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48 Hours presents [Music] I was out doing my patrols we just started our shift that day and I was
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driving down Sunset Boulevard and I received a call A beige color car with no license plates following this little
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girl in Los Angeles in 1968 eight-year-old tally Shapiro was walking to school when a car pulled up alongside
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her a Good Samaritan a witness sees the little girl the little eight-year-old Ali get in the car
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thinks it's suspicious follows him and puts a call into la the former Los Angeles police officer
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Chris Camacho reached the location and knocked on the door again I said police officer opened the door I need to talk
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to you this mail appeared at the door I will always remember that face at that door very evil face
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and he says I'm in the shower I got to get dressed and I told him okay you got 10 seconds finally I kicked the door in
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[Music] the image will be with me forever we could see in the kitchen that there
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was a body on the floor a lot of blood they say A picture says a thousand words in that image of those little white Mary
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Janes on that floor with that metal bar that he used to strangle it with and that puddle of blood it just looks
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like too much blood to come out of it a tiny little eight-year-old like that it was no breathing we all thought she
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was dead Camacho began frantically searching the house for her attacker moments later he walked back into the
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kitchen and witnessed a miracle she was gagging and trying to breathe and I thought one for the good guys
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she's going to make it clinging to life tally was rushed to the hospital it hadn't not been for that
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police officer tally Shapiro would have died on Rodney alcala's kitchen floor we started searching the residents there
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was a lot of photograph equipment and all of us were amazed at the amount of photographs that he had there of young
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girls very young girls we found a lot of ID picture ID of Iranian akala he was a student at UCLA
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the suspect 25 year old Rodney akala had slipped through the officer's fingers when I
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kicked in the front door suspect went out the back door with Alcala in the wind former detective
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Steve Hodel was grasping at thin air but we kept coming up empty back then you know we didn't have a lot of the
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forensics you have today he was a snake charmer I went and talked to his professor at UCLA he says Rod Alcala
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wouldn't hurt anybody he's a great guy he truly believed that you know and a lot of people did
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[Music] thank you [Music] Rodney Alcala was born in San Antonio Texas in 1943. his father abandoned the
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family when he was young at 17 akala enlisted in the Army but there were problems allegations of sexual
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misconduct a nervous breakdown the Army discharged him the military realized in 1963 that they had him
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that he was a sexual deviant in 1969 the FBI put Rodney Alcala on its most wanted list
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but finding Alcala was going to be no simple matter I'll call after raping and almost
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killing tally Shapiro he fled to New York he made friends he he Charmed people he got into NYU Film School none
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of his fellow students suspected that their popular classmate had a double life which had the makings of a film
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itself a horror film three years after his attack on Tali Shapiro akala's Dark Side once again
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emerged foreign [Music] beautiful face she carried herself extremely sophisticatedly his next victim Cornelia
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Michael Crilley a 23 year old flight attendant for TWA I was living with her temporarily while she was getting her
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own apartment ready around the corner to share with another stewardess krilly had spent the day moving in when
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Borstein came home from work he was surprised to find her door locked and no one answered the phone when her
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boyfriend was trying to reach her and was unable the police came in the horrible scene
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prosecutor Melissa Moore just was struck by the Ferocious nature of the killing she had been stripped naked she was
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strangled with a nylon stocking and there was a bite mark on her breast well obviously the cause of death is
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strangulation she's bound she's held there's something stuffed in her mouth obviously keep it from screaming the
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police focused in on cornelia's murder but with almost 2 000 killings in New York in 1971 investigators could not
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close the case they had no real leads we didn't have the forensic tools that we have uh today so they did what they
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could but it never went anyplace and the case just went cold and it stayed cold for 40 years
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Rodney Alcala wasn't even a suspect after the murder he changed his name to John Berger and moved to New Hampshire
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he landed a job as a counselor at an arts and drama camp for girls there he made a lasting impression on the campers
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two girls went to their local post office and they looked and there was Rodney alcala's photo on the FBI 10 most
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wanted list they looked up and said oh my gosh that's Mr Burger they report it to the dean he calls the
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authorities they arrest him take him into custody I get a phone call from the FBI saying we've got your man in custody
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he's ready to be picked up police in California were eager to charge him for tally Shapiro's brutal assault but her
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family had left the country with no main witness prosecutors had no choice but to
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offer Alcala a deal plead guilty to a lesser charge of child molestation and register as a sex offender
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he took the deal but the judge's sentence stunned those working the case he received one year to life and the
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parole board let him go after 34 months after what he did to tally Shapiro so less than three years later Rodney
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Alcala was a free man again I I was flabbergasted to say the least it just amazed me
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and Alcala had no trouble Charming his way back into the swing of things he was hired by the Los Angeles Times to
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work as a typesetter he took photos at weddings and he was a registered sex offender during all of that and nobody
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ever checked even worse he was chosen to be a contestant on The Dating Game The Dating Game
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The Bachelor of its day what no one knew was that Rodney Alcala was already a serial killer please welcome Rodney
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Alcala from all outward appearances radial color was a handsome I'm called the banana and I'm looking really good
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charming smart young man well I like bananas so I'll take one number live that wouldn't hurt a fly the woman who
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won a date with him ended up backing out saying she found him creepy come on over
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here [Applause] probably saved her life others would not be so fortunate we'll never know how
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many women are lucky because every woman that crossed that guy's path was a potential victim
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[Music] it was 1977. Rodney Alcala was out of prison and living in New York bad news for the
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New York cops who already had their hands full a home-grown serial killer known as Son of Sam was terrorizing the
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city he struck again over the weekend the killer sixth victim police say they are nowhere near solving the case
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by this time the Cornelia Crilley case had been cold for six years with no suspects
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Rodney Alcala was only in the city a week before adding to the New York crime wave
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his next victim a 23-year-old musician and artist named Ellen hover Ellen was a sweet gentle soul
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Anita Feinberg and Ellen hover met as teenagers Ellen was a very dear college friend we roomed together for some time
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[Music] she never confused what she had with who she was Ellen hover came from a
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prominent Show Business family her father owned the famed Hollywood nightclub Ciro's her Godfathers were
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Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin her mom called me and said Anita have you heard from Ellen
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and I said no she said think hard nobody can find Alan and I didn't think anything of it until
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it hit the newspapers her family's high profile made the story Front Page News as the NYPD kept up the hunt for her
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that detective did a great job for missing person's case it was a lot of coals he did a lot of work a lot of
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legwork detectives thought they were on to something when they found an important clue in her apartment Ellen
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hover had marked on her calendar that she was going to see someone named John Berger on the date that she disappeared
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remember Alcala had been using the name John Berger but at the time the connection was never made
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her body wasn't found until a year later buried on the grounds of the Phillips Memorial Hospital in Westchester near
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the Rockefeller estate until they actually found her there was always a glimmer of hope
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once they found her body that was it Ellen's body was so decomposed police had to use dental records to identify
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her based on the autopsy they declared it a homicide there was a suspect in the murder a fellow that they
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believed was the last person that she was seen with could that fellow have been Alcala Ellen had written his Alias
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John Berger in her calendar Alcala meanwhile had left New York and was on his Meandering road trip back to
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California he was constantly in predatory mode that is behavior that involves hunting human
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beings and that's part of a serial sexual killer that is often as exciting as the actual homicide and sexual
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assault at the same time Rodney Alcala was on the road a 29 year old woman from Texas
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Christine Ruth Thornton was traveling through the West with her boyfriend her sister Kathy was 11 years younger Chris
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was a free spirit kind of gal so she always was up for anything in the spring of 1977 Christine was
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heading to Montana with her boyfriend to pan for gold and she had big news she let my mom know that she was going
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to be having a baby and then nothing more Was Heard Kathy immediately feared the worst Christine and her
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boyfriend had a stormy relationship she had been abused by him we knew that I always thought that he had done
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something to her soon after Christine disappeared Kathy began searching for answers she undertook a systematic
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effort to track Christine and her boyfriend's whereabouts that would last almost 40 years through marriage
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motherhood divorce and a career [Music] contacted police departments federal agencies hospitals and kept copies of
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every phone call and letter this was a letter I sent to the FBI I contacted the Department of Health and
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Human Services and they say a check at this address failed to reveal any contact with
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Christine Ruth Thornton the Social Security Administration contacted them asking if there was any
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employment record and there has never been any employment history [Music] you know I think the message was kind of
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clear everything was no we don't know we have nothing looking back through this it's like yeah
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it was staring me in the face she was not alive Kathy didn't know the name Rodney Alcala
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but one day she would [Music] it was the spring of 1979. Rodney Alcala had been back in California for almost
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two years and a 12 year old Robin samso was enjoying the Southern California beach
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life we just lived to to have fun Bridget wilvert was Robin's best friend everybody could be
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complaining about being bored and me and Robin would find ourselves doing cartwheels and back walkovers
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the other love of Robin's life was her mom Marianne she was probably the most loving child a
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mother could have everything she did she did to please me [Music] on June 20th 1979 Robin was going to
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start her first day of work answering phones at the ballet studio in exchange for lessons but first she planned to
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play on the beach for a few hours with Bridget I could definitely see a gentleman with dark hair
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I mean he he honed in on us like really like a like a shark in the water honing in on a seal and he goes can I take your
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girls pictures and Robin goes sure and all of a sudden out of nowhere pops up Jackie young my neighbor
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you know she goes Bridget is everything okay are you girls all right man he he took that camera turned his head down
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and you could almost see like smoke coming off his dress shoes he just he was gone
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Robin and Bridget turned to go back home and Robin had thrown her Beach towing everything into her bag and she's like
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well I'm gonna get going [Music] angle will take my bike and don't stop that was the last time anyone saw Robin
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alive [Music] Robin's ballet teacher called when she did not arrive for her lesson later that
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day her family immediately called 9-1-1 it was a probably the most horrifying time of all
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you know not knowing police continually questioned the one person they thought might know where Robin could have gone
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her best friend Bridget and I I said I go it was the man that man that took our picture
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on July 2nd 12 Days After Robin last said goodbye to her friend and wrote off on her bike detectives found the body of
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a child I said let's go see her he said we can't do that I said that's my baby of course
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I can see her why not he said because it took us three days to identify her I said what's wrong with you people how
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many little girls with long blonde hair disappeared that it took you three days he shook my shoulders
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and the tears were coming down his face too he says there was no hair a fire crew conducting routine fire
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prevention maintenance found Robin's remains in a remote location more than 40 miles from where she was last seen
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there were 12 days of the animals to scavenge Robin's Remains by the time the fire crew actually found her body she
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was just bones the pressure was on to find the killer Bridget's description resulted in this
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composite sketch which was released to the media all over Southern California his parole officer saw that and uh and
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called the detectives and said look there's a guy that used to be on my caseload you really need to take a look
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at him his name is Rodney Alcala it had been nearly 11 years since Alcala had left eight-year-old Tali Shapiro for
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dead but Alcala was easy to find this time he lived with his mother in Monterey Park a stone's throw from the
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mountains where Robbins remains were located they learned that he had no alibi that he nobody could account for
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his whereabouts at the time he was the perfect suspect Rodney Alcala was arrested on July 24th and charged with
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the kidnap and murder of Robin samso Detective Pat Ellis said Huntington Beach Police got an unexpected tip when
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alcoa's sister came to visit her brother in jail the conversation was being recorded on when he mentions him having
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a stores Locker in Seattle Washington the cops don't know about so do me a favor
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get the stuff out of there get it get it cleared out but what Alcala didn't know
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was that police had found a receipt for the locker during a search of his home at the time of his arrest they beat her
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there okay and then get inside there's the mother lode hundreds if not thousands of these of
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these different images and there are dozens upon dozens of these young women that in the in the pictures clearly are
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in positions of supreme vulnerability with Rodney I'll call him police learned Alcala had rented the
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storage facility and moved his belongings there nine days after Robin samso's remains were discovered buried
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under all this stuff was this tiny little silk bag filled with earrings Alcala claimed those were his earrings
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but when police showed the jewelry to Robin's mother she recognized a pair of gold ball studs that she said Robin
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often borrowed so at that point those are all the nuts and bolts that you need for a successful prosecution nearly one
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year after Robin samso's murder prosecutors were ready it was February 1980. Rodney Alcala went on trial over
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the course of two and a half months there were almost 50 witnesses that testified it was a very long very
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difficult case the jury convicted Alcala and sentenced him to death it's a poor exchange for my daughter's life but
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maybe it'll save someone else's by him being gone but the relief would be short-lived today in a five to one
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decision the California state Supreme Court ruled that Rodney Alcala did not receive a fair trial
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the jury had been improperly told about alcala's prior sex crimes including the attack on tally the decision would
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devastate Robin's mother but the ordeal was just beginning you know it is only one perpetrator
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that little Stone but the ripples keep going there's victims and victims and victims and victims
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the samso family was steadfast in the face of a second trial for the murder of Robin they demanded Justice he killed my
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child my child you know six years after the first verdict a clean-cut Rodney Alcala was convicted a
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second time and again the sentence was death we the jury find the defendant Rodney James Alcala guilty of the crime
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Authority Jeff that's the only penalty could ever be rendered in case such as this
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akala had been on San Quentin's death row since 1980. now with a second conviction and a second death sentence
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he was prepared to appeal all over again it was never really feeling safe that he was
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locked up because he always thought there was a chance to go free in 2001 22 years after he killed Robin
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samso a federal appeals court overturned Rodney alcala's sentence for a second time based on evidence he didn't get to
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present there would be a new trial for Alcala now in his 60s for Robin samso's family it was
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unbearable we've gone through a lot of hell because of that animal a lot of Hell a lot of hell
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the path to justice for Robin samso would take almost a decade more in New York City 39 years since the
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murder of Cornelia Crilley and 33 years since Ellen Hover was killed Cold Case detectives were finally able to identify
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Rodney Alcala as the killer of both women the strongest link was the fingerprint there was a letter
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that was lodged underneath Cornelia crilly's body and there was a fingerprint developed from the outside
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of that envelope which was unmatched for many years and finally through the FBI's
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database there was a match it was a significant piece of evidence but not enough standing alone equally
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incriminating was the evidence left on her body there was bite mark evidence where he had bitten her breast it's his
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his Dental impression is the one that's on her body and of course we looked at all of his other cases to see
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similarities in sexual murders he had committed he decided we had enough evidence
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in Ellen hover's case investigators now knew John Berger was Rodney Alcala and he had been seen near the Rockefeller
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Estates where her body was found I think she was abducted here in Manhattan and ultimately killed up there
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we had a witness who saw somebody who looked like Rodney Alcala at that time period with a woman who looked like
00:25:53
Ellen hover the man was carrying a camera bag just like Alcala did but the Manhattan prosecutors would have
00:26:02
to wait for California's third trial for Robin samso's murder in Orange County assistant D.A Matt Murphy was ready to
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go to court when there was a stunning development DNA linked Alcala to three Los Angeles
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murders Jill barkham Georgia wicksted and Charlotte lamb the killing of a fourth LA Woman Jill perento was also
00:26:30
tied to him right at that moment we realized that not only is Rodney Alcala a vicious murderer in our case but in
00:26:36
fact he is the serial killer that we always suspected him to be in a high Land school maneuver the cow the
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California prosecutors decide to try all five cases together a bizarre looking Rodney Alcala would
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serve as his own attorney on June the 20th 1979 Robin Sampson left Bridget Wilbert's apartment there is no better
00:27:02
Forum than to be center stage in court as your own attorney and you cross-examine the witnesses you're like
00:27:09
God in that courtroom Alcala even called Robin samso's mother to the stand it was
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one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life having him ask me questions desperate to impeach
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Marianne's character I'll call it confronted her about how during the first trial she had reportedly brought a
00:27:29
gun to court she didn't deny it I was going to shoot him right between the eyes if I could have gotten a shot at
00:27:34
him then she felt Robin's presence all of a sudden I smelled her shampoo and I felt this warmth in my hand and I
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couldn't get my hand out of my purse for the third time Robin samso's family waited as the jury decided Rodney
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alcala's fate this time there were four other families waiting with them one of the many things
00:28:02
that hurts me is that that was the last face she saw and that bothers me because
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he's so ugly and he's so evil when the jury reached a verdict it was a relief to the families who had been
00:28:15
waiting for justice for so long the samsos hoped that this would finally be the end
00:28:23
we the jury find the defendant Rodney James Alcala guilty of the crime of Murder in the First Degree victim Robin
00:28:31
C samso Roanoke owed absolutely 100 deserves to die for what he did in a separate
00:28:40
penalty phase the prosecution called to the stand a ghost from his past my name is Tali Shapiro
00:28:49
I'm one of Rodney akola's first victims and one of the only living victims they should have stopped with me why in the
00:29:00
world are there so many other victims when it was a known fact of what he did to me
00:29:05
Rodney Alcala addressing the same jury that convicted him of murder makes an unusual plea for clemency let me put the
00:29:14
death penalty in perspective for you if you desire to join in the killing of a human being you and the families of the
00:29:22
victims will have to wait at least 15 to 20 years while the case slowly churns through the Appellate process he wanted
00:29:30
to plan Arlo Guthrie's song Alice's Restaurant and there's a part in that song where he talks about wanting to
00:29:35
kill people and he played that incredibly for the jury foreign closing argument did not sway the jury
00:29:58
we the jury determined that the penalty to be imposed upon defendant Rodney James Alcala to be death
00:30:08
Rodney Alcala had been on death row for more than 30 years now convicted of five murders it was
00:30:16
unlikely he could win another appeal [Music] with the California cases settled the
00:30:26
New York prosecutors were ready for him but they were not expecting what would happen next he came back to New York in
00:30:33
June of 2012 and by December he pled guilty it was a surprise it was a surprise that
00:30:41
he pled guilty because he had denied um every crime he was ever accused of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance
00:30:51
Jr announced alcala's sentence two concurrent prison terms of 25 years to life for both families
00:31:01
who had lost all hope that these cases would ever be solved the please by Rodney Alcala and today's
00:31:08
sentencing brings closure to painful chapters in their lives the judge cried during the sentencing and Martha and I
00:31:18
have been in this business for over 35 years each and I've never seen a judge cry during a sentencing
00:31:26
as was agreed upon Alcala was returned to San Quentin's death row I got a telephone call from Robin samso's mother
00:31:35
and she said she was so grateful um that we were doing this it's such a comfort to know that regardless of what
00:31:44
might happen to the California cases if for some reason he should get out he's coming back to New York and he's going
00:31:50
to serve 25 to life both the New York and California prosecutors are haunted by the question
00:31:58
are there other victims out there he crisscrossed the country west coast East Coast East Coast West Coast crossed
00:32:06
through a lot of states and I'm sure there are victims in those States they just have to be found how come she
00:32:14
hasn't contacted us [Music] her thank you Rodney Alcala had been convicted of seven murders and was facing five
00:32:33
separate death penalties Kathy Thornton who had spent the last 39 years trying to track down her missing
00:32:41
Sister Christine had never heard of Alcala but her son did it would change Kathy's Quest forever the killing game
00:32:51
tonight's 48 Hours mystery in 2013 Kathy's son had watched a 48-hour story on Alcala that led him to its website
00:33:01
and a series of photos taken by Alcala of unidentified women I got an email from my son that said I
00:33:10
saw these pictures take a look if you'd like Kathy scrolled through the images she kept stopping at one of them a
00:33:19
picture of a beautiful woman on the back of a motorcycle I said yeah that sure looks like Chris and then I saw her
00:33:26
little toe her baby toe and that's one thing I always remembered about Chris was her little baby toe
00:33:34
was different it hooked I just saw that tone I said oh yeah that's Chris Googling the name Rodney Alcala Kathy's
00:33:44
heart almost stopped Kathy now believed her sister had been traveling with a notorious serial killer
00:33:52
fearing the worst but still wanting answers Kathy submitted her own DNA to a National Database of missing persons if
00:34:01
her sister's DNA was ever submitted they could be matched [Music] hundreds of miles away Jeff sheeman a
00:34:12
Wyoming detective was working on a very tough cold case they referred to my case
00:34:18
as Granger Greta because it was an unidentified female that was found in Granger Wyoming back in 1982.
00:34:26
there were a lot of aerial photos and photos from the scene when the body was found it was a desolate area County
00:34:33
prosecutor Daniel aramaspi recalled his predecessors had tried everything to help identify the victim the skull was
00:34:41
intact and so the Wyoming State Crime Lab was able to have an artist come in and use this skull as a form of of
00:34:50
recreating what this victim looked like [Music] more than 30 years had passed without a
00:35:03
lead all shemen could do was study the old files with a new set of eyes the bones were found next to clothing
00:35:12
the bones had been pulled apart presumably by scavengers animals she'd been out there about five to six years
00:35:20
it was the body of a 25 to 35 year old female they also told investigators at that
00:35:26
time that she was also approximately six months pregnant when he found saved skin tissue and Bone fragments and
00:35:39
all we got to do is get the ball rolling with send it to the proper authorities to start processing it for any DNA
00:35:46
specifically mitochondrial DNA that's DNA from the mother's side of the family siblings would be revealed as a match I
00:35:54
honestly thought I would be 10 20 years retired before I'd even receive a phone call saying they had identified her less
00:36:00
than a year later Jeff got the miraculous news there was a match between Kathy Thornton and the
00:36:07
unidentified bones I believe there was a lot of luck that went into it that went
00:36:12
into this whole case I believe that's what solved it it's a lot of luck after 39 years of searching Kathy found
00:36:18
Christine her hunt was finally over and the story of what happened to her sister began to unravel during the
00:36:27
summer of 1977 Christine split with her boyfriend and had the tragic Misfortune of meeting Rodney Alcala their trip
00:36:36
through the lonely Granger Prairie would be Christine's Last Ride when you see that photo there's no doubt
00:36:45
that she was having fun I think she just had no clue what he's he was thinking what he was capable of doing
00:36:56
so I think you're happy I'm until the point where you're not and at that point there was no no Escape
00:37:05
where would she go [Music] the location where the photo was taken to the location where Christine's
00:37:15
remains were found were Within probably just a few yards of each other I believe that Rodney Alcala killed
00:37:25
Christine Thornton shortly after that photograph was taken but before he would indict Alcala for
00:37:31
Chris Thornton's murder prosecutor era mospe wanted to interview him [Music] September 2016 he flew with the two
00:37:44
detectives to California frail and in ill health Rodney Alcala had been moved from San Quentin to the
00:37:52
medical unit of Corcoran prison outside of Fresno when we first arrived at Corcoran we talked to some of the
00:37:59
security staff they said that he was borderline dementia whatever his condition he was still being treated
00:38:08
like the dangerous serial killer that he was we went through numerous doors numerous gates to this
00:38:15
peach colored prison cell that looked like something off of a horror movie paints coming off
00:38:22
the walls flies buzzing around alcohol is on a bed facing a wall his feet were sticking out from underneath the sheets
00:38:30
and you know he had long toenails we started pulling out photographs of the crime scene
00:38:37
he took two seconds to look at that photo and he said I know that area that's my area how Alcala
00:38:43
reacted to Christine's photograph was something the detectives will never forget it almost clicked like that with
00:38:51
him and you could almost tell that he was reliving that day eventually he took the photograph set it
00:39:00
on his lap and he uses index finger and just started tracing her body tracing her
00:39:06
body for probably five minutes and eventually he sat the paper down flat and he started tapping
00:39:16
tapping on the photograph of Christine right over Christine's body just tap in the photograph
00:39:22
and eventually the tapping got louder I got louder he eventually looked at me as he kept
00:39:28
tapping on the photograph and at that point I I honestly thought he would provide us more information about
00:39:34
Christine it was a game despite his age his infirmity his close to 40 years behind
00:39:41
bars Alcala was still the master manipulator he'd always been he was very even Keel very the only time he would
00:39:50
show any type of of fervor in his voice would be when we would Point Blank ask him did you kill her and he would say no
00:39:58
no you're crazy you're stupid and then when I asked him was she alive when you left her
00:40:09
and he said yes she was alive when I left that's all the prosecutor really needed to hear the fact that he admitted
00:40:17
he was there just cinched it for me if he could deny killing her all he wants but the fact that he admitted is as far
00:40:25
as I'm concerned is a confession I decided to charge him with first degree murder
00:40:30
there would be no extradition to Wyoming he's been in prison since 1979. why should we give him a trip
00:40:39
a good place for Mr Alcala is in the the bed we left him in so Alcala was never tried for
00:40:47
Christine's murder but Kathy Thornton has finally learned what happened to her sister
00:40:54
along with seven other families she has the answer to the question none of them ever wanted to ask
00:41:03
how many others are there that you know did did the same thing Chris did I honestly believe in my mind in my
00:41:11
heart that that there's going to be other victims seeing how arrogant he is knowing how
00:41:20
uh Charming he apparently was back in the day and knowing how smart he is I wouldn't doubt it if there's 150 maybe
00:41:28
even 200 victims out there I'm hoping that with this being back in the news that
00:41:36
someone might recognize someone in one of those photos like we did foreign [Music]
00:42:04
[Music] [Music] thank you