Rodney Alcala: ‘The Dating Game’ Killer Will Face New York Murder Charges
Rodney Alcala, also known as “The Dating Game” killer, will face additional murder charges in New York, after the California Supreme Court okayed an extradition request on Friday.
Alcala (Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor) is already serving a death penalty sentence in California, for five murder convictions. He has been incarcerated at San Quentin state prison since 1979, when he was initially arrested for the murder of Robin Samsoe.
According to Huffington Post, the two murders the serial killer has been extradited for in New York are Cornelia “Michel” Crilley and Ellen Hover.
Crilley was a TWA flight attendant who was found raped and strangled in 1971. Originally, authorities suspected that Crilley’s boyfriend was responsible, but now they claim to have forensic evidence that Alcala is responsible.
Ellen Hover was a Manhattan socialite, whose body was discovered in 1977 on the Rockefeller estate in Westchester County.
Authorities found the 23-year-old’s datebook inside her apartment which showed an appointment with “John Berger” on the day of her death. The name is reportedly an alias that Rodney Alcala used in the past.
Both California Gov. Jerry Brown and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a transfer for Alcala to New York to face the charges, which read as intentional murder, felony murder, and murder in the second degree.
Michael G. Millman, who runs the nonprofit organization Callefornia Appellate Project, wrote in court papers in October that:
“[Alcala’s] ability to defend against… impending execution should be given precedence over New York’s wish to prosecute [him].”
This assertion, as well as Alcala’s own attempt to block extradition, have failed. CBS News reports that a New York conviction would not overrule or affect the sentence Rodney Alcala is currently facing in California (New York does not have the death penalty). Instead, a New York conviction would act as insurance, in the case that the serial killer wins another appeal in California. If convicted in New York, Alcala would most likely be sent back to California’s death row.
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