MurderousMinds

Unveiling the Dark Life of The Dating Game Killer: Rodney Alcala | The MurderousMinds Podcast

• Hit The Lights

Share episode

Get ready for a journey into the life of the infamous Dating Game Killer, Rodney Alcala. A  tale of his early life, military service, and the horrifying murder of his first known victim, 13-year-old Morgan Rowan, awaits. How did this man, who held academic achievements and had an outwardly normal life, turn into a monster? As we unravel his sordid past, we attempt to understand what drove him to commit such heinous acts.

Then, brace yourselves as we delve deeper into the sinister world of Alcala. The police's dismissal of Rowan's assault, the chilling murder of Cornelia Michael Krilli, and his eventual capture in 2011, all paint a haunting picture of a man capable of unimaginable evil. Not forgetting his disturbing appearance on The Dating Game show and the unsettling photographs he took, that sent shivers down our spines. His heinous crimes of mutilation and murder, including those of Jill Terry Barcomb and nurse Georgia Marie Wichsted, will leave you questioning the depths of human depravity.

Finally, we look into Alcala's last known victim, Robin Samsoe, and his subsequent arrest, trial, and death in 2021. The discovery of new evidence linking him to other murders and the release of photos potentially leading to undiscovered victims, adds a chilling endnote to his dark tale. As we discuss Alcala's attempt to defend himself in his 2010 trial and his additional sentence for the murders of Cornelia Criley and Ellen Hoover, you'll realize that the story is far from over. Join us as we dissect the twisted mind of Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Killer.

Persons of Interest

From murderers to money launderers, thieves to thugs – police officers from the...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Thank you for tuning in to MurderousMinds, the chilling true crime podcast that delves deep into the darkest minds. Join us as we explore the captivating stories of notorious killers, analyze their motives, and unravel the mysteries behind their heinous acts. Stay connected with us on Patreon for updates, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes insights. Remember, listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Murderous Minds, a documentary series started by the Top 5's YouTube channel back in 2018, dedicated to exploring the twisted minds of serial killers. The following podcast episode is the audio version of our video series over on the Top 5's Patreon page. If you would like to watch the video instead of just listening, and would also like to support our show, then please head on over to Patreon using the link in the show notes. Thank you for joining, and now let's take a journey into the minds of murderers. In the autumn of 1978, arizona native Cheryl Bradshaw appeared on the hit TV show the Dating Game, which had been running since the 1960s. The show generally featured a single woman who would speak with three bachelors and choose one of them. To date, cheryl picked the first bachelor, photographer Rodney Alcala. But upon meeting him backstage, cheryl realised that her perfect man was not the Prince Charming she had expected. She found him unnerving and unsettling and decided not to go on a date with him. Little did Cheryl know at the time that her gut feeling about Rodney Alcala had likely saved her life. Just one year later, he was arrested and convicted for a string of horrific slayings and is now infamously known as the Dating Game Killer. But who was Rodney Alcala and what had driven him to lead his brutal life of crime? In this documentary we'll be exploring these questions and more as we investigate the life and crimes of Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Killer.

Speaker 1:

Early Life Not a whole lot is known about Alcala's early life. While most serial killers we've covered on this channel have several dedicated biographers who uncovered an abundance of information on their childhoods, the details of Alcala's early life are somewhat vague. Alcala was born Rodrigo Jag Alcala-Bacuá on August 23, 1943 in San Antonio, texas. He was the second youngest of four children born to Mexican Americans, raul Alcala-Bacuá and Ana Maria Gueteris, and the siblings live with their parents and maternal grandmother. The family resided in what is described as an average middle-class neighborhood in a four bedroom home where Alcala had a bedroom all to himself. In 1953, the family moved to Mexico as Alcala's grandmother had become ill and his parents wanted her to spend her remaining days in the home where she was raised, surrounded by family. In 1954, raul abandoned the family. The same year, alcala, now eleven, relocated with his mother and two sisters to Los Angeles.

Speaker 1:

During his childhood, alcala attended several private schools. He was reported to be an academically gifted child and his studies were supported by his family. Although not much is known about his friends during this time, it is said that Alcala was a relatively popular student and, from what little details are available, he was not ostradized by his peers, nor was he known to exhibit odd anti-social or aggressive behaviors. As a teenager, he was on his yearbook planning committee and was a member of the track and cross country teams. He graduated from Montabello High School in 1960.

Speaker 1:

In 1961, at the age of seventeen, alcala joined the United States Army in North Carolina. Just one year later, his father died and, although Raul had left the family behind and remarried, the child remained close to him and attended his funeral. Afterwards, alcala continued in the alley. His commanding officer noted that he was manipulative and vindictive. He often disobeyed orders and he clearly took issue with authority figures whose power he both resented and resisted. During his time serving as a clerk, he was disciplined for assaulting young women. Three years later, in 1964, he reportedly suffered from a nervous breakdown which resulted in him abandoning his military post and hitchhiking from Fort Bragg to his mother's residence. Following this behavior, a military psychiatrist diagnosed Alcala with anti-social personality disorder and it was discovered that his IQ was slightly above average at 135. He was subsequently discharged from the army on medical grounds. Now out from the military, alcala enrolled in the University of California Los Angeles School of Fine Arts, where he earned his bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1968. He later went on to study film at New York University.

Speaker 1:

Alcala's First Victim. Alcala's first known victim, was Morgan Rowan, who was just thirteen at the time of her initial encounter with the serial slayer. Over decades, it was believed that Alcala first attacked in the autumn of 1968, but following his death in 2021, a 68 year old woman came forward to report her experiences to retired Al-APD detective Steve Hoddle, one of the original investigators on Alcala's case. The details of Morgan's experience have since been confirmed and corroborated by the authorities. At the age of 13, morgan noted that she looked several years younger, resembling more of a ten year old child than somebody who was coming into teenhood. She and her friend, whom she described as a bit of a wild child, spent their time frequenting Hollywood and outside the Halla Baloo Club they met two older men. Shortly afterwards, morgan's companion wandered off with a group of their friends, leaving the 13 year old alone with the two adults, one of whom she already knew. She described him as rakeishly handsome, bright white smile and thick, wavy hair. He stood strong and confident with dark, piercing eyes and his name was Rod.

Speaker 1:

Morgan wanted 23 year old Alcala's attention and liked when he gave it to her. She would go up to him and scratch him on the arm with her fingernails in what she felt was a playful manner. Looking back on it, she noted how childish it was Initially. Alcala took her youthful antics in his stride. He even gave Morgan a hug and laughed it off. However, he soon became irritated by her repeated attempts to get his attention and told her if you do not stop that, I'm going to take you out back and rape you. Alcala had been in mid conversation with the other young man, but his threat was laughed off. Alcala's friend eventually left the two alone and Alcala then roughly grabbed Morgan and forced her, as she loudly protested, into the back loading dock area of the club, which was devoid of other people.

Speaker 1:

In his statement to Steve Hoddle, titled in my own words, morgan wrote I remember his changed and angry face and how terrifying that was. I remember the pain of his grip and how my feet barely got a chance to touch the ground. I remember nothing more until I woke up with a massive headache. Pinned behind an industrial dumpster, I was fully clothed, my mouth was bleeding and I had a huge lump on my heavily bleeding head. Morgan made sure Alcala had gone before running into the club and finding the owner, to whom she explained what had happened. The club owner's wife helped clean the young girl up and asked her more questions about what happened. Morgan had not been sexually assaulted, but violently physically attacked. She didn't want the police called and never came clean to her parents as she was afraid they'd disallow her from visiting the club. She was reassured that Alcala would be banned for life from the club.

Speaker 1:

Morgan saw Alcala fleetingly over the next few years. Whenever she caught sight of him she'd steer well clear of the area until he was gone. It wasn't until she was 16 that she met him again, five days before she would be leaving California to move to New York with her family. She spent her final days in California hanging out with her friends on Sunset Strip. When one day Alcala appeared, he followed her through the crowd of a club apologizing for his earlier behaviour, with Morgan recalling that he didn't want me to leave hating him. She accepted his apology in the hopes that he would leave her alone, but Alcala was persistent. Later that night Morgan's friends told her they were going to IHOP. She followed them all into a car, with the driver being the last to enter the vehicle. It was Alcala. Unfortunately, morgan's friends were not very sympathetic to her distress and as the car pulled out into the traffic she realized it was too late for her to make her exit. She remembered Rod constantly looked up in the rearview mirror with a strange half smile on his face, and I felt chills run up and down my spine.

Speaker 1:

At the restaurant, morgan struggled to eat as she sat across the table from a man who'd instilled a tremendous amount of fear into her as a child. She went to the payphone and considered calling home, but decided against it as she wanted to spend time with her friends regardless of Alcala. Instead of driving the group back to the strip afterwards, alcala took everybody to his house with the promise of marijuana. Inside the residence. A party was already underway. Morgan initially sat outside the house, but was convinced by a friend to come inside A while later. As she paced back and forth inside waiting for her friend so they could leave together, alcala appeared next to Morgan, grabbed her arm and pulled her through a nearby doorway. He pushed her inside the bedroom, which was disturbingly secured with a metal bar. Inside the bedroom, morgan was subjected to another violent physical assault. She recalled his angry face, so close to mine, and his hot breath and burning eyes, so full of hate and evil, scorched into my nightmares for a lifetime A lifetime I was then sure I would never have.

Speaker 1:

As Alcala's hands tightened around Morgan's throat, her friends on the other side of the door noticed that she was missing and suspected that she hadn't gone willingly. Other partygoers reportedly pointed them in the direction of Alcala's bedroom door and the group began to yell and pound on the wood. 26-year-old Alcala ignored them until the banging on the door stopped. Just as Morgan was beginning to give up hope. Glass shattered somewhere nearby. Her friends had broken through the bedroom window. Alcala, for his part, simply stood up and unlocked his bedroom door. Standing there naked from the waist down with a shirt that was covered in blood, he instructed the other teenagers to take her. Referring to Morgan. She and her two friends fled the house and hid in a nearby alleyway as they were afraid of being followed. One friend gave her his shirt to wear while the other worked untie the knot in the scarf that had bounded her wrist together. According to Morgan's statement, alcala attempted to look for the teenagers after they'd left the house. They would repeatedly hide every time they saw headlights, until Morgan eventually walked in front of a stranger's car and begged for help to get them away from the area.

Speaker 1:

Police at the time cared little for Morgan's story. Rape Kintz were not available in 1968 and it was largely seen by authorities that the victims were at fault for what had happened to them, even though she was still a child. The authorities failed to call Morgan's parents. She chose not to seek charges because she knew that she was seen as a little hippie girl in the days of free love and obviously no one official seemed to care. She also came to this decision because the officer she spoke with told her there was no crime, since she had entered Alcala's home willingly. The police never asked Morgan for her rapist's name and details.

Speaker 1:

After spending several days with her friend, mike, who did his best to care for her and who was neighbour and nurse, helped bandage up her ribs and cough up blood, morgan returned to her family on the day they were set to leave for New York. She told her parents that she'd been injured when a car she was riding in stopped suddenly. It appears that she never told them the truth of what happened that night and she cut contact with Mike and Evie, the friends in Alay whom she'd attended the party with, afraid to look back on what had happened. She spent years carrying what had happened to her by herself and able to reach out for help, and just weeks after her assault she slowly began to rebuild her strength, feeling safer. With the distance between herself and Alcala, her world came crumbling down yet again when a friend forwarded a newspaper clip from Evie. Alcala had struck again Tali Shapiro Before Morgan Rowan came forward, 8-year-old Tali Shapiro was believed to be Alcala's first victim.

Speaker 1:

On September 25th 1968, tali made her way to school as she usually would. As she strolled along Sunset Boulevard, alcala pulled up beside her in his vehicle and asked if she needed a lift. When Tali told him that she didn't talk to strangers, he informed her that he was a friend of her parents. In an interview with People in 2021, tali recalled I really didn't want to get into the car, but I was raised to respect my elders. I didn't know to fear people. Tali relented and got into the car, fortunately for the 8-year-old, a concerned passerby saw the exchange and thought it was suspicious enough that they should alert the police. They also decided that it was best that they'd tail the car to keep an eye on things.

Speaker 1:

Alcala drove Tali to his residence and police arrived not long after. Thanks to the concern of the passerby, lapd officer Chris Camacho, long since retired, was the one who'd taken the call. He later testified that Alcala didn't answer the door right away, and it wasn't until Chris threatened to kick the door down that Alcala opened up a side window and claimed that he was taking a shower. Chris disregarded this and kicked the door down anyway. He would later recall that what he saw that day would stay with him forever. He'd served in Vietnam, but it was this exact moment when he saw 8-year-old Tali near death on the floor that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Speaker 1:

Tali had a metal bar against her throat as she'd lie in a pool of blood. She was unconscious and undressed. She later received over 27 stitches in the back of her head, having been viciously hit in the skull by Alcala. When the police found the 8-year-old, she started gagging, indicating that she was still alive in spite of their worst fears. Tali spent 32 days in a coma following her ordeal and spent months recovering in the hospital. Following her release, she moved to Porto Valata in Mexico with her parents, where they remained for several years.

Speaker 1:

Tali had been extensively beaten and sexually assaulted, but Alcala wasn't initially apprehended as he'd fled the scene using the back door. When the police arrived, a warrant was put out for his arrest on the charges of kidnap and rape. But to avoid being apprehended, alcala left California and moved to New York where he enrolled at NYU using the name John Berger. Meanwhile, in his apartment, investigators found photographs of young girls and boys, as well as photo ID of Alcala which showed he was a student at UCLA. Alcala's short-lived time in New York. In 1971, two years after the attacks on Tally Shapiro and Morgan Rowan, alcala was still successfully living in New York, with investigators none the wiser as to his whereabouts. That year he became employed as a counselor at the New Hampshire Arts Camp for Children.

Speaker 1:

After his escape, the FBI added Alcala to its list of 10 most wanted fugitives, according to original investigator Steve Hodle. The police told the FBI that he was likely going to strike again and they needed to stop him. Before he did so, police investigators went to speak with his teachers at UCLA and rumors swirled that Alcala had fled to Canada, Mexico and even Europe, but they were unable to find any leads. His professor described him as someone who wouldn't harm a fly. Hodle added he truly believed that. You know, and a lot of people did.

Speaker 1:

While in New York, alcala's crimes began to escalate. No longer were his victims managing to escape. He was finally able to commit his first murder. On July 12, 1971, cornelia Michael Krilli, a 23-year-old flight attendant for Trans World Airlines, was found murdered in a Manhattan apartment. She had been sexually assaulted before death and strangled with her own nylon stockings. Investigators believe that the pair met as Cornelia moved into a new apartment where she may have accepted help from Alcala as she moved furniture. Her slaying was unsolved until 2011.

Speaker 1:

In August of 1971, a break finally came for investigators. Two girls who'd been staying at the New Hampshire Arts Camp where Alcala worked had gone to post some letters. When they were about to leave the post office, a heavy downpour started and they decided to try and wait it out. To pass the time, they had a look at the bulletin board, which had the FBI's most wanted list pinned on it. They were surprised to see that police were looking for a man named Rodney Alcala, whose photograph bore a striking resemblance to their camp counselor, mr Berger. When they saw he was wanted for the assault of a child, they grew concerned but were still shocked. Surely the counselor they'd grown to like was not a violent offender capable of such horrific actions. The girls were worried about what they'd seen. When they returned to camp they told the dean about the poster and how closely Rodney Alcala resembled John Berger. Troubled by what he'd been told, the dean then went to look at the poster himself and decided to alert the authorities. The following morning the FBI showed up to speak with John Berger and they found that his fingerprints matched those of Alcala.

Speaker 1:

Alcala was extradited back to California that same month and Detective Steve Hodle was ready to interview him. Steve recalled I asked him so tell me about the Tali Shapiro incident. And basically he says oh, I want to forget about all that he said. I don't want to talk about things that Rod Alcala did as if it was a different person. While investigators were keen to charge Alcala, they were acutely aware that Tali, their main witness, was in another country. To add to the matter, her parents would not allow her to testify at trial. With very few options left, prosecutors decided not to charge Alcala with kidnapping and rape, but instead with child molestation. Alcala pled guilty to this lesser offense and was given three years in prison, but was paroled in 1974, just 16 months into his sentence. A state prison psychiatrist believed that Alcala had considerably improved while in prison and recommended his release. Although he was required to register as a sex offender with the Monterey Park Police Department, alcala was otherwise given his freedom, despite the horrendous assault on eight-year-old Tali Shapiro.

Speaker 1:

Now afraid to do as he pleased, alcala returned to his mother's house, where he had his own bedroom, a private entrance and access to her car. He found a job with a photography company just days after his release. Alcala, though, couldn't wait to pick his next victim. On October 13th 1974, while in the car park of a shopping center in Huntington Beach, he noticed a young girl waiting for the school bus. He reportedly noticed her name, julie Johnson, on his school books and used this to his advantage, calling out to her to offer her a lift in the same manner as he did Tali Shapiro in 1968. When Julie didn't answer him, alcala continued. I have some great posters to show you At this the young girl's head moved.

Speaker 1:

She looked up at him and smiled, entering the vehicle with no idea of just who she was getting into a car with. Julie told Alcala that she was 13, but that she was often told she looked considerably younger. Or he told her that his name was John Donald. As they drove by her school, julie became concerned, asking him to let her out, but Alcala didn't hold and told her that he needed to stop in at an apartment and that he wouldn't belong. Julie didn't like this and began to get restless. This frustrated Alcala and he lashed out at her, commanding her to stay still. His sudden change in demeanor frightened the young girl and she began to scream, to which her abductor applied shut up. Julie attempted to leave the vehicle again, so Alcala grabbed her arm so she couldn't. The vehicle finally stopped and she tried to escape once more, but his grip was too strong. Holding her tightly, alcala dragged her from the car with him and took her along to a secluded spot at Huntington Beach, pushing Julie down to sit on a rock.

Speaker 1:

Alcala lit a joint of marijuana and forced the young girl to smoke it. She only agreed to take it because she was terrified of what he might do if she refused. Just as she passed it back to him, she purposely dropped it so that, when her abductor bent down to pick it up, she could use it as an opportunity to flee. But Alcala was too big and fast. He immediately caught Julie, pulled her towards him and disturbingly kissed her. Fortunately for Julie, she was saved from further assault by a park ranger who spotted the two and thought they were troublemakers. He smelled marijuana as he got closer and surprised Alcala. When he asked what they were doing, alcala lied and claimed that the pair were taking a break from a hike, but Julie quickly stated that she had been forced to come to the beach and that she wanted to go home.

Speaker 1:

Alcala was placed in handcuffs and arrested, and both he and Julie were put in his car and driven to the nearest police station. Julie recounted her story, while Alcala tried to say that he, a 31 year old man, was simply friends with the 13 year old and that the marijuana belonged to her. Unfortunately, given biases as well as the time period, officers weren't entirely convinced by either side and decided to run background checks on both parties. They immediately discovered that Alcala was a parolee that had served time for molesting a child, so they charged him with kidnapping and violating parole. Unboxing day of 1974, alcala was found guilty of violating his parole and supplying a minor with drugs. He was given two and a half years behind bars and returned to jail, where he should have stayed. But had he been locked up forever, we would not know his name today as one of America's most prolific serial slayers.

Speaker 1:

1977 In June of 1977, alcala came up for parole once again and, just like last time, he was declared well enough to be released and re-integrated into society. The only stipulation was that he had to report on a weekly basis to his parole officer. As with 1974, alcala quickly became hired again, this time as a typesetter for the Alley Times. Notably, he was still a registered sex offender. It seemed nobody even checked his background before hiring him. Steve Hodle later described Alcala in the following statement His thrill is seeking his prey, capturing, torturing, hurting. He's a sadist of the highest order. What he learned in prison was I'm not going to let my victims live. It seems that it wasn't just employers who were disinterested in Alcala's criminal past. Following his release from prison, he was given permission to travel to New York City, despite the fact that he was a repeat offender and described as a known flight risk.

Speaker 1:

Nypd investigators believe that Alcala was responsible for the death of Ellen Jane Hoover, a 23-year-old whose remains were discovered in North Tarrytown. A graduate of Beaver College, pennsylvania, ellen had majored in biology and minored in music. In the summer of 1977, she was residing in Manhattan and on July 13th she was seen talking to a tall, thin man with a ponytail outside of her apartment building. She told her boyfriend, who'd spotted the pair, that the man was a photographer. Two days later, ellen was to meet with this alleged photographer. The next day, her worried parents contacted the authorities when they were unable to reach her. Nypd officers showed up at Ellen's apartment and found no sign of the 23-year-old. Her home showed no traces of a break-in, but they discovered her diary, which said on July 15th she was to meet a photographer named John Berger. A private investigator hired by the family was unable to trace John Berger. Even when he won a $100,000 reward was offered by her parents At the time, no trace of Ellen or John Berger was found. Meanwhile, alcala returned to California where he got his job at the Alley Times.

Speaker 1:

An anonymous tipster told the FBI that Alcala had been arrested in 1974 while using the name John Berger. They subsequently questioned Alcala in LA in regard to Ellen's disappearance, but while Alcala admitted to knowing her, he claimed he didn't know where she was. Investigators couldn't make an arrest at the time as they didn't have a body. Almost a year after she vanished, ellen Hoover's skeletal remains were found in a shallow grave in North Tarrytown on the grounds of the Rockefeller estate in Westchester County. Her jewellery, as well as dental records, confirmed the match. One of the detectives on Ellen's case had received a call from an anonymous tipster who explained that Rodney Alcala enjoyed a certain spot north of the city. 24 visits later, investigators found a pair of women's underwear along with a bra. Searching further, they found Ellen's remains. Just after the news of her discovery broke, another young woman who was an aspiring model told investigators that a photographer named John Berger had taken photos of her in the same area where the body was found.

Speaker 1:

Back in LA, alcala was mostly staying out of uterus trouble with the law. He was briefly interviewed in connection with the hillside strangler case, but was ruled out as being the serial slayer investigators were chasing. He was, however, apprehended and given a short sentence for the possession of marijuana. Alcala worked on the side as a photographer while employed by the Alley Times, he convinced dozens of young men and women that he was a professional, taking their photos for his supposed portfolio. A co-worker would later recall the times that Alcala shared his work with his colleagues. She stated I thought it was weird, but I was young, I didn't know anything. When I asked why he took the photos, he said their mums asked him to. I remember the girls were naked. Another woman who had posed for Alcala also recalled he said he was a professional so in my mind I was being a model for him. She stated that his portfolio contained numerous shots of unclothed teenage boys. Reportedly, many of the photos in his later recovered portfolio were sexually explicit. While a large number of the participants are still unidentified, investigators have expressed concern that some of these individuals became victims of Alcala.

Speaker 1:

On November 9th 1977, alcala took the life of his next victim, jill Terry Barcomb, an 18-year-old girl from Anida, new York, who had ambitions to become a nurse and who volunteered as a candy stripper at the local hospital. She originally ran away from home in October of that year, informing her family of her decision by a phone call. A week later she told them that she was with her friends in California and said that she loved it so much that she decided to stay while her friends returned to New York. Jill's body was found on November 10th, the day after she was last seen alive. Her remains were found in the Mull Holland Drive area, just a few steps from the beginning of a gravel road surrounded by dense brush and trees.

Speaker 1:

It appeared that Jill's neck had been broken and her underwear had been removed and her sweatshirt had been pushed up. The positions she had been left in indicated that the perpetrator sought to humiliate her in death. A large blood-stained boulder was found nearby and one of her trouser legs had been wrapped around her neck. Most of Jill's injuries had been inflicted while she was still alive. She had been strangled with hands, then with ligatures, before being bludgeoned with the rock. Blood, forced trauma and strangulation contributed to her cause of death, and she had been sexually assaulted and sodomized. Three bite marks were also seen on her right breast.

Speaker 1:

Jill didn't stay a Jane Doe for very long, as she had a juvenile record, meaning her fingerprints were on file. After she was identified, her family were notified and she was returned home and given a proper burial. Investigators spent time speculating that the 18-year-old had fallen victim to the hillside strangler, as one of Jill's friends, judith Miller, had become a victim of the serial slayer in 1977. But they later realized, when the men behind the hillside strangler killings were discovered in 1978, that they had been wrong. Alcala didn't wait long before striking again. On December 16, 1977, 27-year-old nurse Georgia Marie Wichsted was found dead in her Malibu apartment. She was last seen the night before when a colleague drove her home from a bar and when she failed to show up for work the next day, her co-workers immediately became alarmed. Officers soon arrived at Georgia's apartment to discover that someone had broken in. Her body, was on the bedroom floor and, like Jill, georgia had been posed. She had also been strangled with her tights, sexually assaulted and been attacked with a hammer. But adding to the horror was the fact that Georgia's genitals had been mutilated. Dna evidence, along with a handprint, would eventually help to convict Al-Khala of the murder. 1978 to 1979.

Speaker 1:

In 1978, al-khala appeared on a hit TV show called the Dating Game, which had begun its run during the 1960s. Again, it seems that thorough background checks had not been carried out, as Al-Khala should not have qualified for the show, given his criminal history and status as a registered sex offender. The show would later be where Al-Khala's moniker stems from. The host of the program introduced a 35-year-old as a successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13,. Fully developed, between takes, you might find him skydiving or motorcycling. One of the other male bachelors on the show, jed Mills, later labeled Al-Khala definitely creepy as well as obnoxious, very unlikeable and rude and imposing, as though he was trying to intimidate. As we mentioned back in this introduction, the bachelorette in this episode was a schoolteacher from Arizona named Cheryl Bradshaw. Although she chose Al-Khala as her desired date, she ultimately never went with him on their gifted trip, which was supposed to serve as their first date. Upon meeting Al-Khala backstage, cheryl found him to be creepy. A criminal psychologist named Pat Brown told CNN that this rejection may have spurred on Al-Khala's subsequent murders, stating that it is something he would not take too well. They don't understand rejection. They think that something is wrong with that girl. She played me, she played hard to get. However, cheryl sticking with her gut instinct may have saved her life and prevented her from becoming another victim of the dating game. Killer On June 24th 1978, charlotte Lee Shuglam, a 31-year-old from Santa Monica, became Al-Khala's next victim.

Speaker 1:

She was discovered dead in the Al Segundo apartment complex. Like other women, she had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled, and Al-Khala posed her before leaving the scene. 15-year-old Monica Uhojit was hitchhiking in Riverside County when she almost met her demise at the hands of Rodney Al-Khala On February 14th 1979, al-khala picked up the teenager and drove her back to his house, where she consented to having sex with Al-Khala. It is important to note that, although Al-Khala consented, she was a minor at the time and Al-Khala was a grown man at the age of 36. The pair then travelled to a quiet mountainous area near Banning, california, where Al-Khala took photographs of Al-Khala in her underwear, as well as pictures of them carrying out sexual acts. Things took a turn, however, when Al-Khala tied Al-Khala up, gagged her, beat her, sexually assaulted and sodomized her, before hitting her over the head with a rock. Monica Uhojit attempted to gain her attack as trust by being polite and friendly with him and, to her surprise, it worked. Al-khala agreed to drive her back to Riverside. She escaped when he went to use a bathroom at a petrol station and, though she filed a police report, al-khala's mother subsequently posted his bail.

Speaker 1:

On June 13th 1979, al-khala struck again when he attacked and killed 21-year-old Jail Marie Parento, a computer key punch operator living in Burbank, california. Jail left work early that day to head to a baseball game, but failed to show up to work the following morning. Her concerned colleagues reported her disappearance to the police, who promptly turned up to her apartment to discover that, like George's home, it had been broken into. Jail was found dead inside her bathroom posed on the floor. Like the other cases, she had been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted. In both Charlotte's and Jail's cases, al-khala left DNA behind at the scene which would help to convict him of their murders. Jail's friend also testified that the two women had previously met Al-Khala at a club on several different occasions.

Speaker 1:

Al-khala's final known victim was Robin Christine Samsoe, a 12-year-old girl from Huntington Beach. Robin vanished on June 20th 1979, after she left home to ride her bike to a ballet class. Her remains were discovered 12 days later in the Los Angeles foothills of Santa Anita Canyon Road. She was not strangled but had instead been stabbed. She had also been beaten and raped. Like Al-Khala's other victims, her friends told the police that a man they didn't know had come up to them on the beach and asked them if he could take their photographs. Investigators shortly afterwards circulated a composite image of the man who was recognized as Al-Khala, by his parole officer Arrest, trial and Death Rodney Al-Khala was arrested on July 24th 1979, following the slaying of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.

Speaker 1:

By all accounts, his apprehension seemed to take him by surprise. The arrest warrant was served to him at 7am, while he was at his mother's house lying in bed undressed. He was taken into custody and his bail was set at $250,000. It was here in Al-Khala's mother's house that a receipt for a storage locker in Seattle was discovered, in which investigators recovered Robin's earrings, as well as boxes containing over 1,700 photographs, other pieces of jewelry and a red coin purse. Al-khala was charged with kidnapping, looted or last-givious acts upon a child under 14, murder and robbery. He pled not guilty to all charges and was subsequently held without bail.

Speaker 1:

In February of 1980, al-khala finally went on trial. The jury took four hours to return their verdict. Guilty he was sentenced to death for Robin's murder, but this conclusion was ultimately overturned by the California Supreme Court because jurors had been improperly informed of his previous sex offenses. In 1986, after a second trial was carried out, it was reportedly almost identical to the first trial, except Al-Khala's previous criminal record was not mentioned. Al-khala was convicted yet again. Once more, he was sentenced to death In 2001,.

Speaker 1:

A ninth circuit court appeals panel voided this second conviction. However, this was partly because a witness had not been allowed to hold up Al-Khala's argument, but the Park Ranger who discovered Robin's body had been, according to Ali Weakley, hypnotized by police investigators. Unfortunately for Al-Khala, as prosecutors prepared for the third trial, new evidence came to light through the use of modern forensic techniques. This evidence connected Al-Khala to his other murders those of Jill Barcomb, george Wichstedt, charlotte Lam and Jill Parento. Jill Parento's earrings were also discovered in the storage locker in which he kept Robin's jewellery. These new links allowed the prosecution to enter a motion where Al-Khala would also be charged with the murders of his other victims as well as Robin's. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the prosecution in 2006, though his defense team attempted to fight against the notion, noting, if you're a juror and you hear one murder case, you may be able to have reasonable doubt, but it's very hard to say you have reasonable doubt on all five, especially when four of the five aren't alleged by the eyewitnesses but are proven by DNA matches. In the meantime, al-khala's, still behind bars, self-published a book he'd written named you, the Jury. In the novel, he protested his innocence and tried to shift the blame onto another suspect. He also filed two lawsuits against the California Penal System, blaming them for an accident in which he slipped and fell and another in which he was declined a low-fat diet.

Speaker 1:

In 2010, alcala stood trial for the murders of Robin, jill, georgia, charlotte and Jill. Despite the hefty charges being laid against him, alcala stunningly opted to act as his own attorney, even taking the stand in his own defence. He reportedly spoke to himself as an attorney, using a deeper tone or answering in his normal voice, and showed Dura as a video clip of his appearance on the dating game in 1978, attempting to convince them that the earrings found in the storage locker he rented belonged to him, not his victims. Alcala also stated that he did not remember taking the lives of his victims. A psychiatrist named Richard Rappaport, who was paid by Alcala and was his only defence witness, noted that it is possible Alcala had no recollection of the slayings due to borderline personality disorder. During this trial, tali Shapiro, now a grown woman, came forward to testify as a witness for the defence. It took the jury less than two days to find Alcala guilty of five counts of first-degree murder, and in March 2010, he was sentenced to death once more. In January 2011, a Manhattan Grand Jury indicted Alcala for the slayings of Cornelia Criley and Ellen Hoover. He initially entered not guilty pleas the following year, but then changed his mind and pled guilty soon afterwards. In 2013, a further 25 years were added to his sentence for these crimes. Rodney Alcala died on July 24th 2021, in Corconia, california. He was 77 years old and passed away from natural causes. Further possible victims.

Speaker 1:

Since Alcala's 2010 trial, authorities in New York and California have suspected that the serial slayer was responsible for far more crimes than he was ever charged with. In March of that year, police from NYC and Huntington Beach, california, released 120 photographs from Alcala's portfolio and personal stash of images. Authorities were looking to identify the individuals in the photos to determine whether or not they were undiscovered victims. Authorities noted that around 900 images could not be made public due to their sexually explicit nature. Within the first few weeks, 21 women came forward to identify themselves with law enforcement, adding that at least six families recognized family members who disappeared years ago and were never found. In 2013, a photo of 28-year-old Christine Thornton was recognized by her family member. Her body had been discovered in Sweetwater County, wyoming, in 1982, though it was not identified until 2015. In 2016, alcala was charged with her demise.

Speaker 1:

Christine disappeared in June 1977 and was last seen hitchhiking in Biloxi, mississippi. Authorities were claimed that he had taken the photo but hadn't taken Christine's life. He was deemed too ill to make the trip from California to Wyoming to stand trial. However, in 2010, alcala was named as a person of interest in several unsolved murders in Washington state. Seattle. Investigators believe he may have been involved in the deaths of one young woman and two teenage girls. Cheri Ann Greenman was just 20 when she vanished on September 14th 1976 from Waterville, washington. She had recently been released from Douglas County Jail and was not officially reported missing until 2004.

Speaker 1:

Antoinette Toni Jean Whitaker was a 13-year-old who disappeared on July 9th 1977. Her body was discovered a week later fully clothed but posed in Lake City, seattle. There was no evidence of sexual assault and she had been stabbed to death. Then, on February 17th 1978, the body of 17-year-old Joyce Francine Gawnd was discovered at Stude Park, seattle. She was unclothed and her skull had been crushed. She had been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted. Joyce had a developmental disability and had been living in a group home at the time of her disappearance. She had left the home on the day before her body was found to meet with an unidentified man in Stude Park In March 2011,.

Speaker 1:

Authorities from Marin County, california, stated that they were confident that Alcala had slain 19-year-old Pamela Jean Lamson, who vanished after heading to Fisherman's Wharf to meet a photographer. Pamela was killed on October 9th 1977 and her body was discovered in Marin County close to a hiking trail. She was undressed and had been viciously beaten. Although there was no usable DNA and no fingerprints available, investigators believe wholeheartedly that Alcala was responsible for the crime. Even if they were unable to charge him, they noted that there was enough evidence to convince them of his guilt.

Speaker 1:

Rodney Alcala is certainly one of America's most vicious killers. It seems likely that we will never know how many women and children he hurt during his lifetime. There could be dozens of victims still unidentified, with no connection known between them and the man who ended their lives. It's also entirely possible that there are further victims of sexual assault who, like Morgan Rowan, simply wanted to get on with their lives rather than attempt to find justice in a system that oftentimes seems designed to work against them. There is some speculation that Alcala was responsible for up to 130 assaults and murders. Given Alcala's brutality, this doesn't even seem that far-fetched a number. While he was diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder at the age of 20, he may have been carrying out crimes long before this, and he likely harmed other young girls and women before his 1968 assaults on Morgan Rowan and Talay Shapiro.

Speaker 1:

The prosecution alleged that Alcala toyed with his victims before death, often strangling them until they lost consciousness, reviving them and strangling them again. He would repeat this process numerous times before finally taking their lives. It's difficult to believe that this desire to cause such tremendous suffering came out of nowhere, but it's equally hard to say where it came from. Many of Alcala's photographs released by the police are still online today, and investigators are still looking for information on the individuals featured in them. We'll leave a link to a 2021 ABC News article containing the photographs and police contact information. Thank you for watching, and our heart goes out to all of the victims who were affected by the terrible crimes of Rodney Alcala. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Murderous Minds Podcast. If you would like to vote on upcoming episodes and watch our documentaries. Then consider supporting us on Patreon. We hope you found this episode informative. Thank you again for joining us and stay safe everyone.