00:00Number one, would you say hello to Cheryl please? We're gonna have a great time together, Cheryl.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're going over everything we know about one of America's
00:09most notorious serial killers, Rodney Alcala, also known as the Dating Game Killer.
00:15The whole thing was crazy. They showed me on stage, the lights went on, and here we go.
00:23Early life. Rodney Alcala was born in San Antonio, Texas on August 23rd, 1943,
00:30and was the third of four siblings. Rodney Alcala was born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Bucure
00:37on August 23rd, 1943, in San Antonio, Texas. He spent his early years in Mexico until his family
00:44relocated to Los Angeles when he was eight years old. Alcala's childhood was marked by instability
00:50and abandonment, particularly after his father left, creating a foundation for what would become
00:55a turbulent adolescence and young adulthood. And then he joined the army in the early 60s,
01:00and that's where the trouble really began for Rodney Alcala. At 17, Alcala joined the U.S. Army,
01:06where his commanding officer described him as, quote, manipulative, vindictive, and insubordinate.
01:12He was discharged following a reported, quote, nervous breakdown, as well as accusations of
01:18sexual misconduct. The military felt that he had had a nervous breakdown. That was their analysis
01:23of it. The psychiatrists at the hospital felt it was a lot more serious than that. After his ejection,
01:30Alcala enrolled in UCLA's School of Fine Arts and Architecture, later transferring to New York
01:35University. It's here that he attended a class with famed director Roman Polanski. No, he's a
01:41short guy who directed Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. Are those movies or? What do you mean you're
01:47killing me? I'm trying to name drop you. Drop away, man. I'm not, no, because you don't know who I'm talking
01:51about, so it's not as impressive. In 1977, Polanski himself would go on to be arrested for multiple
01:58unlawful offenses against a youth. Crimes. Prosecutors say when he was young, Alcala was a
02:04master manipulator. Described by prosecutors as a cruel killer who toyed with his victims,
02:10Rodney Alcala's reign of terror began in the late 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s.
02:16Leaving an alarming trail of victims across multiple states, he has been conclusively linked
02:21to eight murders, but the actual number is said to be much higher, possibly reaching as many as 130.
02:29Investigators believe he may have actually killed up to 130 victims based on photos found on his
02:35property. Alcala's modus operandi typically involved luring young women with the promise
02:40of photographing them. Now look right into the lens right here and give me that look you just
02:45gave me. Come on. There she is. Look at you. One more. You know, Farrah Fawcett, she's got nothing on you.
02:56His crimes were not limited to a specific type of victim, however, as he targeted women of various
03:01ages and even young men. It's said that he used his charm and good looks to disarm his victims.
03:07It's this man who says, oh it's okay, I'm not a stranger, I know your parents, I'm friends with
03:11your parents. And she thought, hmm, well maybe I'll get in the car. Once he had them alone, Alcala
03:19would brutally assault, torture, and end their lives. Perhaps most chilling, it's said that he
03:25tormented his victims until they lost consciousness, only to revive them and repeat the process,
03:31prolonging their suffering.
03:39Crime spree. A smile shared by a tragic list of young women and girls who trusted a charming
03:45stranger, only to discover a dark secret that began back in the fall of 1968. Rodney Alcala's
03:52criminal acts began in 1968 when he lured young Tali Shapiro to his Hollywood apartment, escaping
03:57before police could apprehend him. To continue searching the house for her attacker. Moments
04:02later, when he walked back into the kitchen, he witnessed a miracle. She was gagging and trying
04:09to breathe and I thought, one for the good guys, she's going to make it. Later arrested for assault,
04:15Alcala assumed the alias John Berger and fled to New Hampshire. There was an entry that said she
04:21was meeting John Berger. It's here that he briefly worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield and shared an
04:29office with serial killer Richard Cottingham, though neither claimed to know of the other's
04:33identity. In 1971, Alcala strangled flight attendant Cornelia Crilly in her Manhattan apartment,
04:40a murder left unsolved until 2011. Added to the FBI's list of 10 most wanted fugitives,
04:46he was ultimately captured after two children recognized him from an FBI poster.
04:50I get a phone call and it's the FBI in New Hampshire. Say, hey, we've got your guy in
04:55custody, Rodney James Alcala. I said, you've got him in custody. Fantastic. Alcala was convicted
05:02of violating youths, but was paroled after serving a short sentence. After his release,
05:07he assaulted a minor and was re-arrested. He was able to read people very well and stay a step or
05:13two or three ahead of them. Following this second release, after serving two years in prison,
05:19it's believed Alcala killed Ellen Jane Hover, the 23-year-old daughter of nightclub owner Herman
05:24Hover and goddaughter of famous crooners Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. She had long, dark hair
05:30and long, slender arms and legs and carried herself like a dancer. Her remains were found
05:37on the historic Rockefeller estate. Alcala later worked for the Los Angeles Times daily newspaper,
05:42where he persuaded young men and women to pose for him as a fashion photographer.
05:47His time in Los Angeles during the late 1970s saw a succession of gruesome killings and assaults,
05:52all leading to his eventual final arrest. Appearance on The Dating Game. Bachelor number
05:59one, I am serving you for dinner. What are you called and what do you look like? In 1978,
06:12Rodney Alcala appeared as a bachelor on the popular television show The Dating Game,
06:16hosted by Jim Lange. The game show featured three out-of-view contestants vying for a date
06:21with a member of the opposite sex. Producers chose Alcala for his, quote, tall, handsome,
06:27and charming persona, unaware of his dark past. This was because no background check was done.
06:38At the time of his appearance, Alcala had already taken the lives of at least two women in Southern
06:43California. Introduced as a successful photographer, Alcala managed to charm the
06:48audience and the bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw. The ABC program was heavy on innuendo,
06:57and throughout the episode, he enthusiastically responded to the bachelorette's suggestive
07:02questions. Thanks to his witty responses and boyish good looks, Alcala won the competition
07:07and ultimately secured a date with Bradshaw. However, in a turn of fate that may have saved
07:13her life, Bradshaw decided not to go on the date. Later explaining she found Alcala, quote,
07:18creepy and sensed, quote, something was off. The footage of his appearance offers a haunting look
07:24into Alcala's unnerving ability to mask his true nature and manipulate those around him with ease.
07:30The appearance was adapted into a feature film titled Woman of the Hour,
07:34directed by and starring Anna Kendrick.
07:36The question beneath the question remains the same.
07:41All right, what's the question? Which one of you will hurt me?
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08:02Trials and Convictions
08:04The long arm of the law finally caught up with Rodney Alcala in 1979 when he was arrested for
08:09the murder of Robin Samsoe in California. Following Samsoe's death, detectives circulated
08:15a sketch of the suspect and an officer recognized him. Tried in 1980, Alcala ultimately received
08:21a death sentence. However, in 1984, the California Supreme Court overturned his conviction due to the
08:28jury's exposure to his past crimes. Both verdicts were later overturned.
08:32After a second trial in 1986, he was again convicted and sentenced to death. However,
08:38this too was overturned in 2001 following an appeal regarding questionable witness testimony.
08:44During preparations for a third trial in 2003, Alcala's DNA linked him to four additional
08:50murder cases, resulting in his indictment for those murders. In 2010, he stood trial again,
08:56acting as his own attorney, and was convicted on five counts of first-degree murder.
09:01This conviction led to a third death sentence. In 2011, a New York grand jury indicted Alcala
09:08for two additional murders from the 1970s. After being extradited in 2012, he pled guilty,
09:14citing a desire to return to California to pursue appeals of his death penalty conviction.
09:19He received a sentence of 25 years to life, as the death penalty was no longer an option
09:25in New York State. Alcala died on death row in 2021 at age 77 of natural causes.
09:31President officials say Rodney Alcala passed away from natural causes at a Kings County hospital.
09:37Have you watched the Netflix film depicting Rodney Alcala's appearance on the dating game
09:41Woman of the Hour? Share your thoughts on the film in the comments below.
09:44Whether it's for a minute or for an hour, I'd like to sit relatively close to a special girl
09:52whenever I get the chance.
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