The Dating Game Killer

2020-11-03 19:45:05 Written by Sarah

Rodney Alcala, The Dating Game Killer

Early Life:

 

Rodney Alcala, an innocent face baby boy was born in San Antonio on August 23, 1943, to Raoul Alcala Buquor and Anna Maria Gutierrez. His father left the family when he was a kid and his mother shifted Alcala and his sisters to Los Angeles when he was 12-years-old. Alcala joined the Army when he was 17-year-old but was medically discharged when he was diagnosed with a serious anti-social personality disorder. He then studied at UCLA and earned a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in 1968 which was the year of his first crime. 

 

Crime

 

He persuaded 8-year-old Tali Shapiro into his car and took her to his flat where he raped and beat her and also tried to strangle her with a metal bar. The police arrived and discovered Shapiro in a pool of blood. Alcala was already gone. They found proof in his apartment that he belonged to UCLA and they also found pictures of young girls. Alcala changed his name to John Berger and joined Film school in New York. Alcala was on the FBI's most-wanted list and was not found until working at an all-girls summer acting camp. Two girls recognized his photo on a wanted poster at a police station. The police caught him and he was tried back in LA. 

The court was unable to convict him of rape and attempted killing without their main witness, prosecutors were compelled to permit Alcala to plead guilty to a minor charge of assault.

Eight weeks later, he was brought back to prison for two years after he gave marijuana to a 13-year-old girl. When he was discharged, he went back to LA and got a job through the Los Angeles Times. This is when his killing Ramage started. 

 

Murders:

Alcala case is so horrible that most of the detail is not revealed by authorities. He convinced people that he is a photographer. He lured the girls into the flat for photography and then brutally killed them.

His known victims are Jill Barcomb, Charlotte Lamb, Jill Parenteau, Georgia Wixted, and Robin Samsoe. 

He was arrested after Samsoe's death. Police found his storage unit contained hundreds of pictures of young girls and a backpack of personal items from his victims. His first two trials were overturned by the California Supreme Court. At his third trial, he was sentenced to death decided by the jury after Alcala attempted to persuade them of his innocence by singing the song "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie. He was believed to have more victims.

 

TV show:

In 1978, Alcala was a contestant for the famous game show "The Dating Game". Announcer Jim Lange introduced him as an "amazing photographer who got his beginning when his dad found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes, you might discover him skydiving or motorcycling."

 

A fellow "bachelor" contestant later explained Alcala as a "very weird guy" with "odd opinions". Alcala won the game, and a date with "bachelorette" Cheryl Bradshaw, who later refused to go out with him because she thought that he is creepy.