Morbid

Episode 642: Rodney Alcala: The Dating Game Killer (Part 2)


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At the time of his appearance on The Dating Game in 1978, Alcala was a convicted sexual predator who had served time for sexual assault and had only avoided a charge of attempted murder on a technicality. After his arrest, investigators would learn that, by the time he appeared on the game show, he was also a killer. In the year that followed, Alcala would go on to murder several other women until he was finally caught and convicted for his crimes. At his trial, Rodney Alcala was found guilty of eight murders, among other crimes, but he is suspected of several other murders, perhaps as many as one hundred or more.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Associated Press. 1980. "Forest worker tells of grisly body find, fingers defendent ." Daily Breeze (Torrence, CA), March 23: 7.

—. 1980. "Witness in Alcala trial admits lying." Los Angeles Times, March 26: 44.

—. 1980. "Jury deliberate murder charge." Oakland Tribune, April 30: E3.

Brown, Doug. 1980. "Jury asks for the death penalty." Los Angeles Times, May 9: 32.

—. 1980. "Prosecution rests case in penalty part of Alcala trial." Los Angeles Times, May 8: 63.

CBS News. 2024. "Rodney Alcala: The Killing Game." 48 Hours . 

Dunn, Edward. 1977. "Oneida woman slain in L.A." Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), November 15: 1.

Esquivel, Paloma. 2010. "Alcala gets death penalty." Los Angeles Times, March 10: 72.

Falcon, Gabriel. 2010. Convicted serial killer won on 'Dating Game'. March 10. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240814201903/https://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/08/dating.game.killer/index.html.

Hicks, Jerry. 1986. "Alcala again given death sentence in slaying of girl, 12." Los Angeles Times, June 21: 50.

—. 1986. "Alcala asks jury to spare him, insists he isn't a murderer." Los Angeles Times, June 19: 141.

Jarlson, Gary. 1979. "Hunt for missing girls spreads to Oxnard." Los Angeles Times, June 28: 10.

—. 1979. "In search for girl's killer, time is the principal foe." Los Angeles Times, July 14: 22.

Kaye, Peter. 1981. "The long, painful path to justice." Daily Breeze (Torrence, CA), June 18: 19.

Kirkman, Edward. 1971. "Fear of a new sex killing spurs 6 on trail." Daily News (New York, NY), August 8: 75.

Levenson , Michael, and Eduardo Medina. 2021. "'Dating Game killer,' who preyed on woman in 1970s, dies in prison." New York Times, July 26.

Liff, Mark, Joseph Martin, and Paul Meskil. 1977. "Attorney urges FBI to hunt daughter." Daily News (New York, NY), July 31: 3.

Los Angeles Times. 1980. "Alcala defense wtiness's story repeated to jury." Los Angeles Times, April 30: 42.

—. 1979. "The Southland." Los Angeles Times, June 22: 30.

—. 1977. "Police now see link in strangulation murders of 10 LA women." Sacramento Bee, December 1: 22.

Moynihan, Colin. 2012. "Convicted killer pleads guilty to 2 New York murders." New York Times, December 15: 20.

OC Weekly. 2010. Rodney Alcala's murderous romp through polite society brings him to an Orange County courtroom again. January 21. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.ocweekly.com/rodney-alcalas-murderous-romp-through-polite-society-brings-him-to-an-orange-county-courtroom-again-6402172/.

Pelisek, Christine. 2010. "Rodney Alcala: the fine art of killing." LA Weekly, January 21.

Reyes, David. 1986. "Man convicted second time in murder of girl." Los Angeles Times, May 29: 43.

Sands, Stella. 2011. The Dating Game Killer: The True Story of a TV Dating Show, a Violent Sociopath, and a Series of Brutal Murders. New York, NY: St. Martin's.

Secret, Mosi. 2011. "After decades, charges in 2 Manhattan murders." New York Times, January 27: 24.

Smith, David. 2024. "The terrifying true story behind Woman of the Hour." The Guardian, October 22.

The People v. Rodney James Alcala. 1984. 36 Cal. 3d 605 (Supreme Court of California, August 23).

Weinstein, Henry. 2003. "New trial, new charge in old cases." Los Angeles Times, June 28:32.

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