Rodney Alcala: The Serial Killer with the Highest Known Victim Count

this woman didn't know that the man she chose from the eligible bachelors on The Dating Game was a rapist and serial killer Rodrigo Jac Alcala buor was born on August 23rd 1943 in San Antonio Texas after 8 years in Texas alcala's family moved to Mexico in 1951 3 years later his father abandoned the family in Mexico so they decided to move to Los Angeles when Rodney was 17 years years old he joined the army as a clerk but he was soon discharged because of a mental breakdown and a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder Rodney's first attempt at murder and the start of his violent Killing Spree was unsuccessful in 1968 Rodney alkala lured 8-year-old tal Shapiro to his Hollywood apartment alkala brutally beat and raped Tali but fortunately she was saved thanks to a witness who had seen alkala and tally together and followed them to alcala's apartment and reported it to the police by the time the police arrived Rodney Alcala had already fled he moved to New York and used the Alias John berer to enroll in film school at New York University where ironically enough he studied under Roman palansky the FBI added Alcala to its list of 10 most wanted fugitives in early 1971 a few months later two children attending an Arts Camp noticed his photo on an FBI poster at the post office so Alcala was arrested for the attempted murder and rape of Tali Shapiro and extradited to California but he was only convicted of assault as Tal's family prevented her from testifying in court after serving 3 years in prison he was sentenced to another 2 years for attacking a 13-year-old girl in 1978 Rodney was hired as a typ Setter for the Los Angeles Times and surprisingly he used his real name at the same time he pursued photography and he used it to lure young girls under the guise of adding their photos to his portfolio but sadly many of these girls were never heard from again after meeting Alcala between October 1977 and February 1978 10 young women between the ages of 12 and 28 were raped tortured and killed in the hills of Los Angeles the media dubbed the killer the Hillside Strangler because of Rodney's past conviction for sexual assault California police interviewed him in March 1978 as a potential suspect in the Hillside Strangler killings but alalo was cleared of Suspicion and the police didn't realize that while he wasn't involved in the Hillside Strangler murders he was a serial killer in his own right in September 1978 Rodney appeared as Bachelor number one on the dating game if the show conducted background checks on its contestants they would have discovered that Rodney had served 5 years in prison prison for assaulting two young girls however even a background check wouldn't have revealed the full extent of his crimes and the numerous lives he had taken from Hollywood the dating capital of the world it's the dating game here's the star of our show your host Jim L hey thank you thank you very much thank you thank you and welcome to the dating game and was get right on the way it's time to meet our first three eligible bachelors for game number one and here they [Music] are good luck gentlemen well let's see Batcher number one is a successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the dark room at the age of 13 fully developed between takes he might find him skydiving or motorcycling please welcome Rodney alalon Rod welcome and it's time to beet our young lady for game number one and here she is here is a young lady with a wealth of experience she once earned a living massaging feet but she quit when her boss suggested that she work her way up then she taught school in Phoenix Arizona now she's here to educate our three bachelors in the art of Amore welcome if you will Sensational Cheryl Bradshaw hello Cheryl don't sit down yet just a minute want to make sure everything is stra you relaxed if feel okay all right you know there are three Bachelors over there there'll be 1 two and three ask them anything you like to find out more about them except their name age occupation or income okay and we're going to start by having them say hello to you and see how they sound number one would you say hello to Cheryl please we're going to have a great time together Cheryl okay and here we go bachelor number one yes what's your best time the best time is at night nighttime why do you say that because that's the only time there is the only time what's wrong with uh morning afternoon well they're okay but night time when it really gets good then you're really ready I'm a Drama teacher and I'm going to audition each of you for my private class Bachelor number one you're a dirty old man take it come on over [Applause] here oh honey we had to go out and Boogie really a bachelor number one I am serving you for dinner oh what are you called and what do you look like I'm called the banana and and I look really good uh can you be a little more descriptive peel [Applause] me later bachor one later welcome back to the dating game and Cheryl we have reached the Moment of Truth as we call it you heard from The Bachelors you got some great dramatic presentations some good answers but now I'm going to ask you a question will that date be Bachelor number one Bachelor number two or Bachelor number three who gets the dates well I like bananas so I'll take one number one that's your number one all right well there they go however you did leave one remaining and this is your date and I want to tell you something about him Cheryl he's a sky diver so he's got a lot of nerve he's into motorcycling he's also fine photographer say hello to rod alkala Rodney come on and say hello congratulations Rod you did it with the one answer as you saw at the beginning of the video alcala's use of charm and innuendo won him a date with Cheryl Bradshaw but after speaking with him face to face Bradshaw felt that alcala's behavior was odd and decided to decline his date request she said he was acting really creepy I turned down his offer I didn't want to see him again if Bradshaw hadn't trusted her instincts that day she might have become one of Rodney alcala's many victims another Bachelor on the show Jed Mills says that Rodney was kind of quiet I remember him because I told my brother about this one guy who was kind of good-looking but kind of creepy he was always looking down and not making eye contact on June 20th 1979 12-year-old Robin samso disappeared on her way to ballet class her friends reported that while they at Huntington Beach a stranger approached them and asked to take their photographs but they declined his request Robin then left for her ballet class and somewhere between the beach and her class she vanished 12 Days Later a park ranger found her animal ravaged bones in a wooded area after interviewing Robin's friends a police sketch artist drew an image of the stranger they described Rodney alcala's parole officer recognized the sketch and identified Alcala with this sketch alcala's criminal history and the discovery of Robin Sam so's earrings in alcala's storage locker in Seattle the police were confident they had found the killer finally on July 24th 1979 Rodney Alcala was arrested after his arrest the police discovered hundreds of photos taken by Alcala in a storage locker in Seattle some of these photos were explicit and the police believed that the individuals in the pictures might be other victims of Alcala in 201 10 the police released many of these photos to the public hoping to identify the people in them in 1980 Alcala was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Robin samso and was sentenced to death but in 1984 this sentence was overturned because the jury had been informed of alcala's Prior sex crimes which might have influenced their decision a second trial in 1986 with a new jury also resulted in a death sentence for alkala but this conviction was overturned in 20 2001 La Weekley explains that a part of this overturn was because the second trial judge did not allow a witness to back up the defense's claim that the park ranger who found Robin Sam so's animal ravage body in the mountains had been hypnotized by police investigators while in prison in 1994 alkala published a book titled you the jury in which he proclaimed his innocence in 2010 Rodney Alcala faced his third trial and decided to represent himself by this time 31 years had passed since Robin sams's murder and advancements in DNA testing had linked alkala to four additional murders the prosecution team combined these new charges with Robin sams's case in the 2010 trial these four murders occurred in California in the late 1970s Jill barcom who was 18 at the time and Georgia wickstead who was 27 were raped beaten and strangled in December 1978 Charlotte lamb aged 32 and Jill perono aged 21 were two other victims of Rodney Alcala in the 1970s that their cases were included in the new charges tal Shapiro the girl whom Rodney had raped and beaten about 40 years earlier but she miraculously survived testified in this court the prosecution team stated that alkala was a ruthless killer who played with his victims he would beat them or strangle them until they lost Consciousness then wait for them to regain consciousness and repeat the process before ultimately killing them Rodney alkala acting as his own attorney referred to himself as Mr alkala while questioning and answering himself he claimed that at the time of Robin sams's murder he was at knottsberry farm and said he did not remember the other murders however his efforts were in vain and the jury convicted him of five counts of first-degree murder sentencing him to death once again alcala's murders didn't end there in 2012 he was convicted of the 1970s murders of Cornelia Krill and Ellen Jane hover in 2016 prosecutors also charged him with the 1977 murder of Christine Ruth Thornton a 28-year-old woman who was 6 months pregnant these are just a fraction of Rodney alcala's crimes some officials believe alkala may have killed up to 130 people but before full Justice could be served he died of natural causes while awaiting execution in California on July 24th 2021 at the age of 77