'Dating Game Killer' kept 'trophies' that ultimately led to his downfall: detective
While the recent release of a new film has brought the infamous case of serial killer Rodney Alcala back into the public eye, a former detective who helped put the "monster" behind bars for life told Fox News Digital about a pair of earrings that led to Alcala's ultimate downfall.
Alcala has been dubbed the "Dating Game killer" because he appeared on the television show "The Dating Game" as Bachelor No. 1 in 1978 during his killing spree.
"One of our detectives went home from work, sat down with the newspaper and probably a beer … had the TV on in the background and heard Jim Lange from ‘The Dating Game’ mention Rodney Alcala," Steven Mack, who worked as a detective for 18 years, told Fox News Digital.
"[Alcala] reportedly had an IQ of 140. He thought he was smarter than everybody else and that nobody would ever connect him to these murders."
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The Netflix movie "Woman of the Hour," released last month, is based on details from Alcala's case and his participation on the dating show.
In 2003, Mack was a homicide detective with the Huntington Beach Police Department in California and began taking a lead role in investigating Alcala's case.
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At the time, he was already familiar with the case, as he had worked as a patrol officer in 1979 when detectives were searching for a missing 12-year-old girl, Robin Samsoe, who was last seen riding a bicycle to her dance class.
"Loved life, loved going to the beach, loved dancing, loved her family, loved her friends," Mack said. "It really bothers me on an emotional level because she was a 12-year-old child."
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When Mack began investigating, Alcala had already been sentenced to death in Samsoe’s murder twice – in 1980 and again in 1986 – but both convictions were overturned.
"What I knew was that Rodney Alcala was a convicted murderer. What I believed in, what everybody else began to believe, is that he was a serial killer," Mack said. "The DNA collected during my involvement proved that."
During his investigation, Mack went through evidence preserved by previous investigators decades earlier from inside a storage locker belonging to Alcala.
"My first thought was, like most serial killers, he kept trophies so that he could go back and relive the circumstances, relive the murder," he said. "He was a sexually sadistic serial killer. And those individuals love to relive their crimes."
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In the preserved evidence, Mack noticed a pair of rose-shaped earrings in a small satin pouch, believing they might belong to one of Alcala's victims.
"Examining the earrings, souvenirs that he kept from the various cases, we were able to connect DNA to one of the Los Angeles homicide victims, which solidified the case against him for L.A. and was able to join the two prosecutions, Los Angeles and Orange County, into one trial."
The DNA found on the rose-shaped earrings was determined to be that of 32-year-old Charlotte Lamb, who was murdered in 1978 in Los Angeles.
"We finally had the forensic connection that arguably was missing before," Matt Murphy, the lead prosecutor on Alcala's case, told Fox News Digital.
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Alcala was sentenced to death in 2010 for five murders in California in the late 1970s, including that of 12-year-old Samsoe. He was charged in the additional killings of 18-year-old Jill Barcomb, 21-year-old Jill Parenteau, 27-year-old Georgia Wixted and 32-year-old Lamb after new DNA evidence connected him to the victims.
"Nobody believed that he was going to actually get the death penalty in the state of California," Mack said.
In 2013, he received an additional 25 years to life after pleading guilty to two slayings in New York.
"Once we had the DNA in the system, then other agencies … New York PD and police agencies around the country started looking into their homicides and their Jane Doe's," Mack explained. "They were able to connect Alcala to their crimes."
In 2016, he was charged again, this time with the murder of a 28-year-old pregnant woman after DNA evidence connected him to her 1977 death in Wyoming.
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Alcala died of natural causes on July 24, 2021, while awaiting execution in California. He was 77 at the time of his death.
"He did end up … living a miserable life when he died in a prison hospital," Mack said. "Whatever happened to him wasn't enough. In my opinion, he should have suffered more than just the loss of freedom."
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Mack believes the true victim count may be higher than the convicted number.
"I don't believe that the death of a suspect gives any family closure," Mack added. "Closure would be able to forget what happened to their loved ones, and they don't."
The former detective mentioned that he doesn't like to say Alcala's name and instead prefers using the term "monster," explaining that he "doesn't deserve any recognition at all."
"It changed my children's ability to go places by themselves," Mack disclosed, sharing how the case impacted his own family and community.
"Huntington Beach, you know, is a safe place, and this just destroyed that image for a lot of people."