The recent release of a new movie has put serial killer Rodney Alcala's infamous case back in the public eye, and the former detective who helped get the “monster” sentenced to life in prison tells FOX News Digital , talked about the earrings that led to the incident. The final collapse of Alcala.
Alcala is known as the “Dating Game Killer” because he appeared on the TV show “The Date Game” as Bachelor No. 1 in 1978 and committed murder.
“One of our detectives came home from work and was sitting there reading the paper and probably drinking a beer…the TV was on in the background and Jim Lange from The Dating Game mentioned Rodney Alcala. “I heard him doing it,” said Stephen Mack, who worked as a detective. He told FOX News Digital that he's been doing it for 18 years.
”[Alcala] It is said that his IQ was 140. He thought he was smarter than everyone else and that no one would link him to these murders. ”
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This March 30, 2010 file photo shows convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala listening to a victim impact statement read in Santa Ana, California. (AP)
Serial killer Rodney Alcala died of natural causes while awaiting execution in California on July 24, 2021. (Prosecutor Matt Murphy)
The Netflix film “Woman of the Hour,” released last month, is based on details of Alcala's case and his participation in the dating show.
In 2003, Mack was a homicide detective with the Huntington Beach, California, Police Department and began playing a leading role in the Alcala investigation.
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He was already familiar with the case, having worked as a patrolman in 1979 when police were searching for missing 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, who was last seen on a bicycle. She was attending a dance class at the time. .
“He loved life, he loved going to the beach, he loved dancing, he loved his family, he loved his friends,” Mack said. ”It really worries me on an emotional level because she was a 12-year-old child. ”
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Alcala is known as the “Dating Game Killer” because he appeared on the TV show “The Date Game” as Bachelor No. 1 in 1978 and committed murder. (Prosecutor Matt Murphy)
When Mack began his investigation, Alcala had already been sentenced to death twice for Samsoe's murder, in 1980 and 1986, but both convictions were overturned.
“What I knew was that Rodney Alcala was a convicted murderer. What I believed, and what everyone else began to believe, was that he was a serial killer. That's what I mean,” Mack said. “The DNA collected during my involvement proved that.”
During the investigation, Mack examined evidence that previous investigators had stored in Alcala's storage lockers decades earlier.
“My first thought was that like most serial killers, he kept trophies so he could go back in time and relive the situation and relive the murders.” he said. “He was a sexually sadistic serial killer, and these people love to relive their crimes.”
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Rodney Alcala's Jewelry “Trophies” Mack discovered decades ago while examining evidence that a previous investigator had kept in Alcala's storage locker. (Evidence photo provided by Prosecutor Matt Murphy)
Among the preserved evidence, Mack noticed a rose-shaped earring in a small satin pouch and believed it could have belonged to one of Alcalá's victims.
“After examining the earrings and memorabilia he kept from various cases, we were able to link DNA to one of the Los Angeles murder victims, which solidified the case against him in Los Angeles and the Orange County I was able to join the two prosecutors in the county and the first trial. ”
DNA found on a rose-shaped earring was traced back to 32-year-old Charlotte Lamb, who was murdered in Los Angeles in 1978.
Matt Murphy, lead prosecutor in the Alcala case, told Fox News Digital that “we finally have a forensic link that was probably lost before.”
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Robin Samsoe, 12 years old. Alcala is accused of the murders of Samseau, 18-year-old Jill Barcomb, 21-year-old Jill Parenteau, 27-year-old Georgia Wickstead, and 32-year-old Jill Parenteau in California in the late 1970s. He was sentenced to death in 2010 for five murders, including that incident. Elderly Charlotte Lamb died after new DNA evidence linked her to the victim. (Prosecutor Matt Murphy)
Alcala was sentenced to death in 2010 for five murders, including the killing of 12-year-old Samsoe in California in the late 1970s. He was arrested after new DNA evidence linked him to the victims: 18-year-old Jill Barcomb, 21-year-old Jill Parenteau, 27-year-old Georgia Wickstead, and 32-year-old Lamb. He was charged with the additional murder of
”“No one believed that he would actually be sentenced to death in California,” Mack said.
In 2013, he pleaded guilty to two murders in New York and was given an additional 25 years to life.
“Once the DNA was in the system, other agencies… the NYPD and police agencies across the country began investigating their murders and Jane Doe,” Mack explained. “They were able to link Alcala to their crimes.”
In 2016, he was indicted again. This time, he was charged with the murder of a 28-year-old pregnant woman after DNA evidence linked him to her 1977 death in Wyoming.
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Charlotte Lamb, 32 years old (Prosecutor Matt Murphy)
Alcala was sentenced to death in 2010 for five murders in California in the late 1970s. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and was sentenced to an additional 25 years to life. In 2016, he was charged again with the murder of a 28-year-old pregnant woman, this time after DNA evidence linked him to her death in 1977 in Wyoming. (AP Photo/David Hanshew, Pool/File)
Alcala died of natural causes on July 24, 2021, while awaiting execution in California. He passed away at the age of 77.
“He ended up having a tragic life when he…died in the prison hospital,” Mack said. “Whatever happened to him was not enough. In my opinion, he should have suffered more than the loss of his freedom.”
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Rodney Alcala speaks with investigators before being sentenced for the murders of a 12-year-old girl and four women in the late 1970s in Santa Ana, California, on February 25, 2010. (Orange County Register)
Mack believes the actual number of victims may be higher than the number of convictions.
“I don't think the death of the suspect will bring closure to the family,” Mack added. “Closures may be able to forget what happened to their loved ones, but they don't forget.”
The former detective said he did not like saying Alcala's name, preferring to use the word “monster” instead, and described him as “not worthy of recognition at all.”
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“This incident has changed my children's ability to go places on their own,” Mack said, describing how the incident has affected her family and community.
“Huntington Beach is a safe place, and this has shattered that image for many people.”
