Thursday, January 27, 2011

Serial Killer Indicted in Cold-Case Murders

A serial killer on death row in California for the murder of a 12-year-old girl and four other women, incarcerated since 1980, has been indicted for the murder of two New York women: Cornelia Michel Crilley in 1971 and Ellen Jane Hover in 1978. Both women were 23 years old at the time of their deaths.

In a creepy twist, the suspect, 67-year-old Rodney Alcala (photo, above, via the New York Post) had appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game in the late '70s ~ and he won. However, the woman ultimately decided not to go on a date with him ~ she found him "too creepy," according to New York magazine. At the time he appeared on the show, he had already committed two murders.
Alcala, a photographer, used an alias of John Berger when he lived in New York, according to the New York Times article by Mosi Secret. The New York Daily News indicates that Alcala studied film with Roman Polanski and had a genius IQ.

The New York Daily News has a collection of 215 photos taken by Alcala in the '7os, in which NYPD is looking for clues from the public. Anyone with information about the photos is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS.
On this Thank-a-cop-Thursday (#tacop on Twitter), I'd like to thank the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., and his cold case squad who didn't give up on the murders of Ellen Jane Hover and Cornelia Michel Crilley. Thanks to Detectives Wendell Stradford, Robert Dewhurst, and (retired) Stefano Braccini for their efforts.

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