New Theory Suggests Serial Killer Murdered 1960s Musician

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An amateur sleuth believes he has cracked the case of Frankie Little, a guitarist and songwriter who left the R&B group The O'Jays in the 1960s and vanished from East Cleveland around 1979. His unidentified remains were found behind an Ohio factory years later, and police only put a name to the bones in 2021 through forensic genealogy. The new theory centers on Samuel Dixon, a serial killer convicted in California in the early 2000s who was once a roommate of Little's neighbor, a local politician.

Why it matters

This case highlights the challenges of solving cold cases, especially those involving marginalized communities and overlooked serial killers. It also raises questions about the role of amateur sleuths and the murky world of East Cleveland politics in unsolved mysteries.

The details

Richard Jones, a former journalist and current tech businessman, became fixated on the case after a 2022 Rolling Stone article about Little. Jones' theory points to Samuel Dixon, a Black man convicted in 2003 of murdering and sexually abusing four people, as the potential killer of Little. Detectives say they've looked into the possibility but found no evidence to support it, though they haven't ruled it out either. Dixon himself denies killing Little in letters to the Rolling Stone reporter.

• Frankie Little left the O'Jays in the 1960s.
• Little vanished from East Cleveland around 1979.
• Little's unidentified remains were found behind an Ohio factory years later.
• Police identified Little's remains through forensic genealogy in 2021.
• The Rolling Stone article about the case was published in 2022.

What they’re saying

What’s next

Detectives say they will continue to investigate the possibility that Samuel Dixon was involved in Frankie Little's murder, despite the lack of evidence so far.