Did serial killer “Woman of the Hour” Rodney Alcala really come from Texas? What we know

The real Cheryl Bradshaw actually appeared on the TV show “The Dating Game” in 1978 and ultimately chose Alcala, not knowing that he was not only a convicted sex offender but also a serial killer.

In the film, which is intended to tell the story of Alcala’s many victims, the secret serial killer tells various people about his Texas roots.

Although in real life he attended the University of California, Los Angeles and once lived in New York City, it turns out that Alcala was actually born in the Lone Star State.

Rodney Alcala, serial killer in “Woman of the Hour,” has Texas roots

Alcala was born on August 23, 1943 in San Antonio, Texas and moved to Mexico with his family when he was 8 years old. According to reports, while in Mexico, Alcala’s father abandoned the family, resulting in his mother, Alcala, and siblings moving to Los Angeles.

When he was 17, Alcala enlisted in the Army, according to CBS News, but was discharged in 1964 after a breakdown that led to him being diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.

The native Texan graduated in 1968 with a degree in fine arts from the University of California, Los Angeles. That same year, Alcala beat and sexually assaulted 8-year-old Tali Shapiro.

When police arrived at Alcala’s home after being tipped off by a concerned citizen who saw Shapiro get into Alcala’s car, they decided to save the life of the girl, who was reportedly naked and covered in blood and a metal pipe placed around her neck instead of pursuing and arresting a fleeing Alcala.

After this incident, Alcala moved to New York City under the pseudonym John Berger and attended New York University. Alcala was arrested in 1971 while working as a camp counselor in New Hampshire. According to OC Weekly, two girls who attended the camp had Alcala, under the alias Berger, as their counselor.

They recognized him from an FBI wanted poster and alerted the dean of the camp. Alcala was arrested in August 1971, extradited to California, pleaded guilty to child molestation and served 34 months in prison before being released on parole in 1974.

The Washington Post previously reported that Alcala was arrested again in 1974 in Huntington Beach, California, for marijuana possession after he was caught smoking with a 13-year-old girl. This happened within a few months of his release on parole. He then returned to prison until he was released on parole again in 1977.

In 1978, Alcala appeared on “The Dating Game” – featured in “Woman of the Hour” – and was chosen by Bradshaw for an all-expenses-paid date. However, Bradshaw canceled the date after being scared off by Alcala backstage – a decision that may have saved her life.

How Rodney Alcala’s criminal history went undetected by the staff of ‘The Dating Game’

By the time he appeared on The Dating Game, Alcala had already served time in prison not once, but twice, and was a convicted sex offender. However, Business Insider reported that the show did not conduct background checks on contestants, allowing Alcala to appear on national television and endangering another woman’s life.

In a 2021 episode of “20/20,” the dating show’s executive producer Mike Metzger said he was initially against Alcala’s participation on the show, saying, “There was something mysterious about him that I considered “I found it unpleasant.” But the show’s participant coordinator, Ellen Metzger, was convinced that it would be well received by the audience and convinced her husband to take him along.

As a result, Bradshaw ultimately chose Alcala, the No. 1 bachelor, after liking his now-creepy answers. Before making her choice, Bradshaw asked, “What’s your best time?” Alcala replied, “The best time is at night,” later adding that this is “the time when things get really nice.”

But when Bradshaw met the eligible bachelor, later nicknamed the “Dating Game Killer,” any excitement she once had disappeared. The day after filming the episode, Bradshaw called Ellen Metzger and told her that she couldn’t go out with him because he was “giving him weird vibes.” the situation.

This intuitive feeling probably saved Bradshaw’s life.

About a year after his appearance on “The Dating Game,” Alcala was arrested in 1979 and sentenced to death in 1980 in Orange County, California, for the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, whose earrings were found in a storage locker that Alcala was in Seattle rented.

Serial killer Rodney Alcala dies on death row

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the conviction was overturned by the California Supreme Court in 1984 and Alcala was granted a new trial. The Texas native was tried a second time in 1986 for Samsoe’s murder and sentenced to death.

That ruling was overturned by a federal appeals court in 2003. In 2010, an Orange County jury convicted Alcala of five counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death for the third time for the murder of Samsoe, as well as the murders of 18-year-old Jill Barcomb and 27-year-old Georgia Wixted in 1977, the murder of 32-year-old Charlotte Lamb in 1978 and the murder of 32-year-old year-old Charlotte Lamb in 1979 death of 21-year-old Jill Parenteau.

In 2012, Alcala was extradited to New York after being charged with the 1971 murder of Cornelia Crilley and the 1977 murder of Ellen Jane Hover. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison in New York.

Although Alcala was only convicted of killing at least seven women, it is believed he may be responsible for over 100 deaths.

Alcala died of natural causes on California’s death row on July 24, 2021, at the age of 77. After his death, Shapiro told the New York Times, “The planet is a better place without him.”

“Woman of the Hour” is now streaming on Netflix.