Cross-examination to begin for Calif. man representing self in serial murder trial

Cross-examination begins for serial murder suspect

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A man representing himself in a serial murder trial in Southern California has finished presenting his case to jurors, culminating with a video clip of himself from an episode of “The Dating Game” that he claims proves his innocence.

Rodney James Alcala, 66, could face the death penalty if convicted of the killings of a 12-year-old girl and four women in the 1970s. Prosecutors will begin their cross-examination Wednesday.

He wrapped up his defense by playing a clip from “The Dating Game” that he won in 1978 in an attempt to prove his innocence in the killing of Robin Samsoe of Huntington Beach, in Orange County.

Prosecutors found a pair of gold ball earrings they believe belonged to the 12-year-old Samsoe in a Seattle storage locker rented by Alcala.

Alcala told jurors they could see a flash of the earrings in his double-pierced left ear as he gives the game show’s signoff salute.

Alcala said the clip proves he owned the earrings almost a year before Samsoe’s disappearance on June 20, 1979. In the segment, he can be seen dancing to the closing music while wearing a black bell-bottom pantsuit and open-necked white shirt.

During an often bizarre day of testimony Tuesday, the defendant referred to himself as Mr. Alcala as he posed questions and then responded with long and sometimes rambling answers.

Alcala, a photographer and UCLA undergraduate with a purported IQ between 160 and 170, has been sentenced to death twice for Samsoe’s slaying, but both convictions were overturned.

He was charged with killing four Los Angeles County women between 1977 and 1979 after prosecutors alleged DNA testing in 2005 linked him to those crimes. It’s the first time Alcala has been tried in those cases.

He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and denied special circumstance allegations of murder in the commission of rape, torture and burglary.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno rejected Alcala’s bid at self-representation, but an appeals court ruled it was his constitutional right.

Samsoe disappeared while riding her friend’s bike to a ballet class in Huntington Beach in Orange County. Her body was found 12 days later in Angeles National Forest. Investigators were not able to determine the cause of death or if she had been sexually assaulted because of the condition of the remains.

Alcala maintains he was at an amusement park applying for a photo job when Samsoe was killed.

During the monthlong trial, he has focused almost entirely on Samsoe and told the judge he would not testify about the other four murders when he took the stand Tuesday.

All the adult victims in the case were raped and strangled — some so forcefully that the blood vessels in their eyes burst and bones in their throat and jaw broke, prosecutors have said.

Alcala’s first conviction in the Samsoe case was overturned after the state Supreme Court found that allowing evidence about Alcala’s previous record of rape and assault on young girls improperly prejudiced the jury.

His second conviction was overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that his attorneys hadn’t presented evidence of an alibi or developed other evidence.

In addition to Samsoe, Alcala is charged with killing Jill Barcomb, 18, who had just moved to Los Angeles from Oneida, N.Y.; Georgia Wixted, 27, of Malibu; Charlotte Lamb, 32, of Santa Monica; and Jill Parenteau, 21, of Burbank.