DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WREG) — A confessed serial killer linked to a Memphis killing was indicted for killing another woman in Florida.
She stopped at a convenience store in the early morning hours to grab a newspaper, some milk chocolate, and a doughnut. Little Linda was spotted riding her bicycle in October 1991.
When she failed to appear for work, her family realized something was amiss.
“I don’t have knowledge of the exact particulars, but that was what we knew at that time,” Wanda Hinson, Little’s younger sibling, expressed.
Hinson had recently laid eyes on her. Little resided just a few streets down during that period in Daytona Beach. The scarcity of details burdened Wanda Hinson greatly.
“I went and presented her with an early birthday gift. We stood outside in the yard and conversed,” Hinson mentioned.
That was the final occasion she witnessed Little.
A missing persons report was filed on October 14, 1991. The next three decades, there would be few leads in the case.
Hinson expressed, “when it was about to occur, you had no power over it. However, without any warning, I would simply shed tears. It would become significantly more manageable over time.”
In 2019, Investigators sat down with Michael Townson in a Florida prison where he was spending a life sentence for killing his childhood friend in Titusville, Florida.
He stated, “Struggling with a serious cocaine addiction, I resorted to aimlessly wandering.” “I gravitate towards situations that can potentially provoke a reaction. Engaging in foolish behavior, I often find myself in undesirable circumstances.”
He told WREG that another individual, who frequently engaged in a drug-obsessed lifestyle, has sadly passed away. This person began traveling around the Southeast while heavily using drugs in the late ’80s.
He confessed to murdering nine individuals. They were primarily unknown individuals. Two were located in Memphis.
The detectives interviewed him with the cold case and informed the Memphis Police Department. Townson, a counselor at a prison, also revealed information about the Memphis killings.
Townson mentioned that he encountered one of the ladies close to the Peabody, and they engaged in substance abuse.
“We were simply goofing off. Suddenly (grunting noise), I lost control,” he stated.
The detectives of MPD stated that Townson provided specific information that only the murderer would be aware of.
“I take her out of the car. Put her on the side of the road. Put her shoes by her,” Townson said.
The woman was identified by the police as Allean Michelle Branch. She was a caring mother.
She was murdered in 1993, only nine days prior to Christmas.
He stated, “I just wanted to have a good time and hang out with anyone. I didn’t want to kill or harm anyone. My intentions were not to hurt anyone.”
The District Attorney’s Office in Shelby County, Memphis, has never filed charges against the second woman identified in the police case linked to him. He has already been spending his life in prison, and he doesn’t have MPD.
Confession in Daytona Beach case
At that moment, he was incarcerated in Daytona Beach. Townson conversed with Daytona Beach Police a couple of months after our interview.
Detective David Dinardi stated, “He contacted the inspector at the correctional facility expressing his desire to communicate with a Daytona Beach murder investigator.” “My initial conversation with him occurred on January 8, 2020.”
Little’s sibling, informed WREG that she regularly visited that establishment during the designated time for discounted drinks. He mentioned that he was in Daytona Beach back in 1991 commemorating his birthday, specifically on October 12th, when he encountered a female individual at a bar located within a hotel. Dinardi asserts that Townson provided specific information that coincided with Little’s vanishing.
“I spent a few hours conversing with him, and he was extremely honest, very forthcoming,” Dinardi stated.
Dinardi contacted WREG in 2020, a few months after he spoke to Townson.
He confessed to the murder and talked about it all to them waiting to hear. On March 10, he sent us a message through the prison’s messaging system, saying, “Am waiting to hear from Daytona Townson.”
We have contacted Townson and are awaiting a response.
‘I can tell you I did it, but I can’t tell you why.’
On October 24, Townson was charged in the murder of Little.
Hinson stated, “I felt like I had lifted off five pounds from my shoulders — I was walking — it really is just how I felt, the next day.”
She states that she still has inquiries, such as precisely when Townson encountered her sibling and where he abandoned her remains.
Hinson stated, “due to ongoing construction in that area over the years, if there were any remnants to observe, the departments located there are in contact. He supposedly escorted her into Georgia.”
Throughout his early years, he thought it was related to experiencing mistreatment, but Townson informed us that he was unaware of the exact trigger that caused him to lose control and commit murder.
Townson said, “I don’t know why. But you can’t explain why, although I told you. Why am I unable to clarify it? Throughout the years, I have come to know these people who seem to be filled with endless questions.”
Prosecutors in Daytona Beach stated that they will proceed with the process of criminal justice.
Around the same period he was supposedly in Memphis, he struck a lady with a rod in a graveyard in Mississippi. Townson also conversed with other organizations throughout the southeastern region.
The mystery surrounding her case still persists. She was abandoned in a graveyard adjacent to the levee of the Mississippi River. Coincidentally, during a similar period, a deceased woman was discovered in Rosedale.
Townson informed WREG investigators that he was contacted by authorities in Mississippi at a certain time.
Dinardi suspects that Townson is linked to additional instances.
“I’m aware that he informed me it’s near the 10. Regrettably, I trust him,” he stated.
Little would have celebrated her 75th birthday in October. She would have become a great-grandmother.
Hinson stated, “Most people live their whole lives in a period of time much shorter than the length of her life, she lived more of her life.”
She mentioned that she longs for her sibling on a daily basis.