Rodney Alcala Death Sentence Confirmed by Judge. Is Third Time a Charm?


Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno handed down the maximum punishment–death–for serial killer Rodney Alcala after friends of relatives of his known murder victims made statements to the court.

It was the third time in three decades that Alcala got the death penalty. He has successfully appealed to avoid execution twice before. He served as his own lawyer in the most recent case, which centered on the 1979 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old ballet student Robin Samsoe of Huntington Beach and four Los Angeles County women killed in the 1970s.

The outcome was no different.
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Veteran Orange County Register court reporter Larry Welborn has more details.

Meanwhile, the Huntington Beach Police Department has been generating several leads to other possible victims of Alcala. These have come thanks to the release of photos found in a storage unit Alcala kept in Seattle.

Some people, family members and friends have come forward to say someone among the photographed is alive and well. Others believe cold-case victims are among Alcala's collection.

Authorities have not publicly matched any photos with anyone alive or dead.

Here are just some of the models from Alcala's red carpet (soaked?) fashion show:


The Orange County District Attorney's Office and Huntington Beach Police Department have distributed to the media discs with more than 100 photographs of women and children–including this one above–that were
taken by Alcala.
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Alcala, 66, has now received the death penalty three times.
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A jury in Santa Ana on Feb. 25 found Alcala guilty. Again.
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It took the same jury just an hour to recommend the death penalty for
Alcala.
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Alcala famously appeared as a contestant in the 1970s on TV's The Dating Game.
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The photos released by authorities transport viewers back in time to the 1970s.
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You can view all the photos found in Alcala's Seattle storage unit in 1979 on the OCDA website.

More than 500 tips have come in since the OCDA and Huntington Beach police made the photos available to the media on March 10.

Anyone with information regarding the identities of the women and children in the photographs is asked to contact Sergeant Smith at (714) 536-5947 or Detective Ellis at (714) 536-5971 with the Huntington Beach Police Department or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Ed Berakovich at (714) 347-8492.

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