Teen's Slaying Tied To Serial Killer In 'Major Breakthrough'

LOS ANGELES, CA — Almost 40 years after her battered, nightgown-clad body was found dumped in a South Pasadena neighborhood, DNA tests connected Cathy Ann Small's murder to a notorious Southern California serial killer, authorities announced Tuesday.

Confronted with the DNA evidence, William Lester Suff, better known as the Riverside Killer, quickly confessed to killing Small, a 19-year-old mother of two from Lake Elsinore, in 1986 in South Pasadena, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced.

"This development marks a significant moment in the pursuit of justice for a crime that has haunted the community for nearly four decades," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced.

"We believe we are bringing a sense of long-overdue justice to the victim and her family," Sherriff Robert Luna told reporters at a press conference in Los Angeles Tuesday morning.

'Cathy Small Was Not A Statistic'

Small's younger sister thanked investigators for finding her sister's killer.

"My sister Cathy Small was not a statistic," Diana Larsen said in a written statement read aloud at Tuesday's press conference. "She was a protective big sister, a loving mother, and a good daughter.

"She had a big heart and would do anything for anyone," she added. "Cathy was talented, but her life was cut short before she could even begin to make her own dreams come true."

"I am forever indebted to (detectives) for making sure the memory of my sister Cathy Small stayed alive despite her senseless murder," said Larsen.

Suff is already on Death Row for murdering 12 women between 1989 and 1991.

Small was discovered strangled and repeatedly stabbed in the middle of the 800 block of Bank Street in South Pasadena three years before Suff's documented murder spree.

When she was found, Small "was clad in a nightgown and socks, was wearing costume jewelry, and had a blue tattoo on the inside of her left ankle reading 'Ron' with the name surrounded by flowers, investigators said."

Investigators had few leads in the years that followed.

Another Body In The 800 Block Of Bank Street

It was an unlikely set of circumstances that led cold case investigators to re-examine the case in October of 2019.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner was called to the 800 block of Bank Street, across from where Small's body had been found 33 years earlier.

"A 63-year-old man had been found dead on his living room couch," said LASD Lt. Patricia Thomas. "He lived 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 identified Cathy Small as the woman found in the street outside the South Pasadena home decades earlier, said Thomas.

The article said the woman who had been found stabbed to death in South Pasadena had been identified as Cathy Small, from Lake Elsinore, Thomas said.

The coroner's investigator called a sheriff's detective about the findings.

Detectives obtained the case file for the homicide of Cathy Small, and discovered the "location of the murder was directly across the street" from the dead man's residence, Thomas said. The detectives then obtained a search warrant for the residence.

"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," Thomas said. "However, investigators learned the decedent's DNA did not match the DNA found on victim Small and he was not linked to any crimes."

The sheriff's department did not identify the dead man nor say if he was suspected of crimes connected to the images found in his home.

After detectives recovered all the evidence collected since the 1986 killing, "They discovered none of the items of evidence, including the sexual assault kit and victim's clothing, were ever tested for DNA," Thomas said.

On Aug. 19, 2020, homicide detectives were notified by a criminalist that DNA tests on the sexual assault kit and the victim's clothing "revealed the presence of two male donors," Thomas said.

"One of the donors was identified as William Lester Suff, at (that) time, a white 70-year-old man, and the other an unknown male," Thomas said.

"Bill Suff was a convicted serial killer, also known as the Riverside Prostitute Killer, or the Lake Elsinore Killer," Thomas said.

Suff raped, tortured, stabbed, strangled, and sometimes mutilated his victims, according to authorities. He was convicted of murdering 12 women.

"On Jan. 9, 1992, he was arrested during a routine traffic stop and charged with the murders," Thomas said.

During the traffic stop, a police officer found a bloody knife and objects believed to be related to killings.

"On July 19, 1995, he was found guilty and sentenced to death for 12 homicides which occurred in Riverside County from 1989 to 1991."

On October 26, 1995, the trial court followed the jury's verdict and ordered Suff condemned to death. He was living on death row at San Quentin State Prison, but is now housed at Corcoran State Prison, prison records show.

At the time of his arrest, Suff was working as a warehouse clerk for Riverside County, having been hired while still on parole in Texas.

According to Thomas, Suff had been convicted in 1974 for the murder of his 2-month-old daughter in Texas. He was sentenced to 70 years for that crime, but had been paroled to California in 1984, Thomas said.

Two years ago, detectives interviewed Suff about Small, and he gave a vivid account of how he killed her and dumped her body in the road.

"On May 11, 2022, homicide investigators transported suspect Suff from San Quentin Prison to (the) Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Men's Central Jail," Thomas said. "Detectives interviewed him for two days — over seven hours. 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."

Also at the Tuesday morning news conference was Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

"It's been almost 40 years since the death of 19-year-old Cathy Small," Barger said. "I want to share with you what I know about Cathy. ... She was a mother of two young children. 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. Today, we stand before you to announce that justice will be served for Cathy and her family. Although almost four decades have passed, law enforcement never gave up on this case."

Patch Staffer Toni McAllister and City News Service contributed to this report.