Investigators link 1986 killing of 19-year-old Cathy Ann Small to Riverside County serial killer

The killing of a 19-year-old woman and mother of two whose body was found dumped on a Southern California road in 1986 was linked to a convicted Riverside County serial killer, authorities said Tuesday.

The body of Cathy Ann Small was discovered Feb. 22, 1986 on a road in South Pasadena. Wearing only a nightgown, she had been stabbed and strangled in a cold case murder that remained unsolved until a break in the investigation in October 2019 that led authorities to William Lester Suff, who was convicted in 1995 of killing 12 women in Riverside County.

"For us, we believe we're bringing a sense of long-overdue justice and closure to the victim and her family," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at Tuesday's news conference. "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."

My sister was not a statistic. She was a protective big sister, a loving mother and good daughter.

Deanna Larson, sister

After Small's body was discovered, she remained unidentified until a few days later when a person in Lake Elsinore who had read a newspaper story about the killing and who thought the victim might have been his roommate contacted investigators.

"Later that day, he identified the victim as Cathy Ann Small," sheriff's homicide Lt. Patricia 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 told investigators Small left his house wearing the nightgown the night before she was found.

"She told him that a man named Bill was picking her up and gave her $50 to drive with him to Los Angeles," Thomas said.

Thomas read a statement from Small's younger sister, Deanna Larson, who lives out of state.

"My sister was not a statistic," Larson said in the statement. "She was a protective big sister, a loving mother and good daughter. Cathy was funny, smart and caring. She had a big heart and would do anything for anyone. She taught me how to swim. How to ride a bike. How to play card games. Whenever I'd stay with my big sister, she'd take me to church. Cathy was talented, but her life was cut short before she could even begin to make her own dreams come true."

Larson was 10 at the time of her sister's killing, but said she sensed her sister was trying to get her life on track.

"Before she could take another step forward, her life was ended," the statement continued. "The man who murdered my sister also destroyed me, my family and the family of others. I don't know why Cathy decided to go with Bill Suff on the night of her death. I have spent almost my entire life trying to figure out who murdered my sweet sister.

"I think of her every day."

Detectives followed several leads over the years, but the break in the case came three decades after Small's death when a sheriff's detective was contacted by an investigator from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, Thomas said. The medical examiner had been at the scene of a natural death at a home across from where Small's body was found 33 years earlier.

"A 63-year-old man had been found dead on his living room couch," Thomas said. "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 said the woman who had been found stabbed to death in South Pasadena had been identified as Cathy Small, of Lake Elsinore, Thomas said.

The tip led detectives to obtain the case file for the homicide of Small. They discovered the location of her murder was directly across the street from the home of the dead man.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for the home and recovered items used for DNA tests.

"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."

Authorities did not find a connection between Suff and the dead man, investigators said, but homicide detectives then recovered all of the evidence that was being held since 1986 regarding the Small killing. That evidence was transported to the sheriff's crime lab in Los Angeles for DNA analysis, which unlocked the mystery, Thomas said.

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

In January 1992, Suff was arrested during a traffic stop and eventually charged with the Riverside County murders. He was found guilty and sentenced to death for 12 homicides which in Riverside County from 1989 to 1991.

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.

In May 2022, Suff was transported from San Quentin Prison to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Men's Central Jail, where he was interviewed in the Small case over two days.

"He confessed and discussed in detail the murder of Cathy Small," Thomas said. "He also discussed and admitted to some of the previous murders in Riverside County."

At Tuesday's news conference, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Small was a mother of two young children.

"She was also a daughter and a sister," Barger said. "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."

Suff, who was born in Torrance, remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

City News Service contributed to this report.