The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced this week that serial killer William Lester Suff has confessed to the murder of teenager Cathy Small, thus ending a nearly four-decade-old murder mystery.
The remains of 19-year-old Cathy Small were discovered on a quiet residential cul-de-sac in South Pasadena in February 1986.
The Lake Elsinore resident was found wearing only a nightgown; she had been raped, strangled, and stabbed multiple times.
Small was identified with the help of her roommate, who told cops she had left their home wearing a nightgown a few nights previously, and he had never seen her again.
The roommate told investigators that Small was working as a prostitute, and on the night she disappeared, she told him a man named Bill was going to pay her $50 to accompany him on a drive to Los Angeles.
At the time, forensic DNA technology was in its infancy, and the cops were hampered by a lack of evidence, which allowed the killer to evade detection.
William Suff identified as Cathy Small killer through DNA
However, within the last couple of years, cold case detectives ran tests using a rape kit and Small’s clothes. These tests led to 73-year-old William Suff.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelSuff is a serial killer who terrorized Riverside County during the 80s and 90s.
In 1992, Suff, aka The Riverside Prostitute Killer and The Lake Elsinore Killer, was convicted of the murder of 12 women and was sentenced to death.
He was a suspect in the murders of at least seven other women but was never charged.
At a press conference yesterday, the LASD announced that Suff confessed to killing Small in May 2022. It is unclear why the LASD waited over two years to make the announcement.
The police said the case had “haunted” their department and the community for nearly four decades.
Suff reportedly told the cops that Small had given him her number, and he had later arranged to go for a drive with her. The killer claimed that at some point, the pair got into an argument, causing him to snap which led to the brutal attack.
The Riverside Prostitute Killer, William Suff, was caught in a routine traffic stop
Suff murdered and mutilated at least 12 women in Riverside County. He was first imprisoned in Tarrant County, Texas, in 1974 for killing his two-year-old daughter and was sentenced to 70 years. Incredibly, he was paroled after serving ten years and sent to California.
The killer was finally caught in 1992 during a routine traffic stop when an officer spotted a bloody knife and other items related to several killings.
The California Dept. of Corrections is currently dismantling its death row facilities at San Quentin, so Suff is now incarcerated at the California State Prison in Corcoran, CA.