Alcala was sentenced to death in California but died of natural causes in 2021.Īlcala was arrested in July 1979 for the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe of Huntington Beach, California. He has been behind bars since his July 1979 arrest for the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old girl. In 2010, photos taken by Alcala decades earlier were made public to try to identify other victims. Alcala also sometimes arranged the corpses of women he'd murdered in poses.
Autopsies of some Alcala victims revealed that he would strangle women, then wait for them to regain consciousness before the final kill. He spent time in prison for sexual assault and other crimes in the 1970s but continued to rape and kill when he was free. Serial killer Rodney James Alcala murdered at least nine women and girls across the United States in the 1970s, though his true death toll could number more than 100. His 1978 appearance on the television show 'The Dating Game' resulted in his nickname of 'The Dating Game Killer.' Who Was Rodney Alcala? Rodney Alcala was an American serial killer whose good looks and high IQ helped him lure victims.
