In a case that remained unsolved for over three decades, the brutal 1986 murder of 19-year-old Cathy Ann Small, a white female from Lake Elsinore, California, has finally been linked to a convicted serial killer. On February 22, 1986, Cathy Small's body was discovered lying in the middle of a road in South Pasadena. She was wearing only a nightgown and had suffered multiple stab wounds and signs of strangulation. At the time, she was unidentified and listed as Jane Doe No.
17.
A few days later, a man from Lake Elsinore recognized a newspaper article about the murder and contacted authorities, identifying the victim as his former roommate, Cathy Ann Small. He informed detectives that she had been working as a prostitute and had been living at his residence for a few months. The night before her body was found, she told him she was meeting a man named 'Bill' who had paid her $50 to accompany him to Los Angeles. She was never seen alive again.
Despite numerous leads, the case went cold for decades. A breakthrough came in October 2019 when investigators responded to the natural death of a man living across the street from where Small's body had been found. Inside his home, authorities discovered disturbing photographs of women who appeared to have been drugged and assaulted, along with a newspaper clipping about Small's murder. Although the deceased man's DNA did not match any evidence from the crime, this discovery prompted a reexamination of the case.
Investigators realized that key evidence from the original investigation—including a sexual assault kit and the victim's clothing—had never been tested for DNA. When these items were finally analyzed, they yielded a match to William Lester Suff, a convicted serial killer already on death row for the murders of 12 women in Riverside County during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Upon being confronted with the DNA evidence, Suff, now 73, confessed to stabbing Cathy Ann Small multiple times after an argument and leaving her body on the road.
Authorities believe this resolution brings long-overdue justice to the family of Cathy Ann Small, a 19-year-old white female and mother of two. Her younger sister described her as a protective sibling, a loving mother, and a good daughter—far more than just another statistic. With this confession, William Suff has now been officially linked to 13 murders, further cementing his legacy as one of California's most notorious serial killers.
