On Tuesday, Aug. 13, authorities identified William Lester Suff, a death row inmate, as the perpetrator in the 1986 slaying of 19-year-old Cathy Ann Small from Lake Elsinore, California, nearly four decades after her body was discovered in South Pasadena.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced during a press conference that DNA evidence connected Suff, known as the Riverside Killer, to the murder. Confronted with the evidence, Suff confessed to killing Small, a young mother of two, in 1986.
“This is a significant development in the quest for justice for a crime that has haunted the community for nearly 40 years,” said Sheriff Robert Luna at a press conference in Los Angeles.
Small’s sister, Diana Larsen, expressed gratitude toward the investigators. “My sister Cathy was not just a statistic. She was a protective big sister, a loving mother, and a good daughter. Her life was cut short before she could achieve her dreams,” Larsen’s statement read.
Suff is already on death row for the murders of 12 women between 1989 and 1991. Small’s body was discovered strangled and stabbed in the 800 block of Bank Street in South Pasadena, three years before Suff’s known killing spree. Despite extensive efforts, investigators had few leads until recent DNA tests identified Suff as the perpetrator.
The breakthrough came when cold case investigators revisited the case in 2019 after a separate incident led them to re-examine the evidence. DNA from the crime scene matched Suff’s, leading to his confession during an interview in 2022.
Suff, who had previously been convicted of murdering his infant daughter in Texas in 1974, was paroled to California in 1984 and was later employed by Riverside County. He was arrested in 1992 during a routine traffic stop, which led to the discovery of evidence linking him to multiple murders.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger emphasized the importance of this resolution for Small’s family. “Today, we announce that justice will be served for Cathy and her family,” Barger said. “Although nearly four decades have passed, law enforcement never gave up on this case.”
Suff remains on death row at Corcoran State Prison.
