Woman of the Hour: How did Rodney Alcala get caught in real life?

Netflix’s Woman of the Hour studies the Dating Game Killer and his infamous TV appearance, but the story of how Rodney Alcala was captured is much more complicated in real life.

In 1978, serial killer Rodney Alcala managed to appear on TV. Appearing as a contestant on the hit show The Dating Game, Alcala’s crimes would later come to light and earn him the name ‘The Dating Game Killer’.

This is the focus of the new Netflix film, Woman of the Hour. Throughout Alcala’s appearance on the show are some of his heinous crimes, including the one that got him arrested.

But the reality is not so simple and Alcala continued his spree long after his initial arrests. See how Rodney Alcala was captured, as well as the details of his conviction.

Rodney Alcala Arrest

Rodney Alcala was finally arrested in July 1979 after his parole officer recognized him from a police sketch.

His last murder was that of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, who was caught by Alcala after riding her bike to ballet class in Huntington Beach, California. Alcala beat, raped and stabbed Samsoe, leaving his remains in the foothills of Los Angeles.

Police later found her body on Santa Anita Canyon Road. When Samsoe’s friends were able to describe Alcala’s features (he approached them on the beach, asking if he could take a photo), authorities released a police sketch.

CBS

Rodney Alcala was arrested in 1979

Alcala’s probation office at the time made the connection between him and the sketch and notified police. They then searched Alcala’s mother’s house and found a receipt for a locker in Seattle.

When they searched the closet, they found DNA earrings that belonged to a previous victim, Charlotte Lamb.

Alcala was then arrested in July 1979 and held without bail. His first conviction was for the murder of Samsoe, for which he received the death penalty.

His trial would continually be overturned and redone, with more and more murders being added to his conviction. Ultimately, he was convicted of seven murders. He was sentenced to death, however, Alcala died of unspecified natural causes in prison, aged 77.

It wasn’t the first time he was arrested

Before his arrest, Alcala had already been arrested three times – in 1971, 1974 and 1979 – and was released each time.

His first arrest came after kidnapping and assaulting 8-year-old Tali Shaprio on her way to school in 1968. A witness’ account of the encounter led police to Alcala’s apartment, where she was found alive, although she remained in a coma for 32 days .

Alcala fled California, hiding out in New York City. It was here that he committed at least one other murder; Cornelia Crilley, 23-year-old Trans World Airlines flight attendant.

Netflix

Daniel Zovatto plays Rodney Alcala in Woman of the Hour

Alcala was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 1971, and was eventually arrested for Shapiro’s assault when two children at an arts camp noticed his photo in the mail.

Shapiro’s parents did not want their daughter to testify at trial and Alcala was sentenced to three years for child molestation. After seventeen months, he was paroled in 1974.

However, two months later he was arrested again and put back in prison after assaulting a 13-year-old girl. In 1976, after serving two years, he was released again.

In February 1979, a year after his appearance on Dating Game, Alcala was arrested again. He hitchhiked 15-year-old Monique Hoyt in California under the pretense of taking photos of her.

When they reached an isolated mountainous area in Banning, he attacked her. Alcala then assaulted and sodomized Hoyt before hitting him in the head with a rock. For unknown reasons, Alcala took her back down the mountain, giving Hoyt a chance to escape when he stopped to use a gas station bathroom.