Morbid

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


Listen Later

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.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

MorbidBy Morbid Network | Wondery

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

94,558 ratings


More shows like Morbid

View all
This Is Actually Happening by Wondery

This Is Actually Happening

10,395 Listeners

The Generation Why Podcast by Wondery

The Generation Why Podcast

17,266 Listeners

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark by Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

171,654 Listeners

I Hate My Boss by Wondery

I Hate My Boss

475 Listeners

How I Built This with Guy Raz by Guy Raz | Wondery

How I Built This with Guy Raz

30,224 Listeners

Two Girls One Ghost by Sony Music Entertainment

Two Girls One Ghost

9,316 Listeners

Crime Junkie by audiochuck

Crime Junkie

366,312 Listeners

Business Wars by Wondery

Business Wars

12,865 Listeners

Felonious Florida by Wondery | Sun Sentinel

Felonious Florida

4,126 Listeners

Legal Wars by Wondery

Legal Wars

2,156 Listeners

Going West: True Crime by Dark West Productions

Going West: True Crime

10,715 Listeners

The Shrink Next Door by Wondery | Bloomberg

The Shrink Next Door

22,983 Listeners

Dateline NBC by NBC News

Dateline NBC

47,886 Listeners

CounterClock by audiochuck

CounterClock

34,034 Listeners

So Supernatural by audiochuck | Crime House

So Supernatural

22,856 Listeners

Murder With My Husband by OH NO MEDIA

Murder With My Husband

17,980 Listeners

Park Predators by audiochuck

Park Predators

17,683 Listeners

Serialously with Annie Elise by 10 to LIFE & Audioboom Studios

Serialously with Annie Elise

9,486 Listeners

Anatomy of Murder by audiochuck

Anatomy of Murder

19,975 Listeners

Secret Sauce by Wondery

Secret Sauce

255 Listeners

British Scandal by Wondery

British Scandal

2,461 Listeners

Uncommon Ground with Van Jones by Amazon Music | Van Jones

Uncommon Ground with Van Jones

251 Listeners

The Deck by audiochuck

The Deck

11,177 Listeners

MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories by Ballen Studios

MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

28,303 Listeners

True Crime with Kendall Rae by Mile Higher Media & Audioboom Studios

True Crime with Kendall Rae

5,680 Listeners

Diss and Tell by Wondery

Diss and Tell

826 Listeners

Oh What A Time... by CBW Productions | Wondery

Oh What A Time...

111 Listeners

Men in Blazers: Early Kick Off by Men in Blazers Media Network

Men in Blazers: Early Kick Off

399 Listeners

Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbia University by Wondery

Exposed: Cover-Up at Columbia University

1,523 Listeners

Severed Affair: The Gruesome Murder of Shad Thyrion by Law&Crime

Severed Affair: The Gruesome Murder of Shad Thyrion

213 Listeners

Over the Top with Beadle and Rosenberg by Wondery

Over the Top with Beadle and Rosenberg

95 Listeners

Lemme Say This by Wondery

Lemme Say This

230 Listeners

Black Swan Murder by Law & Crime

Black Swan Murder

66 Listeners

Lawless Planet by Wondery

Lawless Planet

0 Listeners