Calif. serial killer apologizes to woman who survived molestation 50 years ago

Calif. serial killer apologizes to attack survivor

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Convicted California serial killer Rodney Alcala apologized Tuesday to a woman who was 8 years old when he beat and molested her then left her for dead more than 50 years ago.

“I sincerely regret the harm I caused you and I apologize for my despicable behavior,” Alcala said as he cross-examined the woman who testified for the prosecution as the penalty phase of Alcala’s murder trial got under way.

Alcala, 66, was convicted Thursday of murdering a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl and four women in Los Angeles County in the late 1970s. Orange County Superior Court jurors found special-circumstance allegations of rape, torture and kidnapping.

The same jury must now decide whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Alcala, a former photographer and one-time contestant on TV’s “The Dating Game,” is acting as his own attorney.

Prosecutors presented evidence Tuesday about his criminal record that they were unable to use during the earlier phase of his trial.

The woman who testified about being attacked said she was walking to school in Hollywood on Sept. 25, 1968 when Alcala asked her if she wanted a ride.

“I told him I wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers,” she said.

She said Alcala replied, “It’s OK, I know your family” and lured her into his car by promising to show her a pretty picture.

Former Los Angeles police Officer Chris Camacho testified that someone who saw the girl get into the car became suspicious, followed them and used a pay phone to call police.

Camacho said he knocked on the door of Alcala’s apartment and threatened to break it down unless it was opened. He testified that an excited Alcala, who seemed to be naked, peered through the window blinds, saying he had been in the shower and had to go put on some clothes.

After a few moments, Camacho kicked in the door and saw the girl lying naked on the floor, surrounded by blood and with a metal bar on her neck.

“I thought (the girl) was dead, because she was not breathing,” Camacho said.

The woman testified that Alcala knocked her out with the pipe, and she remembered little except being taken to a hospital. Her head had been split open. She said she was hospitalized for several weeks and still has emotional scars.

“Trusting people? Forget about it,” she testified.

Alcala, who fled through a back door, was arrested in 1971 in New Hampshire. He pleaded guilty to child molestation and spent two years and four months in prison.

Reporters asked the woman later if Alcala’s apology had moved her.

“Hell no,” she said. “He apologized because he got caught.”

The woman believes Alcala should get the death penalty.

“The fact that this guy is still alive is amazing,” she said.

Alcala was convicted of killing 12-year-old Robin Samsoe of Huntington Beach. He was convicted twice before of the crime and sentenced to death but the convictions were overturned.

Alcala also was convicted of murdering Jill Barcomb, 18; Georgia Wixted, 27; Charlotte Lamb, 32, and Jill Parenteau, 21, in Los Angeles County in 1978 and 1979.