Rodney Alcala was an American serial killer convicted of five murders in California and two in New York, committed between 1971 and 1979, whose case drew wide attention after he appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game during his killing spree.
Jill Barcomb Oneida High School Yearbook 1975 Nineteen Seventy-Five Oneidan — Credit: Oneidan High School faculty 1975. · Public domain
Rodney James Alcala (born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala, August 23, 1943 – July 24, 2021) was convicted of murdering five women and girls in California between 1977 and 1979, and pleaded guilty to two additional murders in New York State. He was indicted for one further murder in Wyoming, though those charges were later dropped. While he has been conclusively linked to nine murders, investigators have said the true number of victims is unknown and could be far higher.
Alcala's known offending began with the 1968 assault of eight-year-old Tali Shapiro, who survived after being raped and beaten with a steel bar. He fled California to evade prosecution, enrolling at NYU under the alias "John Berger." While a fugitive, he murdered 23-year-old flight attendant Cornelia Crilley in her Manhattan apartment in 1971; the case went unsolved until 2011. Alcala was arrested later in 1971 after campers at a New Hampshire arts camp recognized him from an FBI wanted poster, and he was ultimately convicted only of child molestation in the Shapiro case after her family declined to allow her to testify. He served roughly three years, was paroled, then reoffended within two months by assaulting a 13-year-old girl, resulting in a further two-year sentence.
After his 1977 release, Alcala was permitted by his parole officer to travel to New York, where investigators believe he killed 23-year-old Ellen Jane Hover; her remains were found in 1978. Returning to Los Angeles, Alcala worked briefly as a typesetter and posed as a fashion photographer to photograph hundreds of young people. During this period he murdered Jill Barcomb (1977), Georgia Wixted (1977), Charlotte Lamb (1978), and Jill Parenteau (1979), and in June 1979 killed 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, whose disappearance led to his arrest after her friends described a photographer approaching them on the beach.
Alcala was convicted of Samsoe's murder in 1980 and sentenced to death; this conviction was overturned in 1984 and again after a 1986 retrial. In 2010, following DNA matches connecting him to the Barcomb, Wixted, Lamb, and Parenteau murders, he was convicted on all five joined counts and sentenced to death a third time. In 2012 he was extradited to New York and pleaded guilty to the Crilley and Hover murders, receiving two consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences.
Police have since sought to identify subjects among more than 1,000 photographs found in Alcala's possession, some of whom may be additional victims. In 2016 he was charged with the 1977 murder of Christine Thornton, identified through one of his photographs, though he was reportedly too ill to be tried in Wyoming before his death. Alcala died of a heart attack on California's death row on July 24, 2021, at age 77.
Georgia Marie Wixted, Jill Terry Barcomb, Cornelia Crilley, Tali Shapiro, Christine Ruth Thornton, Ellen Jane Hover, Robin Christine Samsoe, Jill Marie Parenteau, Charlotte Lee Lamb, Pamela Jean Lambson
Date
1977
Location
Los Angeles, California (primary jurisdiction of convictions)
Case status
solved
Case timeline
1968-09-25
Alcala lured and assaulted eight-year-old Tali Shapiro in his Hollywood apartment; she survived after being found beaten and raped.
1971-06-12
Cornelia Crilley, 23, was found raped and strangled in her Manhattan apartment; the murder went unsolved until 2011.
1971-08
Alcala was arrested in New Hampshire and extradited to California in connection with the Shapiro case.
1974
Alcala was paroled after serving about 34 months for child molestation.
1977
Alcala was re-arrested and convicted of assaulting a 13-year-old girl; he was later paroled again in 1977 as a registered sex offender.
1977-07-15
Ellen Jane Hover was last seen in New York; investigators believe Alcala killed her shortly afterward.
1977-11-09
Jill Barcomb, 18, was murdered and her body left near Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles.
1977-12-16
Georgia Marie Wixted, 27, was found dead in her Malibu apartment.
1978
Alcala appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game.
1978-06-24
Charlotte Lee Lamb, 32, was found dead in an El Segundo apartment complex laundry room.
1979-02-14
Alcala abducted and assaulted 15-year-old Monique Hoyt, who escaped and reported the attack.
1979-06-13
Jill Marie Parenteau, 21, was found dead in her Burbank apartment.
1979-06-20
Robin Christine Samsoe, 12, disappeared in Huntington Beach; her body was found 12 days later.
1979-07
Alcala was arrested and held without bail for Samsoe's murder.
1980-05
Alcala was convicted of Samsoe's murder and sentenced to death the following month.
1984
The California Supreme Court overturned Alcala's first conviction due to improper disclosure of prior sex crimes to jurors.
1986-05
Alcala was convicted again in a second trial and sentenced to death in August 1986.
2001
A federal district court judge overturned Alcala's second conviction via habeas corpus petition.
2010-02
Alcala's third trial began, joining the Samsoe charges with four newly DNA-linked murders.
2010-03
Police released 120 of Alcala's photographs publicly seeking help identifying subjects.
2010
Alcala was convicted on all five joined murder counts and sentenced to death for a third time in March 2010.
2011
The murder of Cornelia Crilley was formally solved and linked to Alcala.
2011-03
Marin County investigators announced they were confident Alcala killed Pamela Lambson in 1977, though no charges were filed.
2011-01
A Manhattan grand jury indicted Alcala for the Crilley and Hover murders.
2012-06
Alcala was extradited to New York and initially pleaded not guilty to the Crilley and Hover charges.
2012-12
Alcala changed his pleas to guilty in the New York cases.
2013-01-07
Alcala was sentenced in Manhattan to an additional 25 years to life.
2015
DNA testing identified remains found in 1982 near Granger, Wyoming, as Christine Thornton.
2016-09
Alcala was charged with the murder of Christine Thornton in Wyoming.
2021-07-24
Alcala died of a heart attack while on California's death row, at age 77.
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Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Bailey Sarian / 57 min
The Killing Game - Did this monster murder 30 more? Rodney Alcala | Mystery & Makeup - Bailey Sarian
People
Georgia Marie Wixted
VICTIM
Murdered in her Malibu apartment in 1977; Alcala was convicted of her murder in 2010.
Jill Terry Barcomb
VICTIM
Murdered in Los Angeles in 1977; Alcala was convicted of her murder in 2010.
Cornelia Crilley
VICTIM
Murdered by Alcala in her Manhattan apartment in 1971; case solved in 2011.
Tali Shapiro
VICTIM
Survived a 1968 abduction, rape, and beating by Alcala at age eight.
Rodney Alcala
CONVICTED
Convicted of five murders in California (death sentence) and two murders in New York (25 years to life each); charged with a murder in Wyoming that was later dropped; died in custody in 2021.
Christine Ruth Thornton
VICTIM
Murdered circa 1977; Alcala was charged with her murder in Wyoming in 2016, though charges were later dropped and he was not tried before his death.
Ellen Jane Hover
VICTIM
Disappeared in New York City in 1977; her remains were found in 1978 and investigators believe Alcala killed her.
Robin Christine Samsoe
VICTIM
Murdered in 1979 at age 12; Alcala was convicted of her murder across three trials, the final in 2010.
Jill Marie Parenteau
VICTIM
Murdered in her Burbank apartment in 1979; Alcala was convicted of her murder in 2010.
Charlotte Lee Lamb
VICTIM
Murdered in El Segundo in 1978; Alcala was convicted of her murder in 2010.
Pamela Jean Lambson
VICTIM
Murdered in 1977 in Marin County, California; investigators said they were confident Alcala was responsible, but no charges were ever filed.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Rodney Alcala was an American serial killer convicted of five murders in California and two in New York, committed between 1971 and 1979, whose case drew wide attention after he appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game during his killing spree.
Where did the crime happen?
Los Angeles, California (primary jurisdiction of convictions).
Who was convicted?
Rodney Alcala (Convicted of five murders in California (death sentence) and two murders in New York (25 years to life each); charged with a murder in Wyoming that was later dropped; died in custody in 2021.).
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