Condemned Dating Game Killer dies in state hospital

A condemned Death Row inmate known as the Dating Game Killer who was convicted of five murders — including that of a 12yearold girl — died early Saturday in a hospital near Corcoran State Prison, south of Fresno, authorities said.

Rodney James Alcala, 77, died of undisclosed natural causes, according to a statement from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Alcala was convicted in 2010 of five counts of murder and sentenced to death for a series of killings in the late 1970s in Southern California. His victims included a 27yearold nurse, a 21yearold keypunch operator, a 32yearold legal secretary and an 18yearold runaway. DNA evidence linking Alcala to the victims played a key role in the convictions.

For one of those killings — the 1979 murder of 12yearold Robin Samsoe, as aspiring ballerina — he was convicted three times and sentenced to death each time, as the first two judgments were overturned. In 2013, he was convicted in the murder of two additional women in New York, also in the 1970s, for which he received an additional sentence of 25 years to life.

Prosecutors said he strangled his victims with shoelaces, pantyhose and his bare hands.

Alcala, an amateur photographer and a former typesetter for a Los Angeles newspaper, had appeared as a contestant in 1978 on “The Dating Game” television show. He was selected by a “bachelorette” from among three male contestants and went on a date with her.

California has executed 13 condemned inmates since 1978, the most recent in 2006.

Rodney James Alcala, a Death Row inmate, died while awaiting execution.