A Serial Killer Was a Contestant on ‘The Dating Game’ in the 1970s: And He Won

Imagine if one of the cast members on a show such as The Bachelorette turned out to be a man previously convicted for the rape of a child. Now imagine, he’s the one the bachelorette chooses in the end.

It would (hopefully) be impossible today, with the extensive backgrounds checks conducted on the people appearing on reality shows, but in the 1970s, this is exactly what happened.

Convicted rapist makes an appearance on a dating game show

Rodney James Alcala was convicted in 1972 for the rape of an eight-year-old girl. He served his time in prison, which was only 34 months.

Six years later, in 1978, Alcala showed up as a Bachelor Number One on The Dating Game TV show and was introduced by the host as a “successful photographer.”

The Dating Game

The Dating Game is one of the classic game shows created by Chuck Barris in the 1960s. In the show, a single woman was given a choice of three bachelors to choose for a date. The idea of the show was, once she chose a man, she would go on a date offscreen and report back on the success or lack of success on a later show.

She couldn’t see the men until after she made her choice. The bachelors would sit behind a curtain answering her questions.

The questions were typically provocative with lots of sexual innuendoes. In an answer which became horrifying in retrospect, Alcala was asked by the bachelorette when was his best time.

“The best time is at night,” he responded, grinning broadly. “Nighttime.”

A killing spree after his game show appearance

After The Dating Game appearance, police believe Alcala went on to murder dozens of women and possibly more. Some estimate the count to be upwards of 130 women. He lured the women by posing as a photographer and offering to take their pictures.

Fortunately for the bachelorette on The Dating Game, though she chose Alcala from a lineup of three contestants, she never went out with him.

After meeting him in person and spending some time backstage, she told Rolling Stone Magazine, “I started to feel ill. He was acting really creepy. I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.”.

The other bachelors also noticed something “creepy” about Alcala. Contestant Jed Mills agreed, “He was creepy. Definitely creepy.”

The Dating Game led to his capture

Ironically enough, being a contestant on The Dating Game would lead to Alcala’s downfall.

After his appearance on the show, Alcala went on a killing spree of women and a young girl. He was under investigation for the murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe in 1979 when a detective working on the case happened to watch a rerun of his episode of The Dating Game.

The detective thought he recognized Alcala from a sketch Robin’s friend, Bridget, had provided of Robin’s suspected killer. When Bridget arrived at the station, the detective played the episode for her.

“So I had to go back up to the police station — I think it was shortly after that sketch got faxed out — and they put me in a room, and they had a big TV… and they started The Dating Game. And right when I saw the three contestants, I said ‘That’s him!’ That is him. No question. That is the man. And when I heard his voice, without a shadow of a doubt, that is him.” — Bridget said in an ABC 20/20 Special.

After a back and forth of convictions, overthrown convictions, and a series of trials, Alcala was finally convicted and sentenced to death in 2010 for the murders of four women and 12-year-old Robin Samsoe. He spent the rest of his life on death row.

In addition to Robin, Alcala was convicted in 2010 for four other murders:

• 18-year-old Jill Barcomb
• 27-year-old Georgia Wixted
• 32-year-old Charlotte Lamb
• 21-year-old Jill Parenteau
• Why do police think he may have killed more people?

After he was convicted in 2010, investigators released over 100 photos of women and children from Alcala in an attempt to discover further victims.

Releasing the photos worked. In 2012, he was indicted in New York for the murder of Cornelia Crilly in 1971 and Ellen Jane Hoover in 1977. In 2016, he was charged by Wyoming prosecutors with the death of Christine Ruth Thornton, who had disappeared in 1978.

He’s been further linked or suspected to murders in California, Seattle, Washington, New York, Arizona, and New Hampshire, according to a news release from the California corrections department.

Alcala died of natural causes in July 2021, at the age of 77, while serving time on California’s death row in San Quentin State prison.

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Sources:

1. Rolling Stone, Rodney Alcala, ‘The Dating Game Killer,’ Dead at 77,
2. Rolling Stone,‘Dating Game’ Helps Catch Serial Killer in Clip From ’20/20′ Special,
3. CNN, ‘Dating Game Killer’ dies of natural causes, prison officials say
4. The California corrections department, Condemned Inmate Rodney Alcala Dies of Natural Causes

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This story was previously published on Medium.