Episode 640: Rodney Alcala: The Dating Game Killer (Part 1)
Morbid
Surviving Shadows
This chapter explores the harrowing experiences of a young woman and an eight-year-old girl who encounter a dangerous aggressor. It highlights the psychological toll on victims, societal pressures to remain silent, and a passerby’s instinctive intervention that could alter the course of a chilling encounter.
When Cheryl Bradshaw appeared on the popular game show The Dating Game in 1978, she was charmed by bachelor number one, Rodney Alcala, and by the end of the episode, she’d chosen him to take her on a date. However, just minutes after the episode finished taping, Cheryl met bachelor number two in person backstage and was immediately uncomfortable and quickly contacted producers of the show to cancel the date. What Bradshaw didn’t know at the time was that, in doing so, she had narrowly avoided spending an evening in the company of one of America’s most notorious serial killers.
At the time of his appearance on The Dating Game in 1978, Alcala was a convicted sexual predator who had served time for sexual assault and had only avoided a charge of attempted murder on a technicality. After his arrest, investigators would learn that, by the time he appeared on the game show, he was also a killer. In the year that followed, Alcala would go on to murder several other women until he was finally caught and convicted for his crimes. At his trial, Rodney Alcala was found guilty of eight murders, among other crimes, but he is suspected of several other murders, perhaps as many as one hundred or more.
Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!
References
Associated Press. 1980. "Forest worker tells of grisly body find, fingers defendent ." Daily Breeze (Torrence, CA), March 23: 7.
—. 1980. "Witness in Alcala trial admits lying." Los Angeles Times, March 26: 44.
—. 1980. "Jury deliberate murder charge." Oakland Tribune, April 30: E3.
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CBS News. 2024. "Rodney Alcala: The Killing Game." 48 Hours .
Dunn, Edward. 1977. "Oneida woman slain in L.A." Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), November 15: 1.
Esquivel, Paloma. 2010. "Alcala gets death penalty." Los Angeles Times, March 10: 72.
Falcon, Gabriel. 2010. Convicted serial killer won on 'Dating Game'. March 10. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240814201903/https://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/08/dating.game.killer/index.html.
Hicks, Jerry. 1986. "Alcala again given death sentence in slaying of girl, 12." Los Angeles Times, June 21: 50.
—. 1986. "Alcala asks jury to spare him, insists he isn't a murderer." Los Angeles Times, June 19: 141.
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—. 1979. "In search for girl's killer, time is the principal foe." Los Angeles Times, July 14: 22.
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The People v. Rodney James Alcala. 1984. 36 Cal. 3d 605 (Supreme Court of California, August 23).
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