prolific killers in US history.
Little is currently serving three life sentences after being convicted in 2014 of strangling three Californian women in the late 1980s.
He was brought to Texas in September where he met with investigators from several states to talk about the unsolved homicides.
The 78-year-old has recently provided details of the unresolved murders, and investigators have already corroborated about a third of them.
Samuel Little was linked to dozens of deaths, however, had escaped a murder conviction until 2014. Source: Facebook: Houma Police Department
"They're able to match up over 30 cases so far," Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said.
"So far we don't have any false information coming from him."
Could Little be America's worst serial killer?
If the number of killings are true, Little could be the US's deadliest serial killer, topping some of America's most notorious serial killers.
During the spring and summer of 1974, women at colleges across Washington and Oregon were disappearing at a rate of about one a month, and police had few leads as to who was behind it.
Infamous "smooth-talker" Ted Bundy eventually confessed to 30 homicides of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978.
Little's number would even top John Wayne Gacy, guilty of killing at least 33 boys and young men in the 1970s.
Theodore Robert Bundy was an American serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, burglar, and necrophile who murdered numerous young women during the 1970s. Source: AAP
He was dubbed the "Killer Clown” because he used to dress up as his alter ego, Pogo the Clown, at parties that he hosted for his entire neighborhood.
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy is shown in this 1978 photo. Source: AP
Prosecutors thought Little was capable of more
During his 2014 trial in Los Angeles, prosecutors said Little was likely responsible for at least 40 killings since 1980.
Bland said Little recently provided details to Texas Ranger James Holland that showed Little was in Odessa, Texas, when Denise Christie Brothers was last seen in 1994.
Her body was found about a month later in a vacant lot.
Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said Mr Holland eventually elicited a confession from Little and admissions to dozens of other killings from about 1970 to 2005.
Little was being held without bond on Thursday in the Ector County jail on a murder charge relating to Brothers' death.
Los Angeles cold-case detectives at the time suspected Little was a serial killer, a transient and former boxer who travelled the country preying on drug addicts, troubled women and others.
His criminal history includes offences committed in 24 states spread over 56 years.
DNA evidence collected from old crime scenes was used to match samples of his stored in a criminal database.
For years Little had denied to investigators in different states that he was responsible for any killings.
Bland speculates that he finally confessed after the appeals to his life sentence in California were ultimately rejected and he no longer had any reason to hide his role.
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