Who Was Rodney Alcala? The True Story of ‘Woman of the Hour’

When Cheryl Bradshaw appeared on “The Relationship Recreation” in 1978, little did she know that the bachelor she selected to go on a date with, Rodney Alcala, was a serial killer.

Bradshaw got here out unscathed from her temporary run-in with Alcala on the present, however many ladies he encountered weren’t so fortunate. Alcala was convicted of murdering six ladies and one woman all through the Nineteen Seventies, though authorities suspect he may very well have killed greater than 100 folks.

The story of Bradshaw’s encounter with Alcala on “The Relationship Recreation” impressed “Girl of the Hour,” a brand new thriller out on Netflix on Oct. 18 starring Anna Kendrick as Bradshaw and Daniel Zovatto as Alcala. 

The movie, which marks Kendrick’s directorial debut, explores Alcala’s grisly crimes whereas additionally specializing in the tales of his victims.

Kendrick stated it was chilling to analysis Alcala and be taught what number of occasions he evaded punishment.

“The exhausting half is diving into the story and the analysis, and simply realizing how steadily this particular person was allowed to slide by way of the cracks within the system, as a result of the system was actually not set as much as prioritize victims,” she advised TODAY.com. “It makes me enraged typically … I hoped to seize that feeling of, ‘I can’t consider he retains getting away with this. I can’t consider nobody’s even on the lookout for him.’”

Learn on to be taught extra in regards to the true story of Rodney Alcala.

Who was Rodney Alcala?

Alcala was a convicted assassin and intercourse offender. Whereas he was convicted of the murders of six ladies and one woman, authorities suspect he might have been chargeable for killing as many as 130 folks in a number of states, in line with The Related Press.

Born in San Antonio in 1943, Alcala enlisted within the U.S. Military at 17 and was later discharged following allegations of sexual misconduct and a nervous breakdown, in line with CBS Information’ “48 Hours.” Alcala went on to review advantageous arts at UCLA and labored as a typesetter for the Los Angeles Instances, in line with a 2010 profile of Alcala in LA Weekly.

Alcala’s first recognized prison conviction resulted from an incident in 1968. In accordance with court docket paperwork, in September of that 12 months, he lured an 8-year-old woman, Tali Shapiro, into his automobile, then took her to his Los Angeles residence and brutally beat and sexually assaulted her. Shapiro survived because of a great Samaritan who alerted authorities after he noticed Alcala bringing the little woman into his residence, in line with ABC’s “20/20.”

Alcala fled to New York following the assault and enrolled at NYU, an Orange County deputy district legal professional advised a 2018 investigation of Alcala by “48 Hours.” Later, utilizing the faux identify John Berger, he obtained a job as a counselor at a ladies’ arts and drama camp in New Hampshire, “48 Hours” reported.

Authorities tracked him down after two ladies from the camp acknowledged Alcala’s face on an FBI Most Wished poster. Alcala in the end took a deal and pleaded responsible to youngster molestation and registered as a intercourse offender, former LAPD detective Steve Hodel stated on “48 Hours.”

Alcala was in the end convicted of seven murders dedicated all through the Nineteen Seventies in California and New York.

In 1980, he obtained a demise sentence in Orange County in reference to the 1979 homicide of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, in line with the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The judgment was overturned in 1984, and he was granted a brand new trial. In 1986, he obtained a second demise sentence.

This sentence was as soon as once more overturned in 2003, however he was in the end sentenced to demise for a 3rd time in Orange County in 2010.

That 12 months, Alcala was convicted on 5 counts of first-degree homicide for the killing of Samsoe, as nicely 4 others: the 1977 killings of Jill Barcomb, 18, and Georgia Wixted, 27, the 1978 homicide of Charlotte Lamb, 32, and the 1979 homicide of Jill Parenteau, 21, in line with the CDCR.

Alcala was convicted in 2012 of two extra murders in New York: the 1977 killing of Ellen Jane Hover and the 1971 killing of Cornelia Crilley, in line with the CDCR. The killing of Crilley occurred previous to Alcala’s transfer to New Hampshire, per “48 Hours'” timeline.

In 2010, authorities revealed that that they had discovered greater than 100 photographs of unidentified ladies and youngsters in a Seattle storage locker linked to Alcala.

The Orange County District Legal professional’s Workplace and the Huntington Seashore Police Division launched the photographs publicly in an attraction to determine different potential victims of the convicted killer.

“We balanced the privateness issues of these depicted within the resolution to launch these footage,” District Legal professional Tony Rackauckas stated in a 2010 launch. “Though we hope that the folks depicted should not victims, we consider the discharge could assist clear up some chilly instances and convey closure to victims’ households.”

The discharge of those photographs shed new gentle on the disappearance of Christine Ruth Thornton, a girl who disappeared at age 28 in 1977 and was later discovered strangled to demise in Wyoming. She had been six months pregnant on the time of her disappearance, in line with her household, prosecuting legal professional Daniel Erramouspe advised Individuals. 

Thornton’s household acknowledged her image within the assortment of photographs from Alcala’s storage locker, and in 2016, Alcala was charged together with her homicide in Wyoming. That case didn’t transfer ahead as a result of Erramouspe stated Alcala was too in poor health to be extradited from California to Wyoming, in line with The Related Press. 

“All of this was earlier than the 1978 look on ‘The Relationship Recreation,'” Erramouspe advised Individuals. “I feel the very last thing he would have guessed is that someplace up in Wyoming a case like this may be solved.”

What occurred when Rodney Alcala went on ‘The Relationship Recreation’?

In 1978, Alcala was a contestant in an episode of “The Relationship Recreation.” The long-running present featured three bachelors vying for the affections of a bachelorette. She would select the successful bachelor, sight unseen, based mostly on how they answered her questions from the opposite facet of a display screen.

Alcala, whose prison historical past was apparently not recognized by the present when he was forged on “The Relationship Recreation,” was launched on the present as a “profitable photographer” who loved skydiving and motorcycling.

Following the standard tone of the present, Bradshaw and Alcala’s exchanges had been filled with flirtatious innuendo.

“What’s your greatest time?” Bradshaw requested Alcala, who replied, “The very best time is at evening, nighttime.”

“I’m serving you for dinner. What are you referred to as and what do you seem like?” Bradshaw additionally requested Alcala. 

“I’m referred to as ‘the banana’ and I look actually good,” he answered.

Requested to elaborate, he added, “Peel me.”

Bradshaw ended up selecting Alcala, and the 2 had been promised a whirlwind date of tennis classes and a visit to California’s Magic Mountain amusement park.

Nonetheless, their date by no means happened. Bradshaw later stated she was creeped out by Alcala’s conduct and backed out of their assembly, in line with the present’s contestant coordinator, Ellen Metzger, in a “20/20” interview.

Jed Mills, the bachelor contestant who sat subsequent to Alcala in the course of the episode, additionally stated he had discovered Alcala “creepy.”

“I observed that immediately,” Mills stated on ABC’s “20/20” in 2021. “Within the greenroom he jumps in and says, ‘I all the time get my woman.’ I instantly didn’t like this man.”

What occurred to Rodney Alcala?Alcala died at 77 of pure causes on July 24, 2021, at a hospital in Kings County, California, in line with a launch from the CDCR. He was on demise row on the time.

Investigators had suspected him of or linked him to different murders in California, Washington, New York, New Hampshire and Arizona, in line with the CDCR.