Talk:Rodney Alcala

Order of entries
Mentioning the game show appearance within the "Murders section" is not quite appropriate since there is no murder associated specifically with the appearance. That said, if this is the section where the mention belongs, it should at least be mentioned in the correct chronological order.

Is it really necessary?
- Is it really necessary to quote this so-called "expert" that says that Cheryll's rejection may have "exaserbated" his crime spree? That sounds like victim blaming to me; even though she managed to avoid being his victim. Doesn't sound like a fair thing to say. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:251A:7829:C8F9:8A5:8708:7640 (talk) 18:49, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Especially since this so-called expert is completely wrong and the citation only serves to create confusion. Alcala wasn't "set off" by his Dating Game rejection, he was already a serial murderer (not to mention a convicted rapist) before he was on the show. I removed this edit because it sounds like self-promotion and because it takes away from the factual integrity of the wikipedia entry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.141.118.119 (talk) 00:07, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Number of murders
- I changed his victim statistic to 5 (it mentioned 7-100), however since we are to use neutral Point of View, and it wasn't specifically proven that Mr Alcala has committed these crimes (yet, or if any). All the police have are a bunch of nude and non nude photographs of children and other people. Alcala was also in addition, CONVICTED of only 5 murders, he was indicted for others. Please, let the process drag on and the body count goes higher. 1 Death doesn't make him less of a creepy creep killer than 100's others right? -Samsamcat

>>> Ok fine, now that I read a bit of this TW and other rules you posted WP:OR I understand a bit more.... sorry to trouble you guys, yea just put 130 5-130. Still think we should just let the body count come in. That's how I though you guys did it in America, let the evidence speak well meh. If that's what it says that's what it says I guess. -Samcat. Ps: trying to gain consensus here like you dictated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Samsamcat (talk • contribs) 20:31, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Samsamcat (talk • contribs) 05:23, 15 October 2011 (UTC)


 * We, as editors, cannot make such assessments, per WP:OR -- only sources can. And sources have speculated that his murder total could be much higher, as documented and referenced in detail within the article. DoctorJoeE (talk) 19:06, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

>>> Keyword, COULD. Why don't the bodies come in first? ---Samcat — Preceding unsigned comment added by Samsamcat (talk • contribs) 09:02, 23 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Once again, that's not a call that you or I, as editors, get to make. The sources say minimum of 5, potential maximum 130. If you want to try to gain consensus for something different, be my guest; but please do so before making any further changes. DoctorJoeE (talk) 13:13, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

He's clearly notable. See here hereand here Three notable sources.-- SKATER  Speak. 17:38, 12 March 2010 (UTC)


 * No kidding, mate..see here. Feel free to add in if you find something new. (forgive the lack of log-in, kind of in a rush) User:VulpineLady at 74.4.91.87 (talk) 22:16, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

Its about time wiki let this article happen. --Richard Rowe (talk) 03:50, 13 March 2010 (UTC)
 * When I created it, there was only one deletion and it was because it was an attack article or something.-- SKATER  Speak. 04:06, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Not at all - I got the article started with "convicted serial killer" and some awesome moderator tagged it as false and deleted it. Convicted serial killer is a fact, not an opinion or attack. I don't get wikipedia sometimes. Garbage articles stay up for years, but valid ones are taken down within minutes. BradTraylor (talk) 08:04, 14 March 2010 (UTC)


 * It's because a lot of the people with power on Wikipedia are Asperger's riddled freaks. That is the BIG problem with Wikipedia, the elephant in the room that the moderators don't want anyone to talk about. What do you think the odds are that at least one Wiki moderator is a serial killer? Pretty good in my opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.51 (talk) 20:20, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

I really like how this article has developed...it really goes to show what a community like Wiki can accomplish! :D VulpineLady (talk) 02:11, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Merge
Woah...that's much better then this article right now, perhaps we should start merging in information?-- SKATER  Speak. 02:42, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Is there information about his upbringing: his early education or affiliation with certain groups in his developmental period? This information would make this article more valuable as an educational tool, showing possible origins of his alleged homicidal tendencies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.140.189.111 (talk) 22:37, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I haven't seen much on it sifting through sources...Only thing now is what we know from the media.-- SKATER  Speak. 02:41, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

No objection to merge ;) Glad you like my work; Would you believe it took me 5 hours to do up the "user page"? (I seem to have misplaced my log in info O_O...I hate remote accessing from new computers) A few tweaks:

1. I think the Genius mention needs to be removed from the lead. There's some 'confusion' over his scores and I cover that here. Have left it for now.
 * Agreed-- SKATER  Speak. 23:21, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

2. Early Life was taken as a direct cite/quote from TRU TV and that needs to be reflected, hence the opening sentence on my page and the blockquote format. I've adjusted this page to the same, but I kept the updated linking (which was better than what I had ;) )
 * Oh...that's why you added that.-- SKATER  Speak. 23:21, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

3. This: "Alcala was encountered by authorities in the company of a 13-year old girl who claimed she had been kidnapped. Convicted of violating parole and providing marijuana to a minor, Alcala was again incarcerated."

Is technically accurate by today's standards, but the charge AT THE TIME was "providing pot to a minor" (I spent over 90 minutes just confirming that). I've left it at marijuana, for now, but my feeling is that it should be changed to pot for accuracy. Would like opinions on this.
 * I think it should be used as it's normal name of Marijuana.-- SKATER  Speak. 23:21, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

4. Added 2 boxes at top of talk page. Transferred from user page.

5. I found a publication of his 1997 booking retake/update here: http://www.laweekly.com/photoGallery/index/833085/10/ Is this image "Free use"? Can we use it for this article?
 * I'll check into it that would be great for the article!-- SKATER  Speak. 23:21, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

--I love the expanded infobox, I couldn't get mine to display right...and fabu grab on the YouTube video (had to replace it though, as Sony had them pull the original -- we'll have to keep an eye on that) :D User:VulpineLady 74.4.90.170 (talk) 13:48, 29 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Is Rodney James Alcala really his birth name? I've got Texas Department of Health records that show a Rodrigo Jacques Alcala-Buquor born in Bexar County (where San Antonio is) on August 23, 1943 (the birth date given for our friend Rodney Alcala) to Raoul Alcala-Buquor and Anna Maria Gutierrez. I'm going to go revise the article using this page

http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/bexar/vitals/births/1943/bexab43a.txt

as a reference. Methychroma (talk) 20:56, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Convicted rapist and registered sex offender
Did they have a sex offender registry in 1978? This source says the earliest is 1991. Perhaps it should read 'known sex offender'.Geo8rge (talk) 20:19, 27 January 2011 (UTC)


 * According to the California Coalition on Sexual Offending (http://www.ccoso.org/): "In 1947, California became the first State to require convicted sex offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies." So yes, Alcala was registered as a sex offender in California in 1978. Registration did not become a federal statute until the 1990s. DoctorJoeE (talk) 21:53, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Perhaps a citation should be added to the reference, as I also thought this was an error at first. 68.146.70.124 (talk) 05:58, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Citation added. DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  06:12, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

1977 murder SF
He was connected to a 1977 murder, that of Pamela Jean Lambson, in March 2011. Lambson was murdered in San Francisco. Perhaps someone with more Wikipedia knowledge than I could add this fact into the Alcala article? Source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-Case-LinkeDating-Game-Killer--117568288.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.127.204.133 (talk) 06:13, 14 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I'll do it today, and thanks for pointing it out.
 * I've also created a new section for your comment (and my reply), as you can see -- that's the preferred way to do it, in general, so that your comment won't get lost within an old discussion.
 * Also, be sure to sign your posts on talk pages with four tildes. Cheers, DoctorJoeE (talk) 13:57, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Other cold cases being investigated as possibly committed by Alcala

 * New Hampshire: colds from the years he worked as a Camp Counselor: http://www.wmur.com/r/22957518/detail.html
 * Seattle, Washington: Antionette "Tony" Witaker, 13 (Murdered, 1977); Joyce Gaunt, 17 ("Sexually Assaulted"/Murdered, 1978) - "Person of Interest"/DNA requested
 * Douglas County, Washington: Cherry Greenman, 19 (Missing, 1976) - "Person of Interest"/Photo Match Negative (Case currently being handled by King's County)

also: "Nine women who are alive have been identified through the photos so far, according to The Associated Press. Huntington Beach police Capt. Chuck Thomas said one of them told authorities that Alcala molested her, but he said the statute of limitations in that case has expired."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011445336_serialkiller26m.html

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/89739937.html

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=997238&orgPrefix=NCMA&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US (Greenman's NCMEC poster)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/mar/26/seattle-detective-follows-killers-trail-to/

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/apr/14/photos-of-missing-teen-not-tied-to-convicted/

This article is a GOLD MINE: http://www.laweekly.com/2010-02-26/news/rodney-alcala-s-final-revenge/

states he compiled a photo album of nude photographs of children and displayed it to coworkers and Editors at LA Times. Instead of notifying police (remember this was during the hunt for Hillside Strangler) they chalked it up to him being "weird" and looked the other way.

also reveals that Jill Barcomb's brother asked Alcala to "avoid trial" (plea deal, ostensibly)

...the storage locker containing all the photographs was located in Seattle and was rented under the name of one of the women in the "collection" though without her knowledge.

...I'll let someone else edit it all in as I find my thoughts becoming disjointed for lack of sleep. VulpineLady (talk) 02:59, 16 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I'll get started it ASAP, great find!-- SKATER  Is Back 21:52, 24 October 2011 (UTC)


 * FWIW I've already gone through them and added relevant info (note that this was posted 6 months ago) -- but if you find something important that I overlooked, by all means, add it. Cheers, DoctorJoeE (talk) 22:03, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * .....This is exactly why I need to take more time before jumping back headfirst into the encyclopedia. =.=-- SKATER  Is Back 22:10, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

The DNA
Yeah I'mma just keep this nice and short, but in the article it mentions a new DNA sampling law, there is nothing immediately available that I saw [not like I really looked] besides the DNA link. Can I get some further information/verification on that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.185.25.133 (talk) 00:02, 3 April 2015 (UTC)


 * I added a link to the law. It was implemented in 2002 and requires death row inmates to provide DNA samples for the state databank.  DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  00:57, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

130 murders? Any serious sources but tabloid papers?
The article gives no official or serious source for the stated 130 murders. It is said that the police published more than 100 photographs. It is not even said that these are all photos of different persons. And even if they are: There is absolutely no statement of officials that all of the depicted persons could have been murdered. In contrast, some contacted the police after the photos had been published. So the number 130 is as plausible as the number 1,000 (maybe he killed 900 without taking photos). --92.213.9.64 (talk) 00:51, 4 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Actually, the 130 estimate (and that's all it is, as clearly stated) is properly sourced, and is not based on the photos, which number over 1000, only 100 of which were released by police (also clearly stated). Speculation is permissible in an article as long as it is the source, not the editor, doing the speculating. DoctorJoeE  review transgressions/ talk to me!  15:20, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Alcala photographs link?
Hi everybody, has anyone been able to find a valid link to the 110 or so of Alcala's photos which have been published online? I've been searching, but so far have only found articles which mention the fact of their existence and which only show a limited subset of the full number. I seriously believe that a current and active link in the external links section is not only an appropriate addition to the article as it stands, but might even help to identify some of the people in them. Thanks.

The best one I've found so far is this, but it only shows 74 of them. Are we agreed this is an appropriate addition as a placeholder in the meantime?

Cadar (talk) 06:50, 29 October 2017 (UTC)

Adding Alcala's 1979 mugshot via Huntington Beach Police Department
Hey everyone, I was wondering if someone here can add Rodney Alcala's 1979 mugshot on his wikipedia page that was taken by Huntington Beach Police Department.

It is this one located in this website:

http://themurdersquad.com/episodes/can-i-take-your-picture-part-2/

If you scroll down the site, it's the 4th picture.

Personally I think it would make his page really stand out. Just like how it was done on Richard Ramirez's Wikipedia page.

I would do it myself but I am concerned it may be taken down if I don't properly fill out the form. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Taulant12 (talk • contribs) 02:16, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

Hardwick VT Unsolved Cases
The unsolved murders of Joan Rogers and Bernard Ewen — both killed in Hardwick, Vermont in mid-July 1977 — are considered possible victims of Alcala, who had been allowed to go to nearby Albany, New York that year. Artaxerxes (talk) 14:05, 26 April 2023 (UTC)