Rodney James Alcala was a convicted murderer who appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game in 1978. That appearance is the origin of the nickname “Dating Game Killer,” according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). California convicted him of five first-degree murders in 2010. In New York he pleaded guilty to two murders and received 25 years to life in 2013. He died of natural causes in 2021, at age 77. The sections below keep his convictions and guilty pleas separate from cases that were only charged, indicted or linked to him.
Who Rodney Alcala was
Alcala’s crimes were prosecuted in two states, California and New York, across several decades. The record that can be verified is almost entirely court-based: jury verdicts, appellate opinions, guilty pleas and sentences. Where a source describes a case as an allegation, a charge or an investigative link, this article says so rather than counting it as a proven murder.
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His 1978 appearance on The Dating Game
CDCR identifies Alcala as a contestant on The Dating Game in 1978 and states that this appearance is where his nickname came from. The accurate description is a contestant appearance on a television game show. It was not a scripted acting role, and the phrase “cameo” in popular coverage overstates it slightly.
Accounts that describe what happened on set, what he said during the broadcast or how the producers reacted are not established by the official record cited here. Treat such anecdotes as unsupported unless they are sourced separately.
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Convictions and guilty pleas
The table lists only the outcomes that official sources establish. Each entry is a conviction or a guilty plea, not an allegation.
| Victim | Jurisdiction | Date of murder (as reported) | Outcome | Sentence and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Samsoe (age 12) | California | Not stated in the sources reviewed | Convicted of first-degree murder by jury, 2010 | Death sentence, 2010 |
| Jill Barcomb | California | Not stated in the sources reviewed | Convicted of first-degree murder by jury, 2010 | Death sentence, 2010 |
| Georgia Wixted | California | Not stated in the sources reviewed | Convicted of first-degree murder by jury, 2010 | Death sentence, 2010 |
| Charlotte Lamb | California | Not stated in the sources reviewed | Convicted of first-degree murder by jury, 2010 | Death sentence, 2010 |
| Jill Parenteau | California | Not stated in the sources reviewed | Convicted of first-degree murder by jury, 2010 | Death sentence, 2010 |
| Cornelia Crilley | New York | 1971 | Guilty plea | 25 years to life, 2013 (sentence reported for the two New York pleas together) |
| Ellen Jane Hover | New York | 1977 | Guilty plea | 25 years to life, 2013 (sentence reported for the two New York pleas together) |
The California verdicts were returned by an Orange County jury. Because the New York sentence is reported as a single term for both pleas, the source does not establish separate terms for each count.
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The Samsoe case and its appeals
The Robin Samsoe case is the one with the longest legal history, and it shows why the procedural stage matters. The sequence below follows the court record and the CDCR summary.
- 1980 judgment. Alcala was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe and sentenced to death.
- 1984 reversal. The California Supreme Court reversed the judgment and granted a new trial. The court’s opinion recounts the original conviction and sentence, and it is the primary source for the holdings in that stage.
- 1986 second death sentence. CDCR’s summary records a second death sentence in 1986.
- 2003 federal reversal. A federal appeals court overturned that death sentence, and Alcala received another trial.
- 2010 retrial verdict. The Orange County jury returned the first-degree murder verdicts listed in the table above, and the death sentence followed.
A reversal sends a case back for a new trial. It does not clear the defendant. Readers should keep in mind that each step in this sequence is a legal ruling on procedure or sentence, not a new finding that the defendant was innocent or guilty of additional crimes.
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New York cases
Alcala was indicted in New York for the murders of Cornelia Crilley, killed in 1971, and Ellen Jane Hover, killed in 1977. He was extradited to New York in 2012 and 2013, pleaded guilty to both murders and was sentenced in 2013 to 25 years to life. Guilty pleas are convictions, so these two cases belong with the established record. Any other New York matter should be checked against the court file before it is described as a conviction.
Charges and allegations that are not convictions
Several matters in the public record do not amount to convictions, and they should not be added to a count of proven victims.
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- 2005 Orange County indictment. The Orange County District Attorney announced an indictment concerning four additional California killings. An indictment is a formal allegation that a grand jury or prosecutor has presented for trial. The announcement supports the fact of the indictment only.
- 2016 Wyoming charge. Wyoming prosecutors charged Alcala in connection with the death of Christine Ruth Thornton. CDCR describes this as a charge. The sources reviewed do not report a conviction in that case.
The FBI Vault hosts an archive account of the Samsoe investigation and trial history. It is useful for background, but court opinions should be relied on for any legal holding.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.His death
CDCR reported that Alcala died on July 24, 2021, at age 77, of natural causes at a hospital in Kings County, California. The death notice closes the case chronology for his California and New York convictions. It does not resolve the Wyoming charge or the 2005 indictment, which remain unresolved in the sources reviewed.
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How to check the record
- CDCR death notice (2021). The most concise official source for his age, the five 2010 convictions and the New York sentence.
- California Supreme Court opinion (1984). The primary legal source for the reversal and new trial in the Samsoe case. Read it directly before describing the evidence or the court’s reasoning in detail.
- Orange County District Attorney announcement (2005). Supports the indictment and its allegations only.
- FBI Vault and Los Angeles Times retrospective. Context and history. Use court and agency records for the controlling legal chronology.
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