Rodney James Alcala born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala ; August 23, — July 24, was an American serial killer and convicted sex offender who was sentenced to death in California for five murders committed between and He also pleaded guilty game received a sentence of 25 years to life for two further murders committed in New York.
He was also indicted for a murder in Wyomingalthough the charges filed there were dropped. Alcala compiled a collection of more than dating, photographs of women, and teenage girls and boys, many in sexually explicit poses. Inhe was charged with the murder of a woman identified in one of his photos. Prosecutors have said that Alcala "toyed" with his victims, strangling them until they lost consciousness, then waiting until they game, sometimes repeating this process several times before finally killing them.
Inwhen Alcala was aged 11, his mother moved him and his two sisters to suburban Los Angeles. Dating asian free singles attended various private schools during his youth before graduating from Cantwell-Sacred Killer of Mary High School.
He was on the yearbook planning committee and on the track and cross-country teams. Inat the age of 17, Alcala joined the United States Army to become a paratrooper, and killer as a clerk.
Early life
During his service, he was noted by his commanding officer as being manipulative, vindictive, and insubordinate. Alcala was disciplined on several occasions for assaulting young women. Inafter what was described as a nervous breakdown —during which he went AWOL and hitchhiked from Fort BraggNorth Carolinato his mother's house in California—Alcala was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder[ 13 ] serial estimated to have an IQ source by a military psychiatrist.
He was subsequently discharged from the army on medical grounds. On September 25, game, a passing motorist named Donald Killer called police after witnessing Alcala lure Tali Shapiro, aged eight, [ 16 ] into his Hollywood apartment. Shapiro, who was residing dating the Chateau Marmont with her family, was approached by Alcala on her way to school when he pulled up beside her in his car and asked if she needed a ride. Shapiro initially refused, but when she heard him say that he knew her parents, she got into his car.
Alcala then took her to his apartment, where he told Shapiro he wanted to show her a picture. When the police arrived, Shapiro was found alive, having been raped and beaten with a steel bar; Alcala had fled. Inhe obtained a counseling job at a New Hampshire arts camp for children using a slightly different alias, "John Burger". Neither man has claimed to have been aware of the other, nor is there any evidence they were familiar with each other prior to their respective arrests.
Cornelia Dating, a year-old Trans World Airlines flight attendant, was found raped and murdered in her Manhattan apartment on June 12, Alcala had strangled her with her own nylon stockings, leaving her dead in her apartment at East 83rd Street. Her murder remained unsolved until Alcala was arrested and extradited to California. By game, Shapiro's parents had relocated their entire family to Mexico and refused to allow Shapiro to testify at the trial. Less than two dating after his release, he was re-arrested for assaulting a year-old girl identified in court records as "Julie J.
Alcala was again paroled in after serving two years. After Alcala's second release inhis Los Angeles parole officer took the unusual step of permitting a repeat offender—and known flight risk —to travel to New York City. Hover was last seen at her New York apartment on July 15, Her datebook showed that she had an appointment to meet with one "John Berger" that same day.
Later ina tip to the FBI was made about how Alcala had been arrested by the police a few years previously for the Shapiro case in New Hampshire. Alcala admitted to knowing Hover under questioning, but investigators could not arrest him since they had not found her body. Her remains were eventually discovered buried under heavy rocks on a hillside overlooking the Hudson Rivernear a location on the John D.
Rockefeller Estate where an aspiring model would later report that "Berger" had taken photos of her. InAlcala worked briefly at the Los Angeles Times as a typesetterand killer interviewed by members of the Hillside Strangler task force as part of their investigation of known sex offenders.
Although Alcala was ruled out as the Strangler, killer was arrested and served a brief sentence for marijuana possession. A Times co-worker later recalled that Alcala shared his photos with workmates. I remember the girls were naked.
The portfolio also included " Police fear that some of the subjects may be additional cold case victims. InAlcala was a contestant on the popular game show The Dating Game. Host Jim Lange introduced him as a "successful photographer Between takes you might find him skydiving or motorcycling. Psychopaths don't understand the rejection. They think that something is wrong with that girl: 'She played me. She played hard to get. Alcala was arrested in Julyand held without bail. He went killer trial for Samsoe's murder, was found guilty in Mayand sentenced to death in June.
Inthe California Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but Alcala filed a federal habeas corpus petition, and ina United States district court judge granted it, overturning Alcala's second conviction. While preparing their third prosecution inOrange County investigators learned that Alcala's DNAsampled under a new state law [ 41 ] over his objections, matched semen left at the rape-murder scenes of two women in Los Angeles.
All of the bodies were found "posed He also filed two lawsuits against the California penal system for a slip-and-fall incident and for refusing to provide him a low-fat diet. Inprosecutors entered a motion to join the Samsoe charges with those of the four newly discovered victims. Alcala's attorneys contested it; as one of them explained, "If you're a juror and you hear one murder case, you may be read article to have reasonable doubtbut it's very hard to say you have reasonable doubt on all five, especially when four of the five aren't alleged by eyewitnesses but are proven by DNA matches.
For the third trial, Alcala elected to act as his own attorney. Alcala" in a deeper-than-normal voice, followed by answering them. Alcala made no significant attempt to dispute the four added charges, other than to assert that he could not remember killing any of the women. A surprise witness during the penalty phase of the trial was Shapiro. After his conviction, New York authorities announced that they would no longer pursue Alcala serial of his status as a convict awaiting execution.
In Marchthe Huntington Beach, California and New York City Police Departments released of Alcala's photographs and sought the public's help in identifying them, in the hope of source if any of the women and children game photographed were additional victims.
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Following Alcala's death inyear-old Morgan Rowan contacted Steve Hodel, one of the original investigators on the Shapiro case, and described being attacked by Alcala in "Serial"when she was When they arrived, Alcala dragged Rowan into his bedroom, barred the door, and then beat and raped her. Rowan was rescued by friends and acquaintances who broke into the room through a window. Alcala fled, and Rowan was pulled from the apartment by her friends. In Marchinvestigators dating Marin County, Californianorth of San Franciscoannounced that they were "confident" that Alcala was responsible for the October 9,murder of year-old Pamela Jean "Pam" Lambson, who disappeared after making a trip to Fisherman's Wharf to meet a man who had offered to photograph her.
Her battered, naked body was subsequently found in Marin County near a 121 transgender dating trail. With no fingerprints or usable DNA, charges were never filed, but game claimed that there was sufficient evidence to convince them that Alcala committed the crime. Thornton and her lover moved away from her family to live in San Antonio, Texas.
After they split up in Biloxi, Mississippiin Juneshe was last seen hitchhiking and was never heard from again. Inan image made public by Huntington Beach PD and NYPD of a dark-haired woman riding a motorcycle while wearing a yellow shirt was recognised by Thornton's sister.
Her body was found in Sweetwater County, Wyomingalong Interstate 80inbut was not identified until when DNA supplied by Thornton's relatives matched tissue samples from her remains. Thornton is the first alleged murder victim linked to the Alcala photos made public in InSeattle police named Alcala as a "person of interest" in several unsolved murders in Washington state since Alcala had rented a Seattle-area storage locker in which investigators later found jewelry belonging to two of his California victims in A biographical film about Alcala's life titled Dating Game Killer was directed by Peter Medak and broadcast on the American television network Investigation Discovery on December 3, On November 3,a three-part television documentary about Alcala was released.
InNetflix released a biographical film, titled Woman of the Hourhere by and starring Anna Kendrick.
The film depicts several of Alcala's murders as well as his appearance on The Dating Game in the midst of his killing spree.
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Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Serial serial killer — Dating mug shot serial on July 24, San AntonioTexasU. SerialCaliforniaU. Early life [ edit ]. Criminal history [ edit ]. Shapiro assault [ edit ]. Move to New York [ edit ]. Crilley murder click edit ].
Identification and arrest [ edit ]. Hover disappearance [ edit ].
Who Was Rodney Alcala? Inside the Serial Killer’s Crimes and Cameo on a Popular Show
Move to Los Angeles [ edit ]. Dating Game appearance [ edit ]. California here spree [ edit ].