Rodney Alcala, the ‘Dating Game’ contestant on California’s death row for the decades-old murders of four women and a 12-year-old girl, is now facing charges in the killings of two New York City women in the 1970s, MSNBC is reporting. He was scheduled to be arraigned today for the deaths of Trans World Airlines flight attendant Cornelia Crilley and aspiring researher Ellen Hover.
After an indictment was issued last year, and 18 months working on securing extradition, Alcala arrived yesterday in New York City. He was placed in police custody upon arrival.
The indictment came after the Manhattan district attorney’s cold-case unit re-examined the case. They looked at evidence that emerged during Alcala’s trial in California, and also conducted new interviews with more than 100 witnesses.
Authorities in California said they received hundreds of tips after releasing pictures in Alcala’s case. “Each new lead brought us closer to we are today,” District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said when Alcala was indicted.
Alcala, who has been in jail since his 1979 arrest in one of the California killings, had been a suspect in Crilley’s death for at least several years. A forensic dentist even found that a bite mark on Crilley’s body was consistent with Alcala’s dental impression.
Written by: Karen Benardello
