The families of the women slain by serial killer Rodney Alcala are expected to offer testimony before a judge decides whether to sentence him to death.
A jury earlier this month recommended death for Alcala after the panel convicted him of slaying four women and a teenage girl.
It was the third time Alcala, 66, had been convicted for the murder
of Robin Samsoe, 12, last seen riding her bike to ballet class in
June 1979. He had been condemned to death both times, but the
convictions were overturned. He has been in custody since his 1979
arrest.
Before the third trial began in January, he was linked
through DNA, blood and fingerprint evidence to the deaths of Jill
Barcomb, 18, whose body was found in the Hollywood Hills; Georgia
Wixted, 27, of Malibu; Charlotte Lamb, 32, of Santa Monica; and Jill
Parenteau, 21, of Burbank.
During his closing arguments earlier this month, Alcala — a onetime photographer and “Dating Game” contestant
who acted as his own attorney in this trial — asked jurors to spare
him the death penalty, saying they would become killers themselves if
they sent him to death row and arguing that the sentence would lead to
decades of appeals.
A sentence of life
in prison without parole "would end this matter now," he said.
It took an Orange County jury about one hour Tuesday to vote for the
death penalty for Alcala.
— Paloma Esquivel and Shelby Grad
Alcala: The long road to justice
1972 — Alcala is convicted in the
1968 rape and beating of an 8-year-old girl.
Nov. 10, 1977 — The body of 18-year-old Jill Barcomb
is found in the Hollywood Hills. She had been sexually assaulted,
bludgeoned and strangled with a pair of blue pants.
Dec. 16, 1977 — Georgia Wixted, 27,
is found beaten to death at her home in Malibu. She had been sexually
assaulted and strangled.
1978 — Alcala appears in an episode
of “The Dating Game” as Bachelor No. 1.
June 24, 1978 — Charlotte Lamb, a 32-year-old legal
secretary from Santa Monica, is found in the laundry room of an El
Segundo apartment complex. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled
with a shoelace.
June 14, 1979 — Jill Parenteau, 21, is
found strangled on the floor of her Burbank apartment.
June 20, 1979 – Robin Samsoe, 12, disappears near
the Huntington Beach Pier. Her body is found 12 days later in the Sierra
Madre foothills.
July 24, 1979 — Rodney James
Alcala, an unemployed photographer, is arrested at his parents’ Monterey
Park home.
September 1980 – Alcala is convicted of the 1978
rape of a 15-year-old Riverside girl and sentenced to nine years in
state prison.
June 20, 1980 — Orange County Superior Court Judge
Philip E. Schwab sentences Alcala to death after he is convicted of
Samsoe’s murder.
July 11, 1980 — The Los Angeles County district
attorney’s office files murder, burglary and sexual assault charges
against Alcala in the slaying of Parenteau.
April 15, 1981 — The L.A. County district attorney’s office
tells a judge that prosecution of Alcala in the Parenteau case could
not proceed because a key witness admitted that he had committed perjury
in another case.
Aug. 23, 1984 — The state Supreme Court reversed
Alcala’s murder conviction in connection with Samsoe, ruling that the
jury was improperly told about Alcala’s prior sex crimes.
June 20, 1986 — For the second time, Alcala is
convicted of Samsoe’s murder and sentenced to death in Orange County
Superior Court.
Dec.
31, 1992 — The California Supreme Court unanimously upholds
Alcala’s death sentence.
April 2, 2001 — A federal appellate court overturns
Alcala’s death sentence in the Samsoe case, ruling that the Superior
Court judge precluded the defense from presenting evidence “material to
significant issues.”
June 5, 2003 — The Los Angeles County district
attorney’s office files murder charges against Alcala alleging that he
killed Wixted during a burglary and rape.
Sept. 19, 2005 — Additional murder charges are filed
against Alcala in connection to the deaths of Barcomb, Wixted and Lamb.
Jan. 11, 2010 — Alcala’s trial for the five murders
begins. He represents himself.
March 9, 2010 — Alcala is again sentenced to death.
— Kimi Yoshino
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