Lake Elsinore serial killer linked to California teenager's 1986 death
Investigators announced a major breakthrough in a decades-old cold case on Tuesday, linking the 1986 killing of 19-year-old Cathy Small to serial killer William Suff, previously convicted of 12 murders.
Small's body was discovered lying in the road in the 800 block of Bank Street in South Pasadena in the early morning on February 22, 1986, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau Lieutenant Patricia Thomas said during a press conference at the Hall of Justice.
"She was wearing a nightgown, and appeared to have suffered several stab wounds throughout her body," she said. A later autopsy revealed that she had died of multiple stab wounds and strangulation.
Though she was initially unidentified, detectives were contacted by a Lake Elsinore resident who had read a story in their local newspaper about the killing, and thought that the victim might be his roommate.
"Later that day, he identified the victim as Cathy Ann Small," Thomas said. "He told detectives she was a prostitute in the Lake Elsinore area, and lived at his house for a few months."
The man also told investigators that Cathy had left the house at around 10 p.m., wearing a nightgown like the one she was discovered in.
"She told him that a man named Bill was picking her up and giving her $50 to drive with him to Los Angeles," Thomas said. "He never saw or heard from her again."
In decades since, detectives have endlessly searched for answers in a case that went cold long ago, following up numerous leads without ever reaching a conclusive answer.
They finally reached a break in the case in October 2019, Thomas said, when a Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner investigator contacted a detective.
That investigator was at the scene of the man's death in the 800 block of Bank Street, just across the street from where Small's body was discovered more than 30 years earlier.
"A 63-year-old man had been found dead on his living room couch," Thomas said. "He lied alone and had no children. The coroner investigator observed several disturbing items in the house: numerous photos of women who appeared drugged and assaulted and held against their will, possibly by the decedent. There was also a newspaper article located in his bedroom stating 'slain victim named.'"
The article in question was the one that identified Small as the victim of the 1986 killing.
Detectives then obtained the case file for Small's homicide and discovered that the spot of her murder was directly across the street from the man's home, which led them to obtain a search warrant, Thomas said.
"Numerous items of evidence were recovered from the residence, and DNA tests were conducted on several of the items by criminalists from our crime lab. However, investigators learned the decedent's DNA did not match the DNA found on victim Small and was not linked to any crimes," she said.
Homicide detectives then re-obtained all of the evidence that was still being held from the 1986 investigation and transported it to their crime lab for DNA analysis.
"They discovered none of the items of evidence — including the sexual assault kit and victim's clothing — were ever tested for DNA," Thomas said.
The results of further testing finally revealed in August 2020 that the sexual assault kit and Small's clothing had "the presence of two male donors," Thomas said.
"One of the donors was identified as William Lester Suff — at the time, a white 70-year-old man — and the other an unknown male," she said. "Bill Suff was a convicted serial killer, also known as the Riverside Prostitute Killer or the Lake Elsinore Killer."
Suff had previously been arrested in January 1992 during a routine traffic stop, which led to him being charged with the murders, Thomas said.
In 1995, he was found guilty and condemned to death for the rape, torture and murder of 12 Riverside County sex workers that occurred between 1989 and 1991. Suff, now 73, still resides on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
Thomas said that Suff was convicted in 1974 for the murder of his 2-month-old daughter in Texas, at which point he was sentenced to 70 years. He was paroled to California in 1984 after serving 10 years.
Homicide investigators transported Suff from the San Quentin Prison to the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles, where he underwent two days of interrogation.
"Detectives interviewed him for two days — over seven hours," Thomas said. "He confessed and discussed in detail the murder of Cathy Small. He also discussed and admitted to some of the previous murders in Riverside County."
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna briefly spoke about the investigation at the press conference.
"For us, we believe we're bringing a sense of long-overdue justice and closure to the victim and her family," he said. "Amongst everything else we're talking about today, you've always got to remember when we're talking about something as significant as this, we're talking about a victim who lost her life, and the family who will never forget that."
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger was also at the press conference, revealing that Small was the mother of two young children at the time of her death.
"She was also a daughter and a sister. ... Cathy had a family who cared about her deeply. It is horrifying that her life was taken away so violently in such a tragic way," Barger said. "Today, we stand before you to announce that justice will be served for Cathy and her family."
Small's sister Deana Larson says that the Detective Louie Aguilera's dedication has not gone unnoticed.
"He didn't look at her as just another prostitute, just another drug addict, just another number," Larson said in an exclusive interview with KCAL News. "He looked at her like a human being and he cared and he fought."