SERIAL KILLER RODNEY ALCALA SENTENCED TO DEATH

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A judge today sentenced 66 year old serial killer Rodney Alcala to death for the stranglingand beating deaths of four women and a 12 year old girl in the 1970s.  He was convicted lastmonth of five counts of first degree murder.  After the verdict, authorities released morethan 100 photos of young women and girls found in Alcala's possession in hopes of linking him toother unsolved murders around the country. Alcala has been sentenced to death twice before the 1979murder of young Robin Samsoe, but those verdicts were overturned on appeal.  Samsoe, 12,disappeared on June 20, 1979, while riding a friend's bike to ballet class in Huntington Beach inOrange County.  Her body was found 12 days later in the Angeles National Forest, where it hadbeen mutilated by wild animals.  He was first tried in Samsoe's murder in 1980. Prosecutors added the murders of the four women after investigators discovered forensic evidencelinking him to those crimes, including DNA found on three of the women, a bloody hand print andmarker testing done on blood Alcala left on a towel in the fourth victim's home.  The juryconvicted Alcala of the murders on February 25 and also found true special circumstance allegationsof rape, torture and kidnapping, making him eligible for the death penalty.  In addition toSamsoe, Alcala is charged with killing Jill Barcomb, 18; Georgia Wixted, 27; Charlotte Lamb, 32;and Jill Parenteau, 21.
(Santa Ana, California)