Starz’s True-Crime Series Confronting a Serial Killer Gets First Trailer

While he might not have the same recognition as murderers like Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, or Richard Ramirez, many consider Samuel Little to be the most deadly serial killer in American history, as he is said to have killed nearly 100 victims over the course of four decades, with the new docuseries Confronting a Serial Killer shedding new light on his heinous crimes. The project comes from director Joe Berlinger, who delivered the trilogy of Paradise Lost documentaries about the West Memphis Three and the recent Netflix series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, with the series set to debut on Starz on April 18th. Check out the trailer for the new series above.

“It was important to me and everyone working on this project that we put into focus the truly devastating impact that bias in our justice system can have on underrepresented groups, particularly women of color,” Berlinger shared in a statement when the project was announced. “We follow Jillian in her dogged pursuit of justice for some of Sam’s victims and the loved ones they left behind, giving those that had largely been forgotten voice, name, and identity.”

The five-episode series tells the timely story of the unprecedented relationship between acclaimed New York Times best-selling author and memoirist Jillian Lauren (Some Girls: My Life in a Harem) and the most prolific serial killer in American history, Samuel Little, and her race against time to identify his victims before it’s too late (Little recently died in prison at the age of 80, after having avoided justice for his crimes for decades). Lauren uncovers Little’s darkest secrets and aids law enforcement in solving a multitude of cold case murders while struggling to reconcile her own history of addiction and abuse with her present-day mission to return the identities of previously nameless bodies and forgotten women. As she slips deeper into his sordid world, Jillian realizes that she may become, psychologically, Little’s last victim.

Through the perspectives of Lauren, as well as several female members of law enforcement, multiple investigators, survivors, and victims’ family members, Confronting a Serial Killer shines a light on systemic issues within the criminal justice system including bias against marginalized communities, particularly women of color, and those struggling with addiction, mental illness, and trauma.

Confronting a Serial Killer premieres on Starz on April 18th.

Will you be tuning in to the series? Let us know in the comments below!