The Dating Game Killer

Many people commented on his harmless nature and inability to harm even a fly. In 1978, he made an appearance on the popular game show The Dating Game, where host Jim Lange introduced him as a "successful photographer." He emerged triumphant in the competition and earned a date with Cheryl Bradshaw, the bachelorette featured in the show. However, Bradshaw later declined to go on a date with him because she found him unsettling. One of his fellow participants in the competition later characterized him as a strange individual with bizarre opinions.

Their perceptions were accurate, as Rodney James Alcala (born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor; August 23, 1943 – July 24, 2021) was indeed an American serial killer and sex offender. He was convicted and sentenced to death in California for five murders perpetrated between 1977 and 1979. Furthermore, he received an additional sentence of 25 years to life after confessing to two additional homicides committed in New York State in 1971 and 1977. Although Alcala has been definitively associated with eight homicides, the exact number of murders he is responsible for is still uncertain and may be far greater. Authorities estimate that the actual number might reach up to 130.

Rodney Alcala, the third child of Raul Alcala Buquor (August 3, 1906 – January 8, 1962) and Anna Maria Gutierrez (January 10, 1909 – February 18, 1999), was born in San Antonio, Texas. His parents were of Mexican-American descent. Alcala's father relocated the family to Mexico in 1951, subsequently abandoning them three years later. In 1954, at the age of 11, Alcala and his two sisters were relocated by their mother to the suburban area of Los Angeles. Alcala was a very intelligent student who enjoyed a moderate level of popularity among his peers and received support from his family. During his formative years, he pursued his education at multiple private schools prior to his graduation from Montebello High School. In addition to his involvement in the track and cross-country teams, he served on the yearbook planning committee.

Alcala enlisted in the United States Army in 1961, at the age of 17, with the intention of becoming a paratrooper and thereafter working as a clerk. While serving, his commanding officer found him to be manipulative, vindictive, and insubordinate. Alcala was subjected to multiple instances of disciplinary action due to assaulting several young ladies.

In 1964, following an episode described as a nervous breakdown, Alcala went AWOL and hitchhiked from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to his mother's residence in California. A military psychiatrist diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder and estimated his IQ to be 135. He later received his discharge from the military due to medical reasons.

On September 5, 1968, a concerned motorist named Donald Hines promptly contacted the police when he observed Alcala enticing Tali Shapiro, who was only 8 years old, into his Hollywood apartment. Shapiro, who was staying at the Chateau Marmont with her family, encountered Alcala while on her way to school. He pulled up beside her in his car and offered her a ride. Shapiro initially declined, but after Alcala told her that he was acquainted with her parents, she decided to get into his car. Alcala then brought her to his apartment, where he informed Shapiro that he wanted to show her a picture. When the police arrived, Shapiro was discovered alive, having been raped and beaten with a steel bar. Alcala had managed to escape the scene. Shapiro endured a lengthy coma lasting thirty-two days, followed by an extensive recovery period that spanned several months.

In order to avoid being arrested for the Shapiro assault, Alcala decided to leave California and enroll at NYU under the alias "John Berger." In 1971, he secured a counseling position at a New Hampshire arts camp for children under the name "John Burger."

Rodney Alcala's killing spree began with Tali Sapiro's attack and continued for a decade.

Cornelia Crilley, a 23-year-old TWA flight attendant, tragically lost her life June 12, 1971. Alcala had strangled her with her own nylon stockings, leaving her dead in her apartment at 427 East 83rd Street. It is speculated that Crilley encountered Alcala when she relocated to her new apartment and potentially sought his assistance with moving furniture.

Alcala also took the life of Ellen Jane Hover, a 23-year-old woman who was the daughter of nightclub owner Herman Hover and goddaughter of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Hover was last seen at her residence in New York City on July 15, 1977. Her schedule book indicated that she had a meeting scheduled with someone named "John Berger" on that very day. In 1977, a tip was given to the FBI regarding Alcala's previous arrest by the police in connection with the Shapiro case. However, investigators were unable to apprehend him as they had not yet located Hover’s body. Eventually, her remains were found buried under heavy rocks on a hillside overlooking the Hudson River. It was near a spot on the John D. Rockefeller Estate where an aspiring model later reported that "Berger" had taken photos of her.

In 1978, Alcala had a short stint at the Los Angeles Times as a typesetter and was interviewed by members of the Hillside Strangler task force as part of their investigation into known sex offenders. Despite being cleared of any involvement in the Strangler case, Alcala was apprehended and served a short prison term for possession of marijuana.

Throughout this time, Alcala managed to persuade numerous young people that he was a skilled fashion photographer, capturing their images for his personal collection. Indeed, Alcala amassed a vast collection of over 1,000 photographs featuring women, teenage girls, and boys, often captured in explicit and provocative poses.

In 2016, he faced charges for the 1977 murder of a woman who was identified in one of his photographs. Alcala has been linked to assaulting another photographic subject, and law enforcement has raised the possibility that there may be additional victims of rape or murder.

Prosecutors have described Alcala's disturbing pattern of tormenting his victims, repeatedly strangling them until they lost consciousness and then reviving them, prolonging their suffering before ultimately taking their lives. One police detective characterized Alcala as a highly efficient perpetrator of violence, while others have drawn parallels between him and Ted Bundy. Alcala gained notoriety as the Dating Game Killer due to his chilling appearance on the television show The Dating Game during his murderous rampage. He passed away due to natural causes in 2021.