It’s been well over 50 years since television has been playing matchmaker for couples all over the world. These days you have the 90-day fiancé, or the bachelor/ bachelorette, but before the birth of these reality dating shows, we had The Dating Game.
The Dating Game was an American game show that premiered in 1965. The basis of the show was to allow a bachelorette to ask three bachelors questions to determine if they would be a good dating match. Once the match was made the show would send the couple on an all-expenses-paid date.
Sometimes the roles were reversed. Men would question women or celebrities would come on and question players themselves.
The show first aired on December 20th, 1965.
Many celebrities graced the stage of The Dating Game, including, Farrah Fawcett, Suzanne Somers, Tom Selleck, Burt Reynolds, and many more! There is even a video floating around of 19-year-old John Ritter on the show before he starred in Three’s Company… With all the attractive singles and celebrities mixed with free love floating through the air, the show was a hit… Though not all contestants on the popular show were daydreams… Some were actual nightmares…
In this episode I will transport you through a terrifying true story from the 1970s. Rodney Alcala, a contestant on “The Dating Game,” appeared charming and handsome to audience members. Little did they know he had already committed multiple murders as he was on a full blown murder spree…
An era of free love darkened by murder, this is a chilling reminder of a time when serial killers lurked just beyond the smile of a suitor.
Oh, and one more time for the people in the back… This episode contains disturbing accounts of violence, sexual violence and may not be suitable for all listeners. Readers discretion is STRONGLY advised.
Rodney Alcala was born in San Antonio, Texas on August 23rd, 1943. His birth name was Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor. Born into a Mexican-American family, he was the third of four children born to his parents, Raul Alcala Buquor and Anna Maria Gutierrez. His father moved the entire family to Mexico in 1951 and just three years later he abandoned them there.
When Rodney turned 11 years old in 1954, his mother made a decision to move the family to Los Angeles. In a suburban neighborhood he was able to attend a decent school alongside his two sisters. It was obvious that Rodney was academically gifted and became quite popular within his group of peers. During his school years, he was on the track team and yearbook planning committee. Rodney would graduate from Montebello High School, in Montebello, California. A suburb of Los Angeles.
Other than being left by his father, his childhood and teen years seemed uneventful. By 1961, 17 year old Rodney enlisted in the United States Army. His desire was to become a paratrooper, but during his four years, he remained a clerk. During his military time it was noted that he was insubordinate, manipulative and vindictive. He was consistently reprimanded for harassing and assualting young women.
In 1964, Rodney went AWOL and left the base Fort Campbell near Tennessee and Kentucky. This actually started with a weekend pass allowing him to visit Nashville, but Rodney stole a car, robbed an individual and went to New York City. During his time in New York, he spotted a young woman one night and followed her. He hit her with a Coke bottle.
But the woman got away…
Rodney moved on to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and was charged by military police. During his transport back to Fort Campbell, he escaped. He then hitchhiked to his mothers home in California. During his time with his mother and sisters, Rodney exposed his genitals to his youngest sister.
Once back in military custody, a military psychiatrist diagnosed Rodney with antisocial personality disorder also known as a sociopath. It is a mental disorder that causes a person to show no regard for right or wrong and ignoring the feelings of others. He was also asked about the incident with his sister… He was asked if he wanted to have sex with his little sister and his response was, I don’t know.
In later diagnosis it was proposed that Rodney also suffered from narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personalities, psychopathy and sexual sadism.
After leaving the army, Rodney enrolled in UCLA school of Fine Arts and after he attended New York University where he studied film under film director, producer and actor Roman Polanski.
Remind me later… We should probably chat about Roman Polanski…But let’s back up for a minute…
During Rodney’s time at UCLA, an 8 year old girl by the name of Tali Shapiro lived about a mile from UCLA. On September 25th, 1969, Tali was a second grader who walked to school. As she walked along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, 25 year old Rodney pulled his car up to Tali and asked her if she wanted a ride. Tali said no, and informed him she is not supposed to talk to strangers. But Rodney persisted and stated that he knew her parents. With this statement, Tali became concerned as she was taught to respect her elders.
Nevertheless, in 1969, fear of strangers wasn’t as heightened as it is now. Tali wouldn’t have questioned this any further.
Luckily, someone nearby was watching this exchange. An individual in a nearby vehicle saw Tali climb into the car with the shaggy-haired young man and was instantly concerned. The individual followed Rodney’s car to his nearby apartment and called the police.
Police arrived and banged on the apartment door. Rodney did not answer. Police threatened to kick in the door. He yelled to police that he was in the shower, though police noticed him standing in a window, naked. Police then kicked the door in and found Tali Shapiro severely injured on the floor.
Rodney Alcala had escaped out his back door.
An aspiring serial killer had slipped through the grasp of the authorities.
Tali had been molested, left on the ground in a pool of blood with her legs open and a 10 pound bar across her throat. Police immediately thought Tali was dead, but at one point noticed she was struggling to breathe. Life saving efforts immediately took place.
Tali Shapiro is alive to this day.
Officers searched Rodney’s apartment after saving Tali. They found pictures of various women and girls, they determined that he attended UCLA and sorted through various pieces of photography equipment. Authorities were now aware of Rodney Alcala’s name.
This is when Rodney enrolled in New York University. Though he used an alias. Living under the name of John Berger, he lived in New York, completely undetected for three years.
While enrolled as a student at NYU, Rodney earned his money as a photographer, part-time security guard and a camp counselor. The photography position gave him easy access to women and girls. Taking and storing hundreds of photos of women, some where explicit.
On June 12th, 1971, Trans World Airline flight attendant, Cornelia Crilley had been strangled by her own stockings. She was new the the block she lived in and had been raped and left dead in her own apartment on 83rd street.
Initially law enforcement believed her boyfriend Leon Borstein had committed the crime and while they focused on him… Rodney Alcala slipped away…Cornelia’s murder remained unsolved until 2011.
Using the alias John Berger, Rodney obtained employment at a drama camp not far from Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire.
One rainy summer day, two female campers had been in the small village Georges Mills. To wait out the storm, they took shelter in the small post office and noticed a photo of their camp counselor hanging on the wall. Taking a closer look the girls realized it was an FBI’s ten most wanted poster and the photo was definitely their counselor John Berger, but the name on the poster, was Rodney Alcala.
Rodney had made it on the FBI’s most wanted list for the assault on 8 year-old Tali Shapiro. The two campers alerted authorities and Rodney Alcala was arrested in August of 1971.
This is where we would all cheer, right? The killer was arrested… I wish I could say this is the end of the story… But it’s not even close…
Rodney was extradited to California to stand trial. He was found guilty in the assault of Tali, but… The primary witness, Tali, had moved to Mexico with her family. Her parents refused to allow her to testify in the trial. The prosecution would not charge Rodney with rape and attempted murder without the primary witness, so he was charged with child molestation and he was sentenced to only three years. Rodney worked hard in prison to become a model prisoner. In 1974, he was able to convince the parole board he was no longer a threat to society an he was released in August 1974…
Less than two months after his release, Rodney found a new victim.
On October 13th, 1974, he approached a 13 year old named Julie J. This may not be her real name, but it is what the court documents list. He struck up a conversation with her at a bus stop in Huntington Beach and gaining her trust slightly, he offered her a ride to school. She agreed, but as they passed the school, she asked him to let her out of the car.
He told her he had to check on an apartment in the area and it wouldn’t take long, she continued to ask him to stop the car and he finally told her to be quiet. He finally stopped the car on the cliffs of Huntington Beach overlooking the ocean. Julie attempted to jump out of the car and run, but he caught her by her arm and dragged her to a location along the cliffs of Bolsa Chica State Beach.
He forced Julie to smoke marijuana, French kissed her and asked her questions like, do you like boys? Or are you passionate when you’re loaded. Anytime she tried to run he grabbed her leg.
Luckily, a ranger arrived and arrested both Rodney and Julie for smoking marijuana. Rodney’s parole was revoked. This time, he only served two years and was paroled again in 1976.
Strangely, the Los Angeles Parole office allowed the repeat offender and known flight risk to travel to New York. Cornelia’s murder in Manhattan had not yet been linked back to Rodney so he was freely able to visit Manhattan as well. This is how he met the 23 year old socialite, Ellen Hover.
Ellen Hover was the daughter of Herman Hover. He owned Ciro’s a legendary nightclub. Ellen was the goddaughter to Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin and her aunt, Sheila Weller is a writer for Vanity Fair.
July 15th,1977 was the last time Ellen was seen alive. She was at her apartment on Third Avenue at 44th Street and later it was found that her datebook had an appointment written in it… She was to meet with John Berger that same day.
Ellen simply vanished. Her stepfather hired a private investigator to search for John Berger, but Rodney Alcala used the alias, murdered Ellen and then moved back to Los Angeles and used his own name to get a job at the Los Angeles Times as a typesetter.
Ellen’s family continued their search and even took out an ad in the New York Times seeking information on a man named John Berger.
Ellen’s body was later found in North Tarrytown, New York, it was not far from the Hover family’s summer home.
Completely ignoring the search for John Berger and the missing social light Ellen Hover, Rodney moved on to another victim… By November 10th 1977, 18 year old Jill Barcomb had been found murdered near the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, not far from Marlon Brando’s home.. Jill was a tiny young woman, barely five feet tall weighing less than 100lbs. Rodney picked her up on Sunset Boulevard.
Authorities determined that Jill had been sexually assaulted and strangled three times with a belt, her pantyhose and the leg of her pants. During this time the The Hillside strangler was on his own murder spree, which led authorities away from Rodney as a suspect, though he was questioned regarding Jill’s murder in March 1978, he wasn’t considered a suspect, but was charged with possession of marijuana which landed him back in jail for a bit.
Once released he would find another victim. 32 year old Charlotte Lamb, a legal secretary from Santa Monica was found murdered in the laundry room of her apartment complex in El Segundo, California, in June 1978. She had been sexually assualted and strangled with a shoelace. She was found with her hands behind her back.
By September of 1978, Rodney appeared on The Dating Game, he had been brutally raping and murdering women, but somehow found the time to be on the show. While on the show he actually was contestant number 1 and was selected by the female contestant.
The episode was dated September 13th, 1978. The female contestant was Cheryl Bradshaw. Cheryl was a young and beautiful drama teacher, she was excited to have been chosen. Throughout the episode she flirtatiously asked each of the three eligible men questions. By the end she had chosen bachelor number one, Rodney Alcala.
At this time Rodney already had multiple victims including a child, but no one had a clue. None of his crimes had actually been connected to him accept the assault of Tali Shapiro, which he had already served time for.
Luckily, Cheryl never went on a date with Rodney… Right after the taping of the show, she felt weird vibes and stated she did not want to go on the date with Rodney.
After his dating game appearance, Rodney picked up a 15-year-old hitchhiker in Riverside county in February 1979. We only know her as Monique H., he took her to his apartment, he claims they had consensual sex. Then the next morning he drove her to the mountains and took nude photos of her, he then raped her and beat her while she was tied up. In a later confession he claimed things just got out of control. He drove her back to Riverside and she was able to call the police and report the rape and kidnapping.
Rodney was arrested and his mother posted bail.
In June 1979, 21-year-old Jill Parenteau left her data entry job early to attend a baseball game. No one saw her again after she left work and by the next morning, authorities were notified of her disappearance. Her Burbank apartment had been searched and they found her dead. She was naked on the bathroom floor and posed in a strange fashion. With pillows under her shoulders, she had been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted.
The person responsible for her murder had left through a window and had cut himself. Unfortunately the blood did not rule out or confirm Rodney. DNA testing was not available at this time. Though according to a friend of Jill, she had met Rodney in a nightclub and met him there several times.
Within the same month, Rodney was at it again. On June 20th, 1979, he crossed paths with Robin Samsoe. Robin was 12-years-old from Huntington Beach. She had been spending time with her friend Bridget Wilvert that day and earlier in the day the girls were playing at Huntington Beach’s low cliffs. A neighbor, Jackye Young noticed a man bothering the two young girls. He was asking the girls to let him photograph them in their swimsuits. The two young girls had allowed him to take their photo.
It was reported that the day before, June 19th, that he had approached 15-year-old Toni Esparza and 14-year-old Joanne Murchland, he offered them marijuana and repeatedly asked them if he could take their photos for a bikini contest.
Back to June 20th, Robin had been at Bridgett’s home and borrowed her yellow Schwinn bike to go to ballet lessons. That was the last time Robin or the bike was seen.
On July 2nd, a forest service spray crew member stumbled upon Robin’s remains. In a ravine in the Sierra Madre Mountains, her skull was no longer attached to her neck and lower teeth were damaged indicating she was hit with something hard. Her left foot was missing as well as pieces of her hand.
A kitchen knife was found nearby the body and had a drop of human blood on it, but the type was unknown. Though authorities found a beach towel with blood stains on it. Her clothing wasn’t found other than one shoe, though, her body was in an advanced state of decomposition making it difficult to determine what occurred.
A sketch was created to attempt to identify Robin’s killer. Once the sketch was out, Rodney’s former probation officer recognized him, prompting the police to obtain a warrant for his arrest and to search his home and vehicle.
Finally on July 24th, Rodney Alcala was arrested in his bedroom in Monterey Park. During authorities search they found that there was a knife set in his house that matched the knife that was found by Robin, but there was not a missing knife from the set. They also found a receipt for a storage locker in Seattle. The receipt was dated after Robin’s death.
In the locker they found earrings belonging to a few of his victims, photos and other items tying him to the many murders. Trophies… of his murders
Unfortunately, authorities attempted to charge Rodney with Robins murder, but he had an alibi, he claimed he was at Knott’s Berry Farm applying for a photography job. Though a jury did find him guilty in 1978 of first degree murder with a deadly weapon as well as kidnapping. The kidnapping was considered a special circumstance and would allow the death penalty.
Though due to technicalities, his convictions were turned over.
By February 25th, 2010, a third jury found Rodney Alcala guilty of the murder of Robin Samsoe. He was also found guilty of first-degree murder of Jill Barcomb, Georgia Wixtex, Charlotte Lamb, and Jill Parenteau. He was sentenced to death on March 30th 2010.
During the trial, Rodney, did not hire an attorney, he represented himself. His victim Tali Shapiro was called to testify, though Rodney did not question her, he simply apologized for his despicable actions.
After his conviction, Alcala was extradited to New York and indicted for the 1971 murder of Cornelia Crilley and the 1977 murder of Ellen Hover.
In 2011, authorities were confident that he had murdered Pamela Lambson on October 9th, 1977. Pam was an aspiring model and went to San Francisco to meet with a photographer. She was never seen again. Her body was later found on a Marin County hiking trail. At the time there were no fingerprints or useable DNA, but in 2011, authorities believed there was sufficient evidence to link the crime to Alcala.
In 2016, Alcala was charged with the murder of Christine Ruth Thornton. The 28 year-old went missing in Wyoming in 1978. Her body was found in 1982. Christine was six months pregnant at the time of her murder.
Over all alcala was linked to or a suspect in murders spanning across the country… Los Angeles, Marin County, California, Seattle, Washington, New York, New Hampshire and Arizona. Many of the photos found in his storage are of women who have never been identified… There’s no way to know if they are alive or became victims of Rodney Alcala.
Rodney Alcala died on death row on July 24th, 2021 at 77 years old. He passed at a hospital near Corcoran State Prison, in California.
