Post by elantric on Aug 1, 2020 14:00:35 GMT -6
Rodney Alacala TIMELINE
maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Alcala.%20Rodney%20_2012_.pdf
www.nndb.com/people/712/000355644/
groovyhistory.com/dating-game-killer-rodney-alcala
The Story Of Rodney Alcala, The Charming 'Dating Game Killer'
March 30, 2019
Bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala on 'The Dating Game' in 1978. Source: YouTube.
Rodney Alcala, the "Dating Game killer," is known to many as the killer who appeared on The Dating Game. Unfortunately, there's much more to the story -- Alcala is one of the deadliest serial killers in American history, and the Dating Game appearance is really just a footnote to a gruesome legacy. When he appeared on The Dating Game, Alcala had been sought by the FBI, arrested numerous times for violent crimes against women, and had actually served jail time in California. The fact that he was able to get onto a game show is a chilling reminder of how difficult it was to track truly dangerous individuals before criminal records were digitally stored and networked.
Rodney Alcala had already killed four people -- at least four people -- when he appeared on The Dating Game. He was a handsome, charming guy who posed as a fashion photographer. No one knows for sure how many people Alcala killed, but authorities estimate the number to be 130.
The Warning Signs
Rodney Alcala during his Army stint. Source: (youtube.com)
The specifics of Alcala’s childhood are unknown. He was born in 1943 in Texas and his given name was Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor. When he was very young, the family moved to Mexico. When Alcala was eleven-years-old, his father abandoned the family and his mother moved the family to Los Angeles. At 17 years old, Alcala enlisted in the Army and performed the services of a clerk for four years when he went AWOL and surprised his mother with his appearance at her home in L.A. During his time in the Army, Alcala had been accused of sexual misconduct. He was examined by a military psychologist who diagnosed him with an antisocial personality disorder and was discharged on medical grounds.
The First Victim: The One That Survived
Photo of Tali Shapiro at the age of eight. This is Rodney Alcala’s first known victim. Source: (cbsnews.com)
The first known crime committed by Rodney Alcala occurred in 1968 in Hollywood, California. Tali Shapiro, an eight-year-old girl, was walking to school when Alcala spotted her and lured her into his car. At one of Alcala’s trials, Shapiro recounted what she could remember. She said she was suspicious of him at first but he said that he was a friend of her parents and wanted to show her a picture. Once she got in his car, he took her to his apartment. Shapiro doesn’t remember the actual attack, which is fortunate for her. Thankfully someone saw her get into the car and became concerned that the car had no license plates. The witness followed the car and called the police to give them the location.
When the police arrived, they were horrified. Alcala was still at the apartment when the officers knocked on the door. Alcala stalled but the officers kicked in the door. They saw Tali Shapiro lying naked in a pool of blood. Officer Chris Camacho said, “I will always remember that face at that door, very evil face.” Alcala had raped and beaten Tali with a metal bar. He escaped out the back door. Shapiro recovered from her attack and remains the only victim to survive. Because Alcala escaped, the Shapiro family were afraid he would come back, so they moved out of the country.
The FBI’s Most Wanted List
The FBI wanted poster for Rodney Alcala. Source: (CBS News)
After the attack of Tali Shapiro, Rodney Alcala was put on the FBI’s most wanted list. Unbeknownst to authorities, Alcala left California for the east coast and changed his name to John Berger. It was much easier to do something like this in the seventies, as background checks were limited. Alcala was able to live as John Berger for years. As John Berger, Alcala went to NYU film school and studied under Roman Polanski. It was in Manhattan that he committed his first known murder.
In 1971, Cornelia Crilley was found in her apartment, strangled to death. This case would go unsolved for almost 40 years. A fingerprint found at the scene was positively matched to Alcala in 2010. After he murdered Crilley, he moved to New Hampshire and began working as a counselor at a summer camp. Three years after he attacked Tali Shapiro, someone recognized him. Two of the girls at the camp saw the FBI wanted poster at the post office and turned Alcala in. He was arrested and sent back to California. Alcala would now be prosecuted for the attack of Shapiro. The prosecution was at a disadvantage because the Shapiro family had moved to Mexico and Tali’s parents refused to allow their daughter to testify. Without her, the prosecution was finding it difficult to get him convicted of attempted murder.
Alcala pleaded guilty to assault and served just under two years before he was paroled. Two months after his release, Alcala raped a thirteen-year-old on her way to school. He was caught and sent back to prison for another two years when he was paroled again.
'The Dating Game'
Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala during their appearance on The Dating Game. Source: (youtube.com)
Alcala worked for a time at the Los Angeles Times as a typesetter, and claimed to be a photographer. He used his photography business to lure victims back to his home to "model" for him. He took thousands of pictures, many nudes, all of women and teen boys and girls.
In 1978, Alcala appeared on the television show The Dating Game. He already had a record of rape and assault right there in California, so it is astounding to think they put him on the show. He was quite charming, though, and no one ever checked his background -- and he actually won the game. The bachelorette was Cheryl Bradshaw, and though he won her over while they were on camera, she never actually went out with him.
Once the cameras were off, his true personality showed through. When Bradshaw spoke with him backstage, she found him “creepy” and refused to go on the date. One of the other bachelors who appeared with Alcala, Jed Mills, has recalled that Alcala was, “very obnoxious and creepy. He became very unlikeable and rude as though he was trying to intimidate. He was a standout creepy guy in my life.”
The Law Finally Catches Up
Photos of Alcala’s victim, Robin Samsoe. Source: (ktla.com)
Alcala's Dating Game appearance had occurred i 1978; in 1979, he was on the beach in Huntington Beach, California, when he approached 12-year-old Robin Samsoe and her friend Bridgette. Alcala ran off when a neighbor walked over to see what was going on. When Robin left her friend to go to dance class, it was the last time she was seen alive. She never made it to dance class. Her body was found twelve days after she disappeared, forty miles away.
Samsoe’s friend was able to give a description of the strange man who had approached them at the beach. The drawing was sent out to police stations, Alcala’s parole officer saw it and recognized him, and Alcala was arrested. While he was in jail, Alcala’s sister came to visit. Police were listening in on the conversation when Alcala asked his sister to clear out a locker he had in Seattle.
The police got there before she did and found a cache of photos he had taken over the years. The photos were graphic and disturbing. They also found a bag of women’s earrings. Samsoe’s mother identified one of the pairs of earrings as the ones her daughter was wearing on the day she disappeared. Alcala was found guilty of Samsoe’s murder and sentenced to death.
The Wheels Of Justice Turn Slowly
The mug shot of Rodney Alcala. Source: (pinterest.com)
Rodney Alcala appealed the conviction and won. The California Supreme Court sided with Alcala ruling that the jurors had been influenced by his earlier crimes. Alcala went on trial for the second time and was again convicted of the murder of Robin Samsoe. He was sentenced to death, again. And again, Alcala appealed and he won his appeal. It was now 2001, twenty-two years since he murdered Samsoe. The Samsoe family was gearing up for another trial when there was a development in the case. Alcala’s DNA was a positive match for four murders that occurred in the seventies. A judge granted the prosecution's motion to merge all five cases into one trial.
Justice Finally Served
Rodney Alcala at this third trial. Source: (historicmysteries.com)
Alcala’s third trial began in 2010. This time, the prosecution had DNA proof to link him to the victims. They were also able to show a pattern to his killing. The prosecutors said that Alcala played with his victims, almost killing them several times before raping them and finally strangling them. He also posed his victims in disgusting positions and he kept ‘trophies’ of his victims -- the bag of earrings authorities found in his Seattle locker. Alcala represented himself at the trial. He questioned himself for five hours, using a different voice when asking questions. He called the mother of Robin Samsoe to the stand trying to make her look bad to the jurors. Samsoe’s mother called this interaction, "one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life." Rodney Alcala was once and for all found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Alcala’s first known victim, Tali Shapiro testified at this trial.
While Alcala is in prison awaiting execution, his story is still not over. DNA technology has connected him to more murders. Alcala pleaded guilty to the murders of Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hoover, the women he killed in Manhattan. Using the photographs Alcala took, authorities are sure more victims will be linked to him.
RODNEY ALCALA
maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Alcala.%20Rodney%20_2012_.pdf
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Bob Buquor (1933-1966)- (Rodney Alacala's extended family?) was responsible for AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY for many episodes of RIPCORD TV Series (1961-63)
Beach Blanket Bingo Movie
ABC Wide world of Sports
Worked at Pacific Airmotive Corporation (PAC) in Burbank (closed in 1994)
www.starcrestawards.com/history/history_bob_buquor_who_was_he.html
all-aero.com/index.php/69-manufacturers/manufacturers-n-z/7564-pacific-airmotive-corp
skydivingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/inductee/bob-buquor
Bob Buquor, C-450, is one of skydiving’s earliest camera flyers. He played a major role in the beginnings of star formation relative work. Buquor photographed the first 8-man, was a cameraman on the early TV series, “Ripcord” bringing skydiving into thousands of homes across the country. In 1964, Buquor covered the World Parachuting Championships in Germany for ABC-TV; in 1965, he filmed one of the most dangerous stunts in the history of skydiving: Rod Pack’s infamous chute less jump in Arvin, California which Life magazine published a photo. The Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest Award is named in his honor. Buquor drowned in 1966 in the ocean off Malibu Beach while filming a stunt sequence for a Hollywood movie.
The jump was an expensive re-shoot of a weeks worth of filming rejected by the studio. Leigh Hunt had contracted the skydiving sequences from MGM and decided to film it all without being able to watch the daily takes because the daily viewing rooms were full from the (Academy Award winning) Doctor Zhivago shooting. Bob was more concerned with saving the film, than he was for his own safety and drowned as a result. He was found with the camera in his hands and most of the footage was salvaged and used in the film. When he died Bob was 33, had been jumping for eight years, and had 990 jumps.
www.starcrestawards.com/history/history_bob_buquor_who_was_he.html
www.starcrestawards.com/history/history_bob_buquor_free_fall_photographer.html
Bob Buquor exists the Cessna with his early camera equpment.
Photo: Ralph White.
On week-ends, Bob Buquor was working on three, four, etc. man star jumps with the "fun jumpers" over Taft, Lancaster, and Arvin. Bob also went to Fresno with us to cover the U.S. team training. We did a couple of commercials. And we were able to send Bob to Germany to cover the world parachuting championships for ABC Wide World of Sports.
Leigh Hunt secured a contract to do the skydiving stunt work and filming over Malibu beach for the MGM feature film, "Don't Make Waves" in July 1966. The script called for a jumper doubling as Tony Curtis (Leigh Hunt) and a jumper doubling as Sharon Tate (Ron Simmons for the first 5 jumps and Jim Dann for the second 5 jumps) to do an incredible stunt in ten sequences that were to be edited together. Leigh was to land in the ocean and I was to land on the beach. Bob filmed our exits from an AT-6 chase plane, spiraling down for further footage. The problem on our fist jump was that the wind came in from low over the ocean, hit the nearby mountains, curled over, and blew back out to sea at about the 1,000 to 2,000 foot altitude. We had one safety boat for two jumpers. With Leigh making intentional water landings, the boat picked Leigh up first.
After a filmed stunt sequence with Buquor and Hunt, author Ron Simmons lands his new Para-Commander ParaChute on the movie set at Malibu Beach.
I spent some anxious time in the water before the boat reached me and the guys pulled me on board. We corrected for the wind problem, and I was able to land on the beach during the second and third days of filming. With my part over, I was back on duty at the fire station on the day that Bob was killed. Bob, Jim, and Leigh all jumped on the fatal day. All three jumpers landed in the ocean. It appears that a wind situation similar to the one that we encountered the first day caught Bob unprepared. He entered the water much closer to the beach than I did. Perhaps Bob thought that he would make it to shore. We will never know. Bob had taken off his camera helmet and put it in a plastic bag, holding it in his hands. It was a tragic accident. The studio retrieved the camera and was able to process the film and use it the movie. Sharon Tate was murdered not long after that and Tony Curtis was at a point where his career was winding down. Jumping was no longer fun for me, and I took up skiing and flying. I retired as Fire Chief of Hermosa Beach, and am currently selling real estate in the Kansas City area.
www.starcrestawards.com/history/history_bob_buquor_free_fall_photographer.html
Buquor drowned off of the Malibu coast in 1966 during the filming of the skydiving footage for the film Don't Make Waves (1967).
After his death, the Star Crest Awards were established in his memory. These are a series of skydiving awards which are earned by participating in a free fall formation of eight or more jumpers.here
After his death, the Star Crest Awards were established in his memory. These are a series of skydiving awards which are earned by participating in a free fall formation of eight or more jumpers.here
www.imdb.com/name/nm1849784/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm
Bob Buquor Memorial
www.starcrestawards.com/home/
The Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest skydiving awards were initiated in 1967 by Bill Newell as a tribute to a friend and mentor, the late Robert H. Buquor. Buquor was one of the best early freefall photographers, and he pioneered structured relative work known as "star formations". It was these early freefall formations that led the way to "mega" formations, sequential RW and most of the other forms of relative work being practiced today.
See the stunt where Bob H Buquor drowns upon landing while filming stunt doubles for Sharon Tate / Tony Curtis - during a Parachute Jump Scene over Malibu in 1966 at 1:09:14 in "Dont Make Waves" Movie - here:
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dont+make+waves&qft=+filterui%3aduration-long&view=detail&mid=183C13E4E2CC404918D5183C13E4E2CC404918D5&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3F%26q%3Ddont%2Bmake%2Bwaves%26qft%3D%2Bfilterui%3Aduration-long%26FORM%3DVRFLTR
(Filmed at same Malibu locations as "Dont Make Waves"
www.dropzone.com/forums/topic/55697-re:-%5Bbigun%5D-skydiving-history---by-dr.-eco/
Dr ECO wrote>
Note: Bob was a good swimmer and would not have drowned if he would have dumped his helmet with a large 35mm movie camera mounted on it and the large heavy battery pack attached to his waist. But good jumpers never dropped ripcords handles or dump large expensive cameras in the ocean.
The camera and battery pack were recovered along with Bob's body.
www.scr-awards.com/
Star Crest Awards See below for all Star Crest Awards
www.scr-awards.com/bbmsc_the_beginning.html
Note: Bob was a good swimmer and would not have drowned if he would have dumped his helmet with a large 35mm movie camera mounted on it and the large heavy battery pack attached to his waist. But good jumpers never dropped ripcords handles or dump large expensive cameras in the ocean.
The camera and battery pack were recovered along with Bob's body.
www.scr-awards.com/
Star Crest Awards See below for all Star Crest Awards
www.scr-awards.com/bbmsc_the_beginning.html
www.dropzone.com/forums/topic/56508-arvin/
www.dropzone.com/forums/topic/55697-re:-[bigun]-skydiving-history---by-dr.-eco/
( Possibly Rodney Alacala's Cousin?)
Finis-P wrote>
Bob Buquor was my father. I am always happy to read about him and would like to talk to his old friends.
Hi FinisP,
I met your father in November of 1964 when a guy in a bar invited me to jump into a place called Arvin. Jim Dann was on that three-jumper load out of Flying Tigers in Burbank. Jim worked with Bob at Pacific Airmotive Corporation (PAC) near Lockheed and was one of his skydiving students.
As you know, your father was the driving force behind organizing and filming larger and larger freefall formations at Arvin. Most of us tried to get good enough to be invited on Bob's camera jumps. If we didn't get on "The Good Load" we'd put together the best one we could and try to get a hookup going. Everybody was "under the microscope" so if someone "bombed" a star, Bob Buquor knew about it within minutes. Of the hundreds of early jumps made at Arvin only a few were successfully executed as planned. Many ended in awkward ragtag "no touches" or misshapen formations collapsing into violent whirlpools of twisting bodies and swinging boots.
Most chaotic weekends would be salvaged on Sunday evening with what evolved into a traditional four-man dusk jump out of Dave Keagey's 195 from 5500 or 6500 ft. I would exit first, Bill Newell would pin me and then Jim Dann and your father would smoothly complete the formation with smiles all around as the sun disappeared into the ocean.
I remember visiting your dad one evening in his trailer in the San Fernando Valley. It was early in my career and I rode along with Bob Thompson (first six-man) who went to pick up some jump photos from Bob. I found Bob to be a really personable guy.
I don't know if it was you or your sister that Brian Williams introduced me to at the restaurant following Bill Newell's funeral service but I have more stories if you're interested. Here's a picture of your dad I got recently from Tim Harris.
Al Paradowski
I met your father in November of 1964 when a guy in a bar invited me to jump into a place called Arvin. Jim Dann was on that three-jumper load out of Flying Tigers in Burbank. Jim worked with Bob at Pacific Airmotive Corporation (PAC) near Lockheed and was one of his skydiving students.
As you know, your father was the driving force behind organizing and filming larger and larger freefall formations at Arvin. Most of us tried to get good enough to be invited on Bob's camera jumps. If we didn't get on "The Good Load" we'd put together the best one we could and try to get a hookup going. Everybody was "under the microscope" so if someone "bombed" a star, Bob Buquor knew about it within minutes. Of the hundreds of early jumps made at Arvin only a few were successfully executed as planned. Many ended in awkward ragtag "no touches" or misshapen formations collapsing into violent whirlpools of twisting bodies and swinging boots.
Most chaotic weekends would be salvaged on Sunday evening with what evolved into a traditional four-man dusk jump out of Dave Keagey's 195 from 5500 or 6500 ft. I would exit first, Bill Newell would pin me and then Jim Dann and your father would smoothly complete the formation with smiles all around as the sun disappeared into the ocean.
I remember visiting your dad one evening in his trailer in the San Fernando Valley. It was early in my career and I rode along with Bob Thompson (first six-man) who went to pick up some jump photos from Bob. I found Bob to be a really personable guy.
I don't know if it was you or your sister that Brian Williams introduced me to at the restaurant following Bill Newell's funeral service but I have more stories if you're interested. Here's a picture of your dad I got recently from Tim Harris.
Al Paradowski
Father Alcala Raul Buquor
www.cagenweb.org/tulare/obits/tcobita.htm
medium.com/citizen-truth/remembering-sharon-tate-9c0e49b9528a
Tate as Malibu was the inspiration for the insanely-popular Malibu Barbie which sells 58 million units annually. Tate replaced Julie Newmar who had a scheduling conflict. While the relatively-happy atmosphere on set was shattered when young stuntman Bob Buquor died while doing the necessary skydiving to help bring Tate’s character to life. This affected her state of mind for some time.
catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23713
On 27 Jul 1966, just a few weeks into production, skydiving photographer Bob Buquor died while performing a stunt to record footage of skydivers Leigh Hunt and James Dann, who were doubling for actors. According to an LAT report two days later, Buquor was expected to touch down on land, but was carried out to sea by a gust of wind and drowned due to the weight of his 35mm camera equipment. His body was recovered the following afternoon, some 225 yards offshore.
catalog.afi.com/Person/22455-Bob-Buquor
BEACH BLANKET BINGO
Principal photography began 30 Nov 1964 in Hollywood, CA. A 13 Dec 1964 NYT article reported that beach exteriors were filmed at the Leo Carrillo State Park north of Malibu. The 18 Aug 1965 Var acknowledged the use of a helmet equipped with a 35m camera provided by Alan Gordon Enterprises, Inc., which stunt diver Bob Buquor used to film the skydiving sequences.
catalog.afi.com/Film/18528-BEACH-BLANKET-BINGO?cxt=filmography
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