| For Immediate Release Case # C-42861
March 30, 2010 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
SERIAL MURDERER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING-MURDER OF 12-YEAR-OLD ORANGE COUNTY GIRL AND SEXUAL ASSAULT-MURDERS OF FOUR LOS ANGELES WOMEN
*This is the defendant’s third conviction for the Orange County murder; he was linked to the Los Angeles murders through DNA
SANTA ANA – A serial murderer was sentenced today to receive the death penalty for kidnapping and murdering a 12-year-old Orange County girl and raping and murdering four Los Angeles County women in the 1970s. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was found guilty by a jury Feb. 25, 2010, of five felony counts of murder and one felony count of kidnapping. The jury found true the sentencing enhancements for committing multiple murders, murder with torture, murder during the commission of rape, murder during the commission of kidnapping, murder during the commission of a burglary of an inhabited dwelling, and murder during the commission of a robbery. The jury recommended the death penalty March 9, 2010.
Family members and friends of the five victims gave victim impact statements to the court during the sentencing today. To view a copy of those impact statements visit www.orangecountyda.com and select “Victim Impact Statements – Rodney Alcala Murders” on the homepage.
Over 100 photographs of women and children found in Alcala’s Seattle storage unit in 1979 are also available on the homepage of the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) website under “Photographs taken by Rodney Alcala.” The OCDA and Huntington Beach Police Department are seeking the public’s help in identifying these as-of-yet unidentified women and children.
“Rodney Alcala is the poster child for the death penalty. It is outrageous that the Samsoe family has endured this pain through three trials and three decades,” stated Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. “I hope that our judicial system will finally have the backbone to administer the only penalty this predatory monster deserves – the death penalty.”
Background on Alcala
In 1972, Alcala was convicted of kidnapping and molesting a child in 1968 in Los Angeles County. Upon serving a 34-month sentence, he was released from prison. After his release, Alcala lived in Monterey Park with his mother and was hired to work as a typist or typesetter for the Los Angeles Times. This is where he lived and worked in 1977 when he committed his first Los Angeles County murder. The evidence of this conviction was presented and argued to the jury.
Murder of Jill Barcomb, Los Angeles County
In November 1977, Alcala raped, sodomized, and murdered 18-year-old Jill Barcomb, a New York native who had recently moved to California. The defendant used a large rock to smash in the victim’s face, causing blunt force trauma, and strangled her to death by tying her belt and pant leg around her neck. He then left the victim’s body in a mountainous area in the foothills near Hollywood. The murdered victim was discovered Nov. 10, 1977, on her knees with her face in the dirt. The case was investigated but went cold. Biological evidence was collected at the scene, but DNA technology was not available at that time.