Latest / The conspiracy / The Disturbing Dating Game Serial Killer _ Rodney Alcala

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The Disturbing Dating Game Serial Killer _ Rodney Alcala · The conspiracy

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  Speaker 1: The lights of late nineteen seventies Los Angeles promised glamour, possibility,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and fame. But in the shadow of those palm lined
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: streets moved a man whose charm was as dangerous as
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: it was disarming, A man who could smile for a
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: camera even as he carried the weight of unspeakable secrets.
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  Speaker 1: And on a summer afternoon, he'd be the stranger offering
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  Speaker 1: to take your picture, and that evening he might be
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  Speaker 1: a contestant on a cheerful TV game show, and somewhere
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  Speaker 1: between the flash of the lens and the applause of
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  Speaker 1: the audience, lives would be changed forever. This is the
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  Speaker 1: story of Rodney Alcola, the predator who hid in plain sight,
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  Speaker 1: and the trail of shattered lives he left behind. Crime, conspiracy, cults,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: serial killers, and murder, all things that I love to consume,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and I know you do too, you sick, twisted, beautiful,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: intellectually minded.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: That was good. Today we are covering.
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  Speaker 1: An insane one that quite literally just sounds like a movie,
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  Speaker 1: and of course was made into one, and we'll talk
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: about that a little later. But it is terrifying to
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  Speaker 1: think that a human being like this could be out
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  Speaker 1: there while being so charismatic, not unlike Ted Bundy, and
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  Speaker 1: so easily steal the lives from innocent human beings. So
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  Speaker 1: without further Ado, let's unbuckle our seatbelts, go mock five
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  Speaker 1: down the highway, slam on the breaks, and buster through
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  Speaker 1: this windshield into this disturbing serial killer together. Rodney James
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  Speaker 1: Alcala was born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala on August twenty third,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, in San Antonio, Texas, and he was
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  Speaker 1: the third of four children in what appeared to be
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  Speaker 1: a normal Mexican American family. And in nineteen fifty one,
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  Speaker 1: when Rodney was about eight years old, his father moved
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  Speaker 1: the family to Mexico, only to abandon them three years later,
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  Speaker 1: shit dead, So he just abruptly walked out on Rodney,
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  Speaker 1: his siblings, and their mother, Anna Maria in nineteen fifty four.
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  Speaker 1: And this betrayal would deeply affect the family. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: of course, and Rodney's mother was left to raise these
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  Speaker 1: children alone, but she would soon relocate the family to
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  Speaker 1: a suburban in Los Angeles for a fresh start. And
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  Speaker 1: Rodney was eleven years old at this point when he
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  Speaker 1: arrived in La effectively growing up without a father's presence.
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  Speaker 1: But despite the early upheaval, young Rodney Alcala initially showed
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: few outward signs of trouble, which is uncommon for serial
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  Speaker 1: killers as we know, and he was actually considered a
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  Speaker 1: bright and gifted student. He attended private schools in the
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  Speaker 1: Los Angeles area and excelled academically, and classmates remembered him
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  Speaker 1: as reasonably popular as well, and he served on his
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  Speaker 1: high school's yearbook committee and competed in track and cross
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  Speaker 1: country teams. Guy was like the guy, the popular guy
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  Speaker 1: in school.
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  Speaker 2: So by all.
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  Speaker 1: Appearances, he was a typical teenager. He was smart, sociable,
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  Speaker 1: even well liked, so there was little to foreshadow the
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  Speaker 1: darkness that would later overtake him. Yet, as we often
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  Speaker 1: learn in hindsight, appearances can be deceiving. Maybe he was
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: just really good at acting, which I'm gonna assume.
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  Speaker 2: Because I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: We're always talking about nature and nurture, and I feel
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  Speaker 1: like he just might have been one of those people,
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  Speaker 1: those psychopathic people who are really able to blend into
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  Speaker 1: society and trick everyone. And those who study Alcohola's life
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  Speaker 1: often point to his father's abandonment as an early turning point,
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  Speaker 1: because being suddenly deserted by a parent at a formative
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  Speaker 1: age can inflict deep emotional wounds. Of course, but we
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  Speaker 1: can't exactly know what impact it had on Rodney's psyche,
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  Speaker 1: but it's clear his family life was fractured from a
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  Speaker 1: very early age. So after moved to Los Angeles, his
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  Speaker 1: mother did her best to provide stability, but still the
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  Speaker 1: absence of his father, who had uprooted the family only
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  Speaker 1: to lead them, hung over Rodney's childhood because the young
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  Speaker 1: boy who had once lived in a secure two parent
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  Speaker 1: household was now adapting to life with a single mother.
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  Speaker 2: But as we discussed, there was no.
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  Speaker 1: Documented incidents of violence or criminal behavior. However, the emotional
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  Speaker 1: turmoil of his father's rejection and the subsequent relocation might
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  Speaker 1: have planted seeds of at least anger or resentment, and
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  Speaker 1: psychiatrists later noted that Alkala exhibited traits of narcissism and
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  Speaker 1: antisocial personality disorder. And as we know with narcissists, they
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  Speaker 1: think more of themselves than others, and they often go
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  Speaker 1: hand in hand with psychopaths, especially in the serial killer realm.
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  Speaker 1: So again, it just kind of bodes to my theory
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  Speaker 1: of him just being really capable of blending into society.
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  Speaker 1: So the boy who seemed to be thriving academically was
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  Speaker 1: also a child who had learned that people he depended
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  Speaker 1: on could vanish without warning. So by his late teens,
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  Speaker 1: Rodney Kala's life took another turn, and in nineteen sixty,
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  Speaker 1: at the age of seventeen, he graduated from Cantwell Sacred
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  Speaker 1: Heart of Mary High School, and, showing his independent streak,
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  Speaker 1: decided to join the US Army in nineteen sixty one,
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  Speaker 1: and he enlisted as a paratrooper and was assigned to
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  Speaker 1: clerical duties. So here was a new chapter. This high
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  Speaker 1: achieving student now was serving his country, just the ultimate patriot.
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  Speaker 1: But it was during his army stint that the first
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  Speaker 1: serious red flags about his behavior appeared, because military records
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  Speaker 1: and later reports describe Alcala in the army as manipulative, vindictive,
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  Speaker 1: and insubordinate.
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  Speaker 2: Now now we're starting to understand who this guy is.
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  Speaker 2: He was able to.
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  Speaker 1: Trick people in high school and all that kind of stuff,
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  Speaker 1: but you know, you get into the army and these
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  Speaker 1: people do not round and far more disturbing, he was
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  Speaker 1: disciplined multiple times for attacking young women well in the service,
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  Speaker 1: and there aren't many details of these, but the mere
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  Speaker 1: fact that a teenager in the army was asking women
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  Speaker 1: is a glaring early indicator of the predatory behavior he
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  Speaker 1: had been hiding. It's as if the dark secrets inside
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  Speaker 1: him began to surface once he was away from home.
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  Speaker 1: He finally felt like maybe he could be himself.
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  Speaker 2: I guess quote unquote.
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  Speaker 1: So in nineteen sixty four, al Calla's military career came
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  Speaker 1: to an abrupt end after what was described as a
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  Speaker 1: nervous breakdown, and he went absent without leave, which is
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  Speaker 1: a wall fleeing from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and hitching
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  Speaker 1: all the way back to his mother's house in California.
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  Speaker 1: So when the army finally detained him, because you're not
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  Speaker 1: allowed to just leave, the army military psychiatrist would evaluate
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  Speaker 1: the twenty year old soldier and diagnose him with antisocial
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  Speaker 1: personality disorder, essentially labeling him as someone with no regard
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  Speaker 1: for right and wrong or the rights of others.
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  Speaker 2: Just don't give a fuck about anybody else.
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  Speaker 1: Throw on narcissism in there as well, because he was
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  Speaker 1: prone to to deceit, manipulation, and have just had no remorse,
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  Speaker 1: which are again classic traits of a psychopath. That's right,
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  Speaker 1: and we're in the sixties, guys, there's not a lot
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  Speaker 1: for people with mental health. So you can bet your
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  Speaker 1: bottom dollar he didn't get the help that he definitely
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  Speaker 1: should have gotten. And later in life, court psychiatrists would
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  Speaker 1: add other diagnoses like narcissistic personality disorder and sensual sadism,
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  Speaker 1: and we will see that further on. And they would
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  Speaker 1: also measure his IQ at around one hundred and thirty five,
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  Speaker 1: indicating he was exceptionally intelligent. So just the worst of
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  Speaker 1: both worlds. Basically, he's narcissistic, psychopathic, has no remorse, doesn't
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  Speaker 1: give a shit about others, is a sadist, and is
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  Speaker 1: extremely smart to boost. So just the makings of a
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  Speaker 1: quote unquote perfect serial killer are near perfect. Obviously not
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  Speaker 1: in bi perfect. I mean, you know, the worst case scenario,
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  Speaker 1: but you know what I mean, very Ted Bundy esque,
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  Speaker 1: very Ed kemper esque. So in other words, al Kella
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  Speaker 1: was a high IQ individual with a dangerous lack of empathy,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: just a potent commodation for wrongdoing. I have to tell
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  Speaker 1: channel and let's get back to it. So the army
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: discharged him on medical grounds in nineteen sixty four, concluding
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: his short and troubled military service. And it's just haunting
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: to think that while Alcala's former classmates likely saw him
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: as just a brilliant student and his army superiors noted
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: his intellect, behind closed doors, he was already revealing himself
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: to be the ultimate predator. So he would returned to
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: civilian life in nineteen sixty four with an honorable discharge,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: which I don't understand. Guy was a psychopath that hurt women,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: but okay, America, And there was no criminal record from
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: those incidences in the army either. She just makes me
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: think how many people just got away with doing that
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: in the army. That's a whole other thing, I guess.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: But whatever, let's keep going. So Alcala would try to
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: resume a normal path in life, and he would enroll
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: at UCLA and earned a fine arts degree by nineteen
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: sixty eight. And he was even said incorrectly as it
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: turns out, to have studied under film director Roman Polanski
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: at NYU, So he seemed by all accounts to be
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: moving on leaving the military stigma behind get those early
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: red flags like you know theseus in the mental health
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: warning loomed in the background, and tragically there were precursors that.
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  Speaker 2: Society failed to adequately heed.
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  Speaker 1: So by the late nineteen sixties, Rodney Alcala was an educated,
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  Speaker 1: charming young man with a dangerously disordered psyche, free to
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  Speaker 1: walk the streets of Los Angeles, and it wouldn't be
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: long before he acted on his darkest impulses outside the
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  Speaker 1: confines of the army, with devastating consequences. So the true
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  Speaker 1: beginnings of Rodney Alcallo's criminal saga came on September twenty fifth,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, in Lafe, Los Angeles, and that morning,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: an eight year old girl named Tali Shapiro was walking
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  Speaker 1: to school along Sunset Boulevard, not far from the famous
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  Speaker 1: Chateau Marmount hotel where her family was staying. So al Calla,
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  Speaker 1: then twenty five years old, pulled up in his car
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  Speaker 1: and offered Tally a ride. Initially, she refused as she
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: didn't know the stranger, but Alcalla was smooth and persistent,
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: and he lied, telling her he knew her parents, which
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  Speaker 1: gave the little girl a false sense.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Of safety, which is.
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  Speaker 1: So scary, and just the sixties were a different time.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: There wasn't stranger danger, there wasn't all the things we
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: know now. It's like, don't trust people that we don't know.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: But it's just heartbreaking.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: And unfortunately, Tally would get into his car and a
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: good samaritan would happen to witness this interaction.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: And his name was Donald Haynes, and he was just a.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Salesman that was passing by and he would notice a
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: man with long, curly hair talking intently to a young
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: girl and felt that something wrong. And when he saw
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Alkala actually lure Tally into the car, Haines later said,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: quote all the warning signs were there, unquote, and trusting
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: his gut, Haines followed Alcala's car as it drove to
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: an La residence and he watched the man coax the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: girl inside, and then Haines rushed to find a payphone
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  Speaker 1: to call nine one one, thank God, Like it's all
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: it takes is just just trust in your gut, and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: his call fake goodness likely saved Tally Shapiro's life. In
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles, police officer Chris Camacho responded to the scene
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: and arrived at Alcala's door within minutes, and sensing something terrible,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Camacho kicked in the door and was greeted by a
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: nightmare because Tally Shapiro was sprawled out on the floor
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: covered in blood, but she was still alive, thank goodness.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: But a steel bar would be found across her neck
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: and she was unconscious, just barely clinging to life. But
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: give it a scene and later findings, police would find
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: out that al Kala had done unspeakable things to the
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: little girl as in As and obviously had used that
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: bar found on her neck to her, but was unsuccessful.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Thank goodness, Thank god she survived the whole ordeal. But
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: like the I can't even imagine the PTSD, all the
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: things that she went through after the fact, Like just
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: the type of person it takes to do something like
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: this to a child is I can't. I can never
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: compute it. I can never compute it. And I genuinely
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: think that whatever these people do to these innocent people
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: should be done to them, and then some I think
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: they deserve to suffer. Is that a hot take? I
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: don't think so. I think that's I think that that
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: should be the case. But am I allowed to say
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: that I don't really care. I'm going to say that.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: So Officer Kamancho would go in lift the bar off
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: of Tally and she would gasp for air, which of
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: course was a sign of life and it meant that
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Tally was alive. But before Camacho could apprehend the attacker,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Acala would slip out the back exit and vanish. So
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: he had the choice to pursue Alcala or save Shapiro,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: and he chose to save Shapiro, which, of course I'm
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: grateful for that, and I'm sure her and her family
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: were as well. All Right, I think this is a
• 15:21
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  Speaker 1: and let's get back to the video. So Tali Shapiro
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: would be rushed to the hospital at that point, and
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: she had severe head injuries and was in a coma
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: for thirty two days after the attack. Because it was
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: absolutely brutal, and I do not want to go into
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: all the details because I don't think it's prevalent. It's
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: just a monster that did something horrible to an innocent child.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: And thankfully she survived and she would eventually recover after
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: months of care, but the trauma she had endured is
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: absolutely unimaginable. And the Shapiro attack was the first known
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: crime of Rodney Alcala, or first reported crime, I guess
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: because he never was held accountable for the stuff.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: He did in the army.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: It was just a shocking explosion of violence that revealed
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: the depth of his depravity. And what's even more chilling
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: is that decades later, another survivor came forward indicating Tally
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: might have not been al.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Calla's first victim after all.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: And this was a woman named Morgan Rowan who revealed that,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: as a sixteen year old in the summer of nineteen
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: sixty eight, just weeks before Talli's, she too had been
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: attacked by al Calla and barely survived, and Rowan recounted
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: meeting Alkella at a Los Angeles party and accepting a ride,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: only for him to suddenly detour to his house and
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: offer the group marijuana, and once alone with Rowan, Alcala
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: turned violent and he would proceed to beat her up
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: and do other unspeakable things to her, and she would say, quote,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I remember thinking I'm going to die unquote, and that's
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: what she would recount of those terrifying moments because Alkalla
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: was preparing to kill her, when miraculously, Roman's friends became
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: concerned and broke into the locked room and rescued her,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: which again, thank goodness the guardian angel around these girls
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: and Morgan. Rowan would never report these to the police
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: at the time, but she was traumatized and left California
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: immediately after these but she would carry Survivor's guilds for decades,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: and a friend would send her newspaper clippings about Shapiro's
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: attack and attempted murder, and Rowan blamed herself for not
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: reporting her own incident, but these early attacks underscore Calla's
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: pattern of predatory behavior. He targeted the vulnerable and used
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: deception or social situations to trap them. And it's so
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: unfortunate that she felt that way, that it was her faults,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: But she could have never known that he would go
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: and do that to another child. But I can't imagine
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: how that feels just seeing that. But Tali Shapiro's case
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: generated an arrest warrant for Alkella in nineteen sixty eight,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: but by the time the authorities identified him as the assailant,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: he had already fled California. So Rodney Alcalla was now
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: a fugitive and he was just getting started. So after
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: fleeing La, al Calla reinvented himself in New York City
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: under an alias using the name John Berger, and al
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Calla enrolled in film classes at New York University, and
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: in the meantime, al Calla's violent evolution just took it
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: to the next step, and now he would begin to
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: kill her. First known murder victim was Cornelia or Corey Kreiley,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: a twenty three year old TWA flight attendant living in Manhattan.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: So on June twelfth, nineteen seventy one, Corey was found
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: essayed and strepped with her own nylon stockings in her
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Upper east Side apartment, and she was found deceased. But
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: she had recently moved into that apartment, excited to be
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: building an independent life in the city, and investigators believed
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: she met a seemingly helpful man who offered to assist
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: her with moving furniture. But tragically, this good Samaritan act
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: was a russ Fair, again very similar to Ted Bundy,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: because once inside her apartment, al Kala attacked her and
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: the young flight attendant. Streams of travel and independence were
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: cut brutally short, and her body was left on the
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: floor and the killer vanished without a trace. So with
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: no immediate suspect, the case went cold and haunted New
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: York detectives for decades, and it wasn't until twenty eleven,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: forty years later, that DA evidence finally linked Rodney Alkella
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: to Cornelia's murder, bringing belated justice for her family. So
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Alkala was still at large in nineteen seventy one, but
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: not for much longer because a stroke of luck led
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: to his initial capture that year, and in June of
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, to two children attending a new Hampshire
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Arts Camp just happened to recognize their camp counselor, John
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Berger from an FBI Most Wanted poster at the Post Office.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Amazing skills from these kids to actually recognize that. Well,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: all these adults don't see shit because the counselor was
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: none other than Rodney Alkella in disguise, which is horrifying
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: to think that he was a camp counselor for kids.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I know it's a different time, but how are you
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: not looking into people that are looking after your kids.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: It's just insane to me. But camp staff alerted authorities,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: and in August of nineteen seventy one, Alcala was arrested
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: in New Hampshire and extradited back to California to face
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: charges for the Tally shapirost However, the wheels of justice
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: turned frustratingly slow. By nineteen seventy one, Tally's family had
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: moved to Mexico and refused to have their little girl
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: testify after the trauma that she had endured, which is
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: completely understandable. But without Tally's testimony, prosecutors felt they could
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: not pursue charges for as and attempted murder, so instead,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: al Calla struck a deal and he would plead guilty
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: to child which is a lesser offense, and for the
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: brutal attack on Tally Shapiro, Rodney Alkella received a sentence
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: of just one to three years, of which she served
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: thirty four months. I don't even who are the people
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: who put him in jail? Needs to go to jail.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: That doesn't even make sense in my head. That's terrible.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: So ol Calla was out on parole by nineteen seventy four.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Guy basically just went to the corner for a few minutes. Basically,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: so a convicted defender who had essentially gotten away with
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: attempted child murder was just walking free on the streets,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: and within weeks of release he proved he was still
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: a menace. Shocking, shocking. Sorry, I just I get worked
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: up about anything to do with kids, dude, I just
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: just all of this, all of this our justice system
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: here in Canada as well. It's just like, in terms
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of these crimes specifically, it doesn't make sense to me.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: It's always like the least amount of time and I
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: don't understand it. I think this is a good spot
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: to take a pause, a breather, we're getting into very,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: very heavy stuff and during this pause, I would like
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: to share something personal with you. For years, I have
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• 24:51
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• 24:53
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• 24:56
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• 24:59
  Speaker 1: and my dentist actually pointed out some wear on my molars.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: And it turns out all that stress and anxiety had
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: me clenching my job without even realizing it. So the
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: stressors of life were literally affecting my sleep and my
• 25:13
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• 25:15
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• 25:56
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• 26:42
  Speaker 1: let's get back to it.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: So, as I was.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Saying, he just continued to be a menace to society,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: and in nineteen seventy four he lured a thirteen year
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: old girl identified in records as Julie Jay into his car,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: allegedly to give her a ride to school, and this
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: was a disturbingly similar setup to Tally Shapiro's case, but
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: luckily the girl managed to escape before it escalated to murder,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: but al Kaala was arrested for her at least, so again,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: the system dealt with him light handedly, and he would
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: serve just two more years and was paroled in nineteen
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: seventy seven.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: He repeated crimes like immediately.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: After weeks after getting out of jail, and he did
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: the same thing, tried to try to do horrible things.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: To a child and kill them. And they're like, ah,
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I guess we'll.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Put them in the corner for a couple more minutes.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: He's just not getting it. No, you're not getting it again.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: I know this is a different time. I just get
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: worked up. I'm gonna calm down a little bit.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: Okay, let's get back to it.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: So, like I said, he was in jail for two
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: more years and then was paroled in nineteen seventy seven,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: but each time he would walk out of prison with
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: predatory urges completely unchecked. And now it was nineteen seventy seven,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: and Rodney Alcallo was thirty four years old and a
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: free man to say the least, but he was labeled
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: at least as a twice convicted defender and a twice
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: paroled dangerous felon. Yet astonishingly, he was allowed to roam
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: once more, and this time his crimes would escalate to
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: serial murder. So upon his second release, a parole officer
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: in Los Angeles made the fateful decision to permot Alkella
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: to travel to New York City for a visit, you know,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: the place where he got extradited from.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: What the fuck.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: So it was an unusual and in hindsight, a catastrophic
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: approval considering he was a known flight risk, and within
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: about a week of arriving in Manhattan in the summer
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy seven, Alcalla would strike again. And on
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: July fifteenth, nineteen seventy seven, Ellen Jane Hover, who was
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: just twenty three years old, disappeared from her Manhattan apartment.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: And Ellen was an accomplished young woman and the daughter
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: of a well known nightclub owner, and her father's name
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: was Herman Hover of the Ciros in Hollywood club and
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: the goddaughter of entertainers Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: But she was a.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Gifted pianist with big musical aspirations, so by all accounts,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Ellen had a very bright future ahead, and her last
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: diary entry on July fifteenth noted a lunch meeting with
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: someone named John Berger, and again that was al Calla's alias,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: and he was still using the same alias, which is
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: just such a slap in the face to all victims
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: and the police everyone. He was just like, I can
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: get away with it. So the head on this guy
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: was massive as an ego. So he had arranged to
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: meet her under the pretense of a photography session or
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: perhaps a date. But after that day, Ellen Hover was
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: never seen alive again, and her disappearance prompted a massive search,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: and Alcalla was questioned by NYPD detectives since they knew
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: John Berger was his alias, and admitted to meeting with Ellen,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: but without a body or evidence, they couldn't hold him
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: at the time. But nearly a year later, in nineteen
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: seventy eight, Ellen's remains were discovered in an area on
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: the grounds of Rockefeller's estate just outside of New York city,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: and she had been murdered and buried under rocks on
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: a hillside overlooking the Hudson River, and the spot was
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: eerily close to where another aspiring model recalled Alkella as
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Berger taking her photographs around that same time. So Allen's
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Hoover's promising life, her plans and music and kindness to friends,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: ended in a shallow grave, just yet another vibrant young
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: woman stolen by Alkella's hands. And in the span of
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: six years from nineteen seventy one to nineteen seventy seven,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Alkella had gone from attempted child killer to cross country murderer,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: and he had claimed at least two lives at this point, Cornelia,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: which he had not been caught for yet, and Allan
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Hover and possibly others not yet discovered. An investigator suspect
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: he may have killed additional victims during his time on
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: the East Coast, but at the time, however, neither murder
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: was conclusively tied to Alkella. Cryley's case was unsolved, and
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Hover's case remained open with him as a prime suspect
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: but no arrest because I had no evidence. So Alkella
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: is obviously feeling completely untouchable at this point, and he
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: would just return back to Los Angeles in late nineteen
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: seventy seven, and after returning, he would immediately continue his
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: killing spray, this time leaving a trail of bodies across
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: southern California. So by fall of nineteen seventy seven, Alcala
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: had secured a job as a type setter at the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles Times, ironically working in the heart of the
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: city's new industry, and he was even interviewed and cleared
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: by police as part of the Hillside Strangler serial killer
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: investigation that year, since he was a known defender in
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: the area and no one realized that the string of
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: unsolved murders about to occur in Los Angeles were not
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: the work of the strangler at all, but the quiet
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: type setter in their midst and the spray began almost immediately.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: He had zero zero cool down period because he again
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: just felt untouchable. So on November ninth, nineteen seventy seven,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: the body of Jill Barcom was discovered in the Hollywood Hills.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: And Jill was just eighteen years old, and she had
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: come from Los Angeles from Onita, New York, seeking adventure
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: and hoping to break into Hollywood as an actress, and
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: she had only been in California for a short time
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: when she crossed pass with the piece of shit Alcala
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: and unfortunately, her body was found posed on a dirt
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: path near Mulholland Drive, curled into a knee to chest
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: position as if discarded like trash.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: She just didn't care.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: About any anyone else but himself. He thought everyone else,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: especially women, were just trash compared to him, and Jill
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: had unfortunately been spy and bet as well, and similar
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: to his em o with all of the other girls,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: she was also stre and the ligature marks were from
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: blue rope ties and he had been her so bad
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: that her face was near completely unrecognizable, just absolutely horrifying,
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: and investigators initially thought Jill might have been a victim
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: of the then active Hillside Strangler duo due to location
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: and brutality, but that case would later be solved separately,
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: and Jill's murder remained unclaimed by the stranglers and unbeknownst
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: to authorities, she was the first California victim of Rodney
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: Alkella quote. She had aspirations to become a Hollywood actress,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: prosecutor Matt Murphy later said of Jill, highlighting the poignant
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: fact that this woman came to la with big dreams
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: only to meet a nightmare. And Jill Barcombe's life, along
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: with her youth and hopes of stardom, ended in violence
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: on that lonely hillside, and less than five weeks later,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: al Kella struck again, and on the night of December sixteenth,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, twenty seven year old Georgia Wixted, a
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: registered nurse, gave a friend a ride home from bar
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: and then return to her own apartment in Malibu. And
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: when Georgia didn't show up for work at the hospital
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: the next day, concerned coworkers called police, and officers arrived
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: at her small house and found signs of forced entry
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: because they would find a broken window latch and items
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: in disarray all over her home, and as they got
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: further inside, they would make a horrific discovery and they
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: would find Georgia deceased on her bedroom floor, and she
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: would not have clothes on, and she would also be
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: beat and stripped, and like the others she had also
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: been and the tool used to kill her were her
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: own nylon stockings, similar to Cornelia's case years before, and
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: similar to the last murder as well. It was unspeakably brutal.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: He had made her near unrecognizable as well with what
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: he did to her, and then he would do other
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: things to her private area that were also unspeakable. And
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: I don't really want to get into it. You can
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: look into it yourself. Absolute just sadist, sick, psychopathic human
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: being this man was because the violence done to Georgia
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: was extreme even by standards of s homicide, which is
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: saying a lot. It was as if the perpetrator, al Kella,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: took perverse pleasure in just complete overkill, which he obviously did.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: An investigator's painstakingly collected evidence, and decades later, these clues,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: including a handprint and other DNA collected from the scene
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: would conclusively tie Alkella to Georgia. So by now al
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: Kella had killed at least four women Cryley hover barcom
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: and wixed it and left one child for debt and
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: was still roaming free and then would roll in the
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: year nineteen seventy eight, and he would just continue the
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: carnage because on June twenty fourth, nineteen seventy eight, the
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: body of Charlotte Lee Lamb was found in El Segundo, California,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: and Charlotte was thirty two years old and working as
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: a legal secretary. But she, like Jill Barcom, had artistic dreams,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: and she had moved to California with aspirations of making
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: it into the entertainment industry, and she was described as
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: strikingly beautiful, someone who lit up the room when she
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: walked in. But on the night of June twenty third,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: Charlotte had gone out dancing at a Santa Monica nightclub
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: and it's believed that's where she encountered Rodney Alcala. But
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: the next day, her unclothed body was discovered in the
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: laundry room of the apartment complex where she was temporarily staying.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: And Charlotte, like the others, had been esped and stressed
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: with a shoelace and the killer had also tied her
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: hands behind her back. And at the scene, detectives were
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: covered foreign DNA and noticed bitemarks on Charlotte's upper half.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: If you know what I mean, just yeh. It sends
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: chills down my spine. And this was a signature that
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: matched the bite marks found on Jill Barcombe as well,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: suggesting a serial offender was at work, and decades later
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: our Jna on a pair of earrings in Alkella storagelocker
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: would match Charlotte Lamb's genetic profile, confirming he was her murderer.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: But in nineteen seventy eight, Charlotte's case also went cold,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: and she was remembered by friends and family as kind, ambitious,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: and just overall extremely likable young woman with big dreams
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: of becoming a star. And even as al Kella was
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: murdering women in nineteen seventy seven and nineteen seventy eight,
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: he kept up a facade of normalcy, which is just
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: horrifying to think about, because at Los Angeles Times, colleagues
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: just saw an odd but affable photographer who even showed
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: off some of his portraits at work, and many of
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: those portraits were of young women and teenage boys, and
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: some unclothed or in suggestive poses. Just no red flags times, okay,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: but I guess at the time it just seemed eccentric,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: though in hindsight it was just another massive red flag
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: warning sign. So Alkala would troll the streets and beaches,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: approaching hundreds of people with the line that he was
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: a professional photographer building his portfolio, and this predatory hobby
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: would later provide crucial evidence and also hint at many
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: more possible victims. And by the fall of nineteen seventy eight,
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: Rodney Alcalla had already killed five women that we know of,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: and he was far from finished yet. Incredibly, and for
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: the story most notably and most known for, in the
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: midst of this spree, Alkala would step onto the stage
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: of a nationally televised game show. The ego on this
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: guy was absolutely insane. The fact that his face had
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: been plastered he had been a wanted fugitive in America
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: and he was caught and he went to jail for
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: almost four years and they just let him on this
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: game show is beyond me. Let's get into it. So
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: the very month after murdering Charlotte Lamb, al Kella donned
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: a leisurely suit and flashed a charming smile on the
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: dating game and none of the viewers had any idea
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: that bachelor number one was a serial killer who had
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: literally just strangled a woman a few weeks before. Please
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Welcome Rodney Alcalo. Just the audacity of the guy is
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: absolutely mind boggling. It just shows to how compartmentalized and
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: arrogant al Kella was because he could literally kill someone
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: one day and just laugh on TV the next, just
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: confident he wouldn't get caught. So you have to ask
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: this question, how does a serial killer, or at this point,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: a serial offender, serial convict, a person that was on
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: FBI's radar end up as a contestant on a primetime
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: TV show. Well, the answer lies partly in the era
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: because in the nineteen seventies there was no quick background
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: checks or computerized criminal databases that show producers could easily access. Fine, sure, whatever,
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: I'll give you that. So when Rodney Alcala auditioned for
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: The Dating Game, he was able to hide his criminal
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: record simply by using his real name, and at the time,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: his prior convictions were known only to law enforcement in California,
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: and the show's staff had no idea they were interviewing
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: a registered sensual offender who'd twice been to prison. So again,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: we know he's smart. He obviously found a way around this.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: It's not on the show, but it's just crazy to
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: think how this happens. So they would basically see what
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: was just in front of them, A relatively I guess
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: good looking thirty five year old with a charismatic presence
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: and a bit of a mysterious vibe, And according to
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: Ellen Metzger, the show's coordinator at the time, al Kala
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: impressed her in the casting process, saying, quote, he was
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: attractive and all the women were going to love him.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: It's so eerie thinking and watching it over. I strongly
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: encourage you. I think it's like a ten minute video
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: on YouTube, and we'll put some clips in here. How
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: so incredibly disturbing it is to watch it knowing what
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: he's done already, and even his answers.
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: Number one, would you say hello to Cheryl?
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Please? We're gonna have a great time together, Cherylky not
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: knowing anything about him seem so red flaggy and weird.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: But you know, I know too much information. I'm not
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: gonna judge anyone who was on the show or who
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: put him on. You know he is a psychopathic genius.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: But it's incredibly eerie and Ellen Metzger's future husband, Mike Metzger,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: who was the Dating Games executive producer, was less sure,
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: and he later said al Kala gave him an uncomfortable
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: feeling quote a mistique that I found uncomfortable. Yeahner shit again,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: just follow your gun. But ultimately they decided to put
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: him on because at this point, producers were chasing ratings
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: and wanted a lively contestants, and Alkaala, with his confident
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: answers and easy laugh just fit the bill. So nobody
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: imagined their contestant pool needed vetting against criminal records. As
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: one producer noted, many people auditioned just for a chance
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: to be on TV, not necessarily for true love. It's
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: just like any dating show today basically, and Rodney was
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: one of those people, except his motivations were far more
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: sinister than fame. It's worth noting the narcissism at play here, obviously,
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: because Alcalla certainly didn't audition for a dating game show
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: because he needed help meeting women. He had no trouble
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: luring victims on his own. Rather, appearing on television just
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: fed his giant ego, basically, and prosecutor Matt Murphy, who
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: later put Alcala on trial, commented that this episode quote
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: reflects the narcissism and the ego and the arrogance of
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: a serial killer. Unquote which puts it exactly exactly how
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: i'd say it, like it's actually and I keep saying he's.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Smart, he's so stupid. He's a dumb, little stupid piece
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: of shit. Man.
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: I just want to make that clear. I keep saying
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: he's smart, and I'm just talking about IQ. But how
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: incredibly dumb for him to go on national TV. He
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: looks like such a fool now, which brings me, brings
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: me some sort of semblance of I guess peace, I
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know. I just it's just crazy
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: to me anyway, because as we know, aw Kella likely
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: just got a thrill from out smarting everyone and being
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: admired on screen, all while carrying the dark secrets of
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: his crimes.
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: Probably just got off on it.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: So it was obviously a risky move exposing himself to millions,
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: but he was confident in his ability to determine and
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: remain above suspicion. So the episode featuring Rodney al Kella
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: was taped and aired on September thirteenth, nineteen seventy eight,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: and on Stage three, bat Butler sat side by side,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: hidden from the bachelorette by a partition, and al Calla
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: was bachelor number one and a bachelorette, a young woman
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: named Cheryl Bradshaw, began asking her suitors a series of cheeky,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: double on tendra laden questions and typically fair for the show,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: which by the late seventies had grown more suggestive to
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: keep up with the times, and it is like incredibly suggestive,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: it's like.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: Uncomfortable to watch.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: For example, when asked, for an example, to describe what
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: kind of meal he would be called if she were
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: serving him, I am serving you for dinner?
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: What are you called? And what do you look like?
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: Just such a weird question. Al Kella didn't miss a
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: beat and said.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: I'm called the Banana and I look really good. And
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: the audience obviously chuckled at the obvious sinuendo, just playing along,
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: and Bradshaw probed, can you be a little more in script?
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: And al Calla leaned into the joke, saying, so gross,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: but the crowd just loved him and I'm sure he
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: just he just ate that shit up.
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: And Bradshaw would also ask what's your best time?
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: And al Kella smoothly turned it into another sensual innuendo.
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: The best time is at night? At nighttime? Why do
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: you say that because that's the only time there is.
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: Which is horrifying that since we know all the the
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: information about him. So this flirtatious banter was exactly what
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: the producers wanted, a bit raunchy, funny and provocative for
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: the TV audience of that era. And Jed Mills, the
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: actor who sat as Bachelor number two next to al Calla,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: later recalled that while on camera al Kella seemed normal enough,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: behind the scenes he found him quote unquote really creepy,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: and Mills remembered that in the green room before going
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: on stage, Alkella had quietly, yet boastfully told him quote
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: I always get my girl unquote chills dude, absolutely just
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: chills up my spine. At the time at Mills just
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: thought he was bragging about his dating game. Only later
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: did those words take a far more sinister meaning when
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: he learned what this guy was. But the show rolled
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: on and by the end of the segment, Cheryl Bradshaw
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: had chose the winner, and she picked Bachelor number one,
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: Rodney Alcala, and the prize was a date with tennis
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: lessons and a trip to Magic Mountain Amusement Park, and
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: all paid for by the show and on stage. When
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: the partition was finally removed, Bradshaw met Alcala face to
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: face for the first time, and he gave her a
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: polite kiss as the audience applotted and the host Jim
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: beamed and signed off. So at everyone watching it home,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: it was a cute ending to a kitchy game show,
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: and the bacheloette had gotten herself a tall, dark and
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: handsome date who described himself as a photographer and skydiver.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: What could be more thrilling, right, But of course the
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: viewers didn't and couldn't know that the man on their
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: screen had literally just killed someone Charlotte, just a short
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: while earlier and left her in a launry room, or
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: that he'd kill again very soon, and all Cala's performance
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: was an Oscar worthy act of normalcy and charm, a
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: mask he wore expertly. Although I watched that and I'm
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: just likecking creeped out fully, but all in all, it's
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: just deeply unsettling in retrospect. So after the camera stopped rolling,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: the winning couple met briefly in person, and that's when
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Bradshaw's gut instinct kicked in. Thank God, always follow your gut,
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: because almost immediately she felt creeped out by him. Quote
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: I started to feel ill unquote. Bradshaw remembered of the encounter,
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: sensing that there was something very off about her date.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: And it wasn't anything he explicitly said or did at
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: the moment. It was just a vibe, a wave of discomfort.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Ellen Metzger, the show's coordinator, recalled that when al Calla
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: and Bradshaw were introduced on stage, the energy was surprisingly
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: flat and the spark you might expect after a winning
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: pick just wasn't there, and Bradshaw's excitement visibly turned into
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: what Metzger called a quote pretty lukewarm togetherness, and once
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: she laid eyes on him, but still they went along
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: with the post show congratulations, and by the next day,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: Cheryl Bradshaw made up her mind and she phoned Ellen
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Metzger at the show's office and backed out of the
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: date altogether, thank god, And in a candid conversation she confessed,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: quote Ellen, I can't go out with this guy. There's
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: weird vibes that are coming off of him. He's very strange.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: I am not comfortable.
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: Unquote.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: Yes, love it, love it when someone follows their gut.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, and Bradshaw asked if canceling would be
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: a problem, and Metzger assured her it was fine, and
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: contestants were not obligated to actually go on the dates
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: if they didn't want to. Also, thank god, thank god,
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: there wasn't like some sort of contract or something that she.
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: Had to follow.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: In fact, it was not uncommon on the dating game
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: for the pairs to never follow through because at the
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: end of the day, they're not seeing that date, so
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter to the program. So her decision raised
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: no flags with the producers, and for Cheryl Bradshaw it
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: was obviously a relief because her intuition screaming that she'd
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: be unsafe with him arguably saved her life. And we
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: can only imagine what might have happened on that fantasy
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: date if a serial killer had gotten his prize alone
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: with his chosen target. And the best part of this
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: is the ego bruising that al Kala got by being
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: rejected by Bradshaw.
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: Obviously he would outwardly take it instride.
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: He'd be like, oh, that's fine, whatever, But I'm sure
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: this just absolutely crushed him, and that's awesome. But all
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: in all, This makes Bradshaw one of the incredibly lucky
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: ones in this case. She literally picked a serial killer
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: out of a lineup of bachelor's on live TV, yet
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: lived to tell the tale by trusting her gut feeling
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: of danger. But it also just outlines the ego of
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: this serial killer. I mean he toyed not only with
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: his victims, but with society at large, confident enough to
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: put himself on TV as if daring the world to
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: catch him.
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: Quote.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: I can't imagine anybody that would commit a crime and
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: then purposely go on television. And this was a producer
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: later saying in disbelief after finding out who el Hella
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: actually was. And in hindsight, some claim, including myself, that
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: they can see the evil behind the smile in those
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: moments on the TV show, though in truth he was
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: just acting the part expertly. But the show forever earned
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: the moniker the Dating Game killer, underscoring the irony that
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: a cold blooded murderer could hide in such a harmless setting,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: and for the investigators she would later prosecute him. The
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: dating game footage became one piece of the puzzle, but
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: this whole dating game show just kind of shows the systemic.
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: Failures of the time.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: I mean that there was no way for the TV
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: show people to know that he was a convicted criminal
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: at the time, and that is no fault of theirs,
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: but the fault of the system. And it's just kind
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: of horrifying to consider that Alkella could have been stopped
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: earlier if information had flowed faster, or if parole had
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: been stricter, because the fact that he sat on a
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: TV stage in nineteen seventy eight with a smile is
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: a direct consequence of those lapses, and it would just
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: take another victim to finally bring him down. And lastly,
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: that creepy game show moment had an impact on popular
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: culture's understanding of predators because it forced people to realize
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: that a murderer doesn't always look like a scary outsider.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: And decades later, when Netflix announced a film about al
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: Kella's titled Woman of the Hour, directed by Anna Kendrick
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: and released in twenty twenty four, the focus was squarely
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: on this juxtaposition the serial killer on the dating game.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: And it's a story so unnerving and sensational that Hollywood
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: couldn't resist. Yet it's all basically true, and the significant
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: ultimately is that Alcala's TV appearance crystallizes the core theme
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: of his story, and that is that the way a
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: predator can blend into every day and even become entertainment,
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: all while victims remained hidden and silenced in the shadows.
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: And one of my only quips about that show is
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: why did Anna Kendrick's hair look like that? It didn't
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: even look like she was from the seventies. I will
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: I will forever be confused about that. But other than that,
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: they did a pretty good job, especially given that it's
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: Hollywood and they just love to romanticize and fantasize and
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: make up stuff, which of course they did. It was
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: a pretty pretty okay watch. But Rodney Alcalla would walk
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: off the dating game stage still a free man, but
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: his time was luckily running out. So after the spectacle
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: of his Dating show appearance, Rodney Alkalla wasted no time
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: resuming his predators ways, and in February of nineteen seventy nine,
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: al Calla hunted another victim, but this time she would escape.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: Monique Hoitt, only fifteen years old, was hitchhiking in Riverside
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: County when Alkella picked her up on Valentine's Day, and
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: Monique was a vulnerable teen who didn't know any better,
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: and it was a different time when hitchhiking was an
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: okay thing, and perhaps she was just looking for a
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: ride or an adventure, but instead she found herself in
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: a living nightmare.
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: So al Calla would.
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: Pick up Monique and drive her to his place, where
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: he would immediately ask her in his apartment, and then
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: he would bizarrely do something he's never done before and
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: take her on a road trip to the mountains near
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: Joshua Tree and Joshua Tree is a national park, likely
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: as just a twisted prelude to murder. But when they
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: were in the desert, he took photographs of Monique wearing
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: only her underwear and then proceeded to again as her
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: and I can't even fathom or imagine how incredibly terrified
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: she would have been in this moment, like I during
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: this whole ordeal. By acting this out and also taking photographs,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: he was documenting some of the on camera. And as
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: if all of this wasn't enough, Alcala wasn't finished, and
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: he would tie Monique up, make it so she couldn't
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: make any sound with her mouth and then began to
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: prolong the and on top of that, he would take
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: a rock and try to kill her with it, But
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: Monique Hoyt proved incredibly resilient and also lucky, and at
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: some point during the return drive, al Calla stopped at
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: a gas station restroom and despite her injuries, Monique seized
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: the chance to escape as she managed to slip away,
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: perhaps while he was momentarily distracted, and fled to safety,
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: thank god, and Monique went to the police and filed
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: a report detailing a Calla's brutal attack, and this was
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: a major break because a living victim who could identify
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: her assailant was in the police station, and Alkalla thankfully
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: was arrested shortly thereafter for s of Monique cult and
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: also I don't know why there was an attempted murder
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: in there as well, but okay. However, once again the
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: system staggeringly failed to neutralize the threat, and Alcala's mother
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: paid his bail horrible mother, by the way, and.
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: He was released pending trial.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: So despite facing charges for as a minor, Alcala was
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: allowed back on the streets, and this decision had dire consequences,
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: as he would claim two more lives before authorities truly
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: closed in on him, which is incomprehensible. So a few
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: months later, on June thirteenth, nineteen seventy nine, Alcala committed
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: what would be his final adult murder. Victim and Jill Parento,
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: who was twenty one years old, was a college student
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: and computer key punch operator living in Burbank, California, and
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: she was a friendly, outgoing young woman with the tight
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: knits circle of friends. And on that June evening, a
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: Jill left work excited to go to a baseball game,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: but when she didn't show up for work the next
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: morning and missed an important shift, her worried colleagues and
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: friends contacted police, and officers arrived at Jill's small apartment
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: and discovered signs of a break in, and they would
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: see a window screen had been cut and a window
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: was a jar, and inside they would find Jill dead
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: on her bathroom floor, unclothed and posed with pillows propped
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: beneath her shoulders, and she too had died extremely similar
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: to the other victims. But one crucial piece of evidence
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: at Jill's crime scene was the perpetrator's blood, and it
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: appeared that al Kella cut himself while crawling through Jill's window,
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: leaving spots of blood behind. And in nineteen seventy nine,
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: DNA profiling didn't exist, but investigators preserved that blood sample,
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: thank goodness, and it would later directly implicate Alkella when
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: DNA technology advanced and another clue emerged from Jill's social life.
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: It was one of her friends, Catherine Bryant, informed that
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: she and Jill had met al Kella at the Los
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: Angeles nightclub a few times in.
• 57:05
  Speaker 2: The weeks before Jill's death.
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: So this connection, made after al Kella was already a
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: suspect for other reasons, helped build the case that Jill
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: knew her killer casually at the point of her death,
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: so he wasn't a random intruder, but someone who had
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: gained her trust and trust enough to approach or follow
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: her home. But just heartbreaking altogether. And finally we come
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: to the crime that truly brought Rodney al Kella down,
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: and that was the murder of Robin Christine samso So.
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: On June twentieth, nineteen seventy nine, just one week after
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: Jill Parento's body was found, twelve year old Robin Samso
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: disappeared in Huntington Beach, California. And Robin was a blonde,
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: blue eyed girl who loved ballet and the beach and
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: she was adored by her family and the babysitter in
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: her household. And that summer day, Robin had gone to
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: the beach with a friend, enjoying the start of a vacation,
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: and she was later seen hurriedly biking toward her ballet class,
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: afraid she might be late, but she would never arrive,
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: and Robin's disappearance was treated with utmost urgency, and her
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: friends told police the story that earlier that day at
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: the beach, a strange man with a camera had approached
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: Robin and her friend asking if he could take their pictures,
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: and he was persistent until a neighbor intervened and asked
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: the man what he was doing and caused him to retreat.
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: So after Robin went missing, an artist worked with eyewitnesses
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: to create a composite sketch of the photographer, and that
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: composite drawing was circulated widely around southern California, and a
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: parole officer in Los Angeles saw the sketch and instantly
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: felt a jolt of recognition because it looked just like
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: his parole Rodney Elkella. So he contacted the police and
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: informed them that the suspect they were searching for might
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: be al Calla, who disturbingly was supposed to be a
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: waiting trial for the Monique Hoyt but.
• 58:58
  Speaker 2: Was out on bail.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: Just a complete failure of the system. But this was
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: a crucial tip investigators needed, and o Kella's name was
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: now at the top of the suspect list for the
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: missing Huntington Beach girl. But tragically, on July second in
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, Robin SAMSO's remains were found and park
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: rangers discovered her body dumped off a remote mountain road
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: in the foothills of San Gabriel Mountains, and it had
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: been twelve days since she had vanished, so animals and
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: exposure had badly decomposed the remains, but dental records confirmed
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: the identity and they would find that Robin had been
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: treated exactly like the other victims, but the only difference
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: was is that she had most likely been with a knife,
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: which again I just can't just my heart goes out
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: to the family and obviously the victim I always say
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: it's never easy to talk about death or these kinds
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: of things, but it's kids' is They're just so innocent.
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: I just can't I can't help but put myself in
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: that what the child was thinking, and how terrified they were,
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: and all this kind of stuff, and it they hate
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: in me grows so much for people that do these things.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: But the placement of her body and the violence fit
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: the pattern of al Kella's other crimes, and for Robin's
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: family it was obviously the worst confirmation imaginable. But now
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: police were more determined than ever to catch the absolute
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: monster responsible for these crimes. So Robin's case became a
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: turning point, and both because of the speed and of
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: the response of the public outcry. But a child's abduction
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: ignited Southern California law enforcement like nothing before, and media
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: outlets broadcasted Robin's photo and the composite sketch of the
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: suspect all over the news. The community was completely on edge,
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: and it did not take long for multiple people who
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: knew Rodney Alkella to call in and say the sketch
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: looked like him. And for Robin's mother, Mary Anne Connolly,
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: those days were agony and She later kept a shelf
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: of Robin's photographs in her home, just a permanent shrine
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: to her daughter's memory. And Robin had been a lively
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: girl who loved the beach and dancing, a twelve year
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: old with an infectious smile and just boundless energy. And
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: she was supposed to be safe riding her friend's bicycle
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: to ballet class on a summer afternoon, but instead the
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: completely unthinkable happened to her, and the heartbreak in the
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: community was palpable, and it added urgency to the investigation.
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: And witnesses from the beach that day reported that a
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: strange man had approached Robin and her friend with unusual
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: interest in photographing them. In One of Robin's friends, thirteen
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: year old Bridget, recalled that the man asked, quote, can
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: I take your picture? It's for a contest unquote, So
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: they would pose for a couple of snapshots before a
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: neighbor sensed danger and intervened. Like I said before, this
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: interaction was just burned into Bridget's memory for the rest
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: of her life. But meanwhile, investigators dug into Elcala's background finally,
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: and they learned he was a registered defender with a
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: history of violence, and Huntington Beach detectives rushed to get
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: a warrant to search Alkella's home in Monterey Park, Los Angeles,
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: and on July twenty fourth, nineteen seventy nine, police arrested
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: Rodney al Kella and charged him with the kidnapping and
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: murder of Robin Samso and Olkella would naturally deny everything,
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: and he would coolly claim he was innocent, stating he
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: had been nowhere near Huntington Beach on June twentieth, and
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: publicly his arrest made headlines branding him the Dating Game Killer,
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: emphasizing the sensational link to the TV show he'd had
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: just been on a year prior. But the case against
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: him still needed more physical evidence to secure a conviction
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: for Robin's murder, and that evidence would soon emerge from
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: a storage locker nearly twelve hundred miles away. So after
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: Rodney al Kella's arrest in July nineteen seventy nine, investigators
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: dug into his possessions and history to build the murder case,
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: and one intriguing lead was a storage locker in Seattle, Washington,
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: allegedly rented in his name because in early nineteen eighty,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: as they prepared for the trial of Robin's murder, police
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: obtained a warrant and opened that locker, and what they
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: found was nothing short of a trove of trophies and
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: clues that would link Alkella to multiple crimes because inside
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: the storage unit were hundreds of photographs of women, teenage girls,
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: and young boys, and many of the subjects were unclothed
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: and in suggestive poses. And this was Alkella's unsolicited portfolio
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: of strangers he had convinced to model for him over
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: the years. But the sheer volume of pictures was staggering,
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: and police realized they could be looking at potential victims,
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: or at least people who have encountered Alkella.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 2: So in essence, they.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: Stumbled upon the meticulously documented footprint of a serial predator.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: But that was not all, because also in the locker
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: were personal items belonging to various women, because al Kella
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: had a disgusting, weird habit of taking jewelry from his
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: victims as keepsakes, and among these, detectives found a small
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: pair of gold ball ear rings that immediately raised alarms
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: because Robin's mother had described her daughter as wearing gold
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: ball earrings when she disappeared, and at least one of
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: those earrings had been missing from Robin's body, presumably taken
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: by the killer, and now here in Alcala's locker lay
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: a pair of earrings matching that description perfectly.
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 2: So it was a.
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: Potentially damning piece of physical evidence tying him to Robin's murder.
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: And there were traces of DNA found as well, later
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: identified as belonging to victims like Jill Parento and Charlotte Lamb.
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: For example, an earring with traces of blood would match
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: Charlotte's DNA, further cementing the link between al Calla and
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: the nineteen seventy eight Al Segundo murder. So the storage
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: locker was just a monumental find and it gave investigators
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: leads on cold cases, which was incredible. So in March
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: of twenty ten, long after Alkella's convictions, police released one
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty of these photographs to the public, hoping
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: to identify the people in them, and families recognized loved
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: ones who had vanished, and some women saw themselves in
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: released images and came forward to say that they had
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: strange encounters with Alkella where he took their picture, which
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: is horrifying to think of. And the photos potentially tie
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: Alkella to unsolved cases in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle,
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: and elsewhere and suggest he may have had many more
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: victims than the known ones, and investigators fear that some
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: of those photographed individuals ended up dead, even if Alkella
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: never confessed to them, And to this day, most of
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: the subjects remain unidentified, and police continued to solicit the
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: public's help in naming those faces. And I'm going to
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: take this opportunity to put these photos on screen. If
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: you recognize anybody, contact your local authorities before they made
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: it needs of nineteen seventy nine. In nineteen eighty, though,
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: the Seattle Locker evidence bolstered the prosecution, and it gave
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: them tangible items to show a jury, and it just
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: painted Alkella as someone who collected mementos of his kills,
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: a very common trait of serial killers who liked to
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: relive their crimes. And the Seattle Locker became a key
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: word of horror associated with al Kella's story because it
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: was essentially his treasure chest of evil, and without it,
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: some of his murders like those of Jill Barcom and
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: Georgia Wixted and Charlotte Lamb and Jill Parento might have
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: remained unsolved for much much longer, if maybe never solved.
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: But with it, detectives were able years later to match
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: DNA and indict him for those crimes as well. But
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: one can only imagine the scene of officers combing through
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: this locker and the growing realization as photo after photo
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: emerged of unknown faces, just the chill of recognizing a
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: victim's jewelry, but it ultimately helped solve murders and provided
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: evidence to keep him behind bars permanently. Finally so, by
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: capturing Alkella in nineteen seventy nine, law enforcement halted his
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: killing spree, obviously, but the journey to fully account for
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: his crimes was far from over because initially al Kella
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: was tried and convicted in nineteen eighty for Robin's murder
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: based largely on witness testimonies, also the sketch identification and
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: the recovered earrings, and by the early two thousands, prosecutors
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: were gearing up for his third trial, and his other
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: trials will be detailed shortly, so stay with me and
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: during this third trial they had an invaluable new tool
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: that hadn't been available in the nineteen eighties, which was
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: DNA profiling. But in the interim years, California had passed
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: laws allowing the collection of DNA samples from inmates. So
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and three, while Okella was sitting in
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: prison awaiting his third trial, investigators obtained a court order
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: to take a sample of his DNA, which he bohemitally
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: fought but lost. And once they had his profile, they
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: ran against evidence from cold cases and the results were
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: explosive because Alkella's DNA matched seamen left at several unsolved
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: murder scenes from the late nineteen seventies. Specifically, it matched
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: evidence from the murders of Jill Georgia Charlotte and the
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: other Jill Jill Parento. And these were the very cases
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: that had been lingering for decades because the victims were known,
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: but the killer was unidentified until now. And additionally, forensic
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: work tied things together. For example, a handprint at Georgia
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: Wixted scene was matched to Alcala, and the blood from
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: Jill Parentone scene was matched to his DNA profile. So
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: just armed with this new DNA evidence, Orange County prosecutors
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and six got permissioned to consolidate all
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: five murder charges, which are robins, plus the four newly
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: solved murders into one mega trial. And this was significant
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: because it was presenting a pattern of multiple murders to
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: one jury would make it extremely hard for all Kella
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: to assert reasonable doubt. As one of his own attorneys
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: pointed out, so essentially had achieved what earlier investigations could not,
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: and it definitively linked Alkella to the crime scenes of
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: women who had been killed while he was active, and
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: DNA technology even connected Alcala to a murder victim in Wyoming,
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: and a photograph from his trove showing a young woman
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: on a motorcycle led to the identification of Christine Ruth Thornton,
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: who had disappeared in nineteen seventy seven. Her remains found
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two were unidentified until her family provided
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 1: DNA samples in twenty fifteen and.
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 2: Matched to the remains.
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: And it just turns out Christine was about six months
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: pregnant when she was killed, and Alkella later admitted to
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: taking her photograph, though he denied killing her, but we
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: know he's a lying piece of shit, and in twenty sixteen,
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: Wyoming authorities charged al Calla with Christine Thornton's murder based
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: on the photo and circumstantial evidence, though they did not
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: extradite him due to his failing health on death row,
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: which we'll get into, but it just goes to show
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: that he quite literally could have been the most prolific
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: serial killer in American history, because we really don't know
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: how many victims he has, like a lot of other
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: serial killers, but the amount of murders that happened that
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: had the same, if not very similar mo is incomprehensible,
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: and the fact that he got away was so much,
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: even though he was a convicted fella. It's just it's
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: very scary to think about. So bringing Rodney al Kala
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: to justice was a long and convoluted journey that stretched
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: across three decades because it wasn't enough to just catch him.
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: The legal system had to contend with appeals, overturn convictions
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: and retrials, and all the families the victims just waited
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: for finality. So first we had Alkella's first trial, which
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: began in early nineteen eighty in Orange County, California, and
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: this was for the murder of twelve year old Robin,
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: and the prosecution's case leaned on the eyewitness testimony of
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: Robin's friends who had seen al Kella approach them at
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: the beach, and the composite sketch identification and the discovery
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: of Robin's earrings in Alkellis storage locker. Now, Kella was
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: found guilty of first degree murder in May of nineteen
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: eighty and the jury sentenced him to death in California
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: in June of nineteen eighty Nana Nana booboo, and for
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: the families it was a moment of relief, a feeling
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: that the monster was going to pay with his life. However,
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: the case was far from closed because in nineteen eighty four,
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: the California Supreme Court overturned the nineteen eighty conviction and
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: death sentence on a technicality because the jury at the
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: first trial had been improperly informed of Alcala's prior crimes,
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: which was the Tally Shapiro attack and the of Julie
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: j So, essentially, the High court ruled that the inconclusion
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: of his criminal history had pre prejudiced the jury in
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: the Robin Samso case. And it's just an excruciating example
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: of how a prosecutorial overstep, even when done in good
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: faith to show character evidence, allowed a convicted killer another chance,
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: Like you have hiss.
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 2: He fly kills kids.
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: But they're like, oh, they might think he's a bad
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: guy because he tried to kill this kid, and that's
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: not really fair.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 2: What the fuck is this system? Dude?
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: That brings us to trial number two, which was in California,
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: and this was for the retrial of Robin's murder, leaving
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: out the prior crimes evidence. So the trial was very
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: similar from a legal standpoint, with witnesses and physical evidence,
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: et cetera, but without telling the jury quote, by the way,
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: he's a twice convictedst and attempted murderer.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 2: They had to leave that out.
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: So in May of nineteen eighty six, al Kella was
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: again convicted of Robin's murder, and in the penalty phase,
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: the jury once more returned a death sentence.
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 2: Of course, it's going to be the same.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: He killed a child. It just doesn't even make sense,
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: Like what a waste of time. I mean, he's a
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: waste of oxygen and just being of this earth.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 2: But what a waste of time.
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: And you might think that be the end of it,
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: But no, because indeed, in nineteen ninety two, the California
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: Supreme Court upheld this second conviction on direct appeal. Yet
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: Alkella was nothing if not persistent, and he filed a
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: federal habbyist corpus petition, which is essentially another appeal in
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: the federal court system. Why is that even allowed? So
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and one, a federal judge granted him relief,
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: overturning the second conviction. What So, in two thousand and three,
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with that decision,
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: thus vacating Alkella's conviction again. And the reasons this time
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: were complex, but included that Olkella claimed the park ranger
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: that found Robin's body was quote hypnotized by police investigators
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: and a witness was prevented from potentially supporting that claim.
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 2: So the appellate court.
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: Decided that this was a violation of Alkella's right to
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: fair defense. So it was a bitter pill for law
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: enforcement and Robin's family because twice they had seen him
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: sentenced to die, and twice those verdicts were erased on appeal.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: So by this point Rodney Alkella had been sitting on
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: death row technically under sentence of death, but with his
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: case in limbo. So now it was clear they would
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: have to try him for a third time. And this
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: was in twenty ten. And in twenty ten landscape was
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: a bit different, to say the least, because, as we
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: discussed in the DNA section, Alcala was now linked to
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: four additional murders besides Robin's, and Orange County prosecutors moved
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: to consolidate all five murders Robin Samso, Jel Barcomb, Georgia Wixted,
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: Charlotte Lamb, Jill Parento into one trial, and Alcala's defense
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: fought this, knowing that one case might be defensible, but
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: five would.
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 2: Look like a pattern of a serial killer.
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: Oh, that might make him look bad, that might make
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: him actually have to be held accountable for his actions.
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 2: Zon what is this world we live in? This wasn't
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 2: that long ago.
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: So the California Supreme Court in two thousand and six
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: ruled in favor of the prosecution they could join these cases.
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 2: Think God.
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: Thus, in February of twenty ten, Rodney Olkalla went on
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: trial for five counts of first degree murder simultaneously, and
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: in a stunning move, al Kala chose to act as
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: his own attorney in twenty ten trial. Where have we
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: seen this before? He's in Ted Bundy carbon copy. He
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: can't even like come up with his own stuff.
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 2: What an idiot.
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: It's like the show all over again. He had to
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: be on television to show how smart he was and
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: how cunning he was, but that got him caught because
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: he's an idiot. And now he's acting as his own
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: attorney when he has no background in that at all,
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: which just shows he's an idiot because he's not actually
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: that smart. He just has a giant ego, stupid brain. Anyway,
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: This all in all would just set the stage for
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: some bizarre courtroom scenes, to say the least, because over
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: the course of the trial, Alcala, who had no formal
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: legal training, personally cross examined witnesses and gave opening and
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: closing arguments on his own behalf like a you know, psychopath,
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: and at one point he adopted a deep voice and
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: proceeded to question himself on the witness stand, you know,
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: like a psychopath with.
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 2: A personality disorder.
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: How is it that someone who has been diagnosed with
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: personality disordered, narcissism and psychopathy is allowed to stand in
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: trial in his own defense?
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 2: How is that possible?
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: And he would even address himself as mister Alcala in
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: a deep tone and then answer in his normal voice.
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: And this strange tactic did him zero favors because he
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: looks insane, because he is, and it likely just alienated
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: the jury, who saw it as either a stunt or
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: evidence of how disturbed he was and how narcissistic he
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: was into thinking that this would actually work. And during
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: the trial, the prosecution laid out the full scope of
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: Alcllo's brutality, backed by the hard forensic evidence now available
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: and DNA and physical evidence tied him irrefutably to each
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: of the four Los Angeles murders, and gruesome details including bitemarks,
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: posing of bodies, etc. Just demonstrated a signature pattern. And
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: in Robin's case, although DNA was not the key because
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: her remains were skeletal, the ear rings and eyewitness testimonies
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: were powerful, as was the narrative of how Alkella lured
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: the girl. So Alcala's defense was pointless and useless and dumb,
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: and he would just claim that he couldn't remember killing
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: the women, which is a rather weak non denial, sir.
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: And he tried to dispute Robin's case by showing a
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: portion of his Dating Game episode to argue that the
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: gold earring he wore or in the clip if they
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: were visible, which they weren't, were his own, not Robin's,
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: which doesn't make any sense. He's just so dumb, Like
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: he's actually so dumb one thirty five IQ aside, but
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: this just implied that the earrings in his locker were his,
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: not a trophy. So he actually wasn't wearing his victim's
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: earrings on that show because was before he met Robin.
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: They were actually Robin's earrings, but they were in his locker,
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: and the earrings he was wearing on the show were
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: just his own earrings, I guess, but they looked similar
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 1: to Robin's. So that that was his really depth defense,
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: as if that would do anything. And a rebuttal witness
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: Jed Mills, who was the fellow Dating Game contestant, testified
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: that men simply did not wear earrings in nineteen seventy eight,
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: and he would have noticed if Alkella had an ear pierced,
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: and this just undercut Alkella's odd argument, and he would
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: make no real attempt to explain away the other four murders.
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: There was just too much evidence. And in a dramatic
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: moment during the penalty phase of the trial, Tally Shapiro,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: the girl who survived in the nineteen sixty eight bult,
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: came into the courtroom to testify because she's brave as hell,
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: oh my goodness, and Tally had been a secret weapon
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: who was held back until the sentencing portion just to
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: give a face to his prior crimes and ensure he
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: received the maximum penalty, And by then a grown woman,
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: Tally told the jury about the day al Kella lured
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: side and almost killed her, and how she fought for justice,
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: and her mere presence was a powerful reminder of Alkella's
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: lifelong predation, and unsurprisingly, in March of twenty ten, the
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: jury convicted Alkella on all five counts of murder, and
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: they heard from one of Alkella's few witnesses, a psychiatrist
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: who claimed Alkella's supposed borderline personality disorder could explain his
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: professed memory lapses about the killings, I strive asshole, and
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 1: the prosecutor countered that Alkella was a calculating quote predator
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: who knew exactly what he was doing, which, of course
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: he and it took the jury only about two days
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: to decide and they recommended the death penalty for the
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: third time, and the judge formerly sentenced Rodney Alkella to
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: death in California in March of twenty ten. And for
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: the families of Jill, Georgia Charlotte, Jill Parento and Robin
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: this was an enormous victory and a long awaited catharsis
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: because many of them had attended the trial day after
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: day hearing the sickening details of how their loved ones died.
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: So at last they saw the man responsible held to
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: account in a court of law, convicted by overwhelming evidence.
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 1: So even as the California trial concluded, there remained the
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: matter of the murders in New York, Cornelia Criiley and
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: Ellen Hover. As for decades these cases had lingered unsolved,
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: though NYPD always suspected Alkella after he was caught in California,
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: but back in nineteen seventy one, when off Kella was
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: arrested in New Hampshire. NYPD detectives had traveled to question
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: him about Cornelia's murder, but Alkella had feigned innocence and
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: they lacked the proof to indict him at the time.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: And similarly, in nineteen seventy nine, a task force reinvestigated
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: cold cases eyed al Kella for Ellen Hover's disappearance, but
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: again lacked a body until it was found in nineteen
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: seventy eight, and then the evidence was still circumstantial. So
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: after Alkella's twenty ten conviction, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: Junior decided that even though Alkella was on California's death row,
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: the New York victims deserved their day in court, which,
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: of course, and a Manhattan grand jury indicted Alkella in
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: January of twenty eleven for the murders of Cornelia Crailey
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: and Ellen Hover, and in June of twenty twelve, Alkella
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: was extradited to New York to face these charges, and
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: he initially pled not guilty and indicted he would fight
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: the case, but facing the mountain of evidence, he changed
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: strategy and in December of twenty twelve, Alkala changed his
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: plea to guilty for both murders. Wow, smartest thing he's
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: ever done in his entire life. Actually own up to
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: what he did, and he stated he wished to return
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 1: to California to continue appealing his death sentence there, so
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: he essentially concealed the New York cases to avoid a
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 1: lengthy trial, and on January seventh, twenty thirteen, a New
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 1: York judge sentence al Kella to twenty five years to
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: life on each count to run concurrently. And at the sentencing,
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: Da Vance spoke a closure in remembrance for the victims' families,
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: and he noted that both women were just twenty three
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 1: years old.
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 2: Quote, two families.
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: Were robbed of daughters who never had a chance to
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 1: have families of their own, grow old and see the
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: city change.
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 2: And become safer unquote.
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: And family members of Ellen and Cornelia were present, some
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: wearing stickers with the victim's photos, And it was.
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 2: An emotionally charged hearing.
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: An Alcala, for his part, made no statement of remorse,
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: and because New York had abolished the death penalty in
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, life in prison was the maximum
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: sentence he could get there, but two more families had
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: it officially affirmed rodneyil Kella killed their loved ones. So
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: following the twenty ten California conviction, rodneyil Kella was returned
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: to death row at San Quentin State Prison in California,
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: and at some point after the trial he was transferred
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: to Corcoran State Prison, which was another facility likely for
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: health and custody reasons, and death sentences in California at
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: the time were in limbo in twenty nineteen and California's
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 1: governor declared a moratorium on executions, so even if all
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: appeals failed, Alkella was not at imminent risk of being executed,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: and in his final years behind bars, al Kella continued
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: to occupy himself with legal maneuverings, and incredibly, during the
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 1: gap between his second and third trials in the nineteen
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: nineties and two thousands, Alkella had written a self published
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: book titled You the Jury, where he protested his innocence
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: in Robin's case and even pointed fingers at another suspect
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: which is psychotic, which we know he is. And he
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: also filed a couple of frivolous lawsuits from prison as well,
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: one claiming the prison had caused him a slip and
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: fall injury boooo, and another complaining that the prison cafeteria
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: failed to provide him a low fat diet. But these
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: bizarre lawsuits demonstrate Alkello's continued narcissism and just fully lack
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: of remorse, because even on death row he was concerned
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: with his own comfort and figure, I guess. But by
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: the late twenty tens, Alkella's health was deteriorating, and in
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: March of twenty twenty one, reports emerged that he was
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: too ill to stand trial in Wyoming for Christine Thornton's
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: murder charge, and on July twenty fourth, twenty twenty one,
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: Rodney James Alkella died of natural causes at the age
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: of seventy seven in a hospital in King's County, California.
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 1: So he had spent forty two years in custody since
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 1: his nineteen seventy nine arrest, and at the time of
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: his death, Alkella was still technically under a death sentence,
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: though with the moratorium it was effectively a life term.
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: So for the families of victims there were mixed emotions. Some,
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: like Talley Shapiro, expressed relief quote the planet is a
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: better place without him, she would tell reporters, and others
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: noted that he had essentially lived out his natural life,
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: something many of his victims were cruelly denied, and RODNEYL.
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: Kelli's final years were without freedom, but also without the
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: execution that some.
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 2: Had hoped for, which I completely understand.
• 1:25:12
  Speaker 1: In California's death row meant years of isolated incarceration, appeal paperwork,
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: and reflection, which I don't think he was capable of,
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: and he reportedly didn't grant interviews or show any contrition publicly,
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: And in the end he died as he lived, just
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: removed from normal society, a subject of morbid fascination, and
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: carrying secrets to the grave about how many lives he
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: actually truly took. He was a monster and it was
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: horrible what was done to those girls. And at the
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: end of the day, I choose to remember them. And
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 1: I will also put those photos back on screen of
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: the unidentified victims, and if you recognize any of them,
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: make sure to contact your local authorities. But with that,
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: this is the end of the episode. And if you
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: have any other says you want me to deep dive into,
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: let me know. Down in the comments. I always read
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: the comments and stay safe.
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 2: Okay bye