Did Rodney Alcala really have 130 victims?

Notice! This post contains spoilers for Woman of the Hour.

Before your credits start rolling, Woman of the Hour reveals that Rodney Alcala may have had up to 130 victims, which raises questions about the extent of his real-life crimes. Directed by Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour runs through a harrowing segment of Rodney Alcala’s timeline, focusing primarily on how he ended up The dating game show and managed to win it. In addition to portraying his time as a dating game competitor, the film also depicts some of his most harrowing murders before presenting the events that led to his arrest in February 1979.

As the film primarily follows Rodney Alcala’s 1978 appearance in The dating game and his crimes at that time, avoids delving too much into his criminal record or the offenses he committed after winning the game show. However, after finally revealing how one of his victims escaped and reporting him to the police in 1979, Woman of the HourThe end of features a textual epilogue that reveals that Rodney Alcala may have had around 130 victims. Since Woman of the Hour changes some facts from the real story, it’s hard not to be curious as to whether the victim count is accurate.

Many of Rodney Alcala’s victims are unconfirmed, but the number 130 may be accurate

The total number could be even greater than 130

For various reasons, the true extent of Rodney Alcala’s crimes remained hidden for several years, allowing him to get away with his violent spree. Even later, when law enforcement finally began to investigate his history of murders and crimes, they were only able to create a rough estimate of the number of people who were his victims. Many of Rodney Alcala’s victims remain unknownbut it is believed his crimes may be linked to at least 130 victims.

While investigating the 1979 Rodney Alcala case, police found hundreds of photos of Rodney Alcala’s alleged victims in a Seattle closet Alcala had already rented it. Hoping to identify some of the victims and understand the full extent of Alcala’s crimes, the Huntington Beach Police Department publicly released some of the photos during his third trial in March 2010. Retired LAPD detective Steve Hodel, who investigated a of Alcala’s crimes even called him (via LA Times)”a killing machine,“believing”he has to be good for many crimes.“

How many victims was confirmed that Rodney Alcala killed

Only 8 of his victims were confirmed

Although Rodney Alcala’s death toll is believed to be as high as 130, only eight of his victims have been confirmed. The beginning of the timeline of his crimes dates back to 1968. After Alcala died in 2021, 68-year-old Morgan Rowan went to investigator Steve Hodel and told him how Alcala attacked and sexually assaulted her in July 1968, when she I was 16 years old. Her friends rescued her after breaking into Alcala’s apartment through a window.

Alcala’s last known victim was a 12-year-old girl, Robin Christine Samsoe, who disappeared while walking home from ballet class. Less than two weeks later, his body was discovered in the foothills of Los Angeles. Several clues in Samsoe’s case led investigators to find solid evidence against Alcala, leading to his arrest in 1979. After the scale of Rodney Alcala’s crimes gradually came to light he was convicted of a total of eight charges:

• 1 battery count

• 1 count of kidnapping

• Probation violation

• 2 counts of rape

• 1 count of providing cannabis to a minor

• 5 counts of first degree murder

Did Rodney Alcala kill someone before appearing on the dating game?

Rodney Alcala surprisingly had a criminal record before appearing on the dating game

As confirmed in Anna Kendrick’s true story thriller, Woman of the HourRodney Alcala had not conceded a goal before appearing on The dating game. Your criminal history suggests he murdered at least two women before appearing on the show in 1978. One of the victims was a Trans World Airlines flight attendant, Cornelia Crilley, who was found dead in her apartment on June 12, 1971. The events leading up to her murder were briefly featured in Woman of the Hour.

The other was Ellen Jane Hover, an aspiring orchestra conductor whose remains were found on the Rockefeller estate in Westchester County a year after her disappearance in 1977 (via NY Times). A decade before its appearance in The dating gameAlcala also sexually assaulted and physically abused 8-year-old Tali Shapiro. His name was even added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in early 1971. However, as shown in Woman of the Hourhe got a role in The dating game because, at the time, the show’s creators didn’t have the technology to check participants’ backgrounds.