Police Release Serial Killer's Photos of Women

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 11) -- Detective Patrick Ellis leafed through hundreds of photographs depicting young women in nude or provocative poses, nameless muses captured on film more than 30 years ago by convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala.

(The public can see all photos here; The Huntington Beach Police Department may be reached at 714-375-5066).

"Look at this, this person is posed like they're dead," Ellis, of the Huntington Beach Police Department, told AOL News. "And how old do you think this one is -- 13? I'm wondering how many of these people are still alive."

Indeed, it was Alcala's fascination with photography -- police seized more than 2,000 photographs -- that helped seal his doom. Many of the images, which were shown to jurors, depicted a stalker-type obsession with girls and young women.

Police have now released hundreds of those photos, hoping members of the public will help identify the girls and women depicted. They fear some of the women who were charmed into letting Alcala snap their picture may have ended up dead.


Alcala, who claimed in court that he photographed mostly landscapes and sunsets, was convicted on Feb. 25 of torturing and murdering four women and one girl, 12-year-old Robin Samsoe. Jurors deliberated for just 45 minutes this week before recommending he be sentenced to death.

The amateur photographer and sometime-typesetter had been convicted twice before of murdering Samsoe in 1979, but those cases were overturned on appeal. While awaiting his third trial, he was linked by DNA to four additional murders in Los Angeles County during the late 1970s and charged with those crimes as well.

During the 1979 Samsoe investigation, detectives located a Seattle storage locker rented by Alcala and found the cache of photographs along with several sets of earrings believed to have been trophies taken from murder victims. One earring set contained DNA from one of the Los Angeles victims.

Alcala, 66, who acted as his own attorney, was obsessed with obtaining copies of the photographs before the latest trial. Most of the images were not admitted as evidence because the judge ruled them too prejudicial.

"Now, why does he want all of this after 30 years?" Ellis mused. "Either he's reliving his glory days or there's a victim in here we don't know about."

Asked whether Alcala was another Ted Bundy -- the infamous serial killer who used charm to prey on women nationwide -- the 20-year veteran detective said: "Yes. Absolutely. In my estimation, he's good for 40 or 50 [killings]. Look at how many people he contacted."

Some of the photos have already been made public, and Ellis has received calls from several women who claim to be depicted in the shots, including one who said the photograph was taken in Germany. Another woman said Alcala came up to her at a hotel and claimed that he could help her break into modeling.

The pictures depict hard-core pornography and sex acts, many of them including Alcala himself, and some with young boys. Ellis cropped the photos to show just head shots and is asking the public to contact him if any of these women are missing.

Orange County Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy, who prosecuted Alcala, believes additional murder victims exist.

"God only knows how many people he killed," he said.

Murphy said he did not give Alcala an option to avoid the death penalty in exchange for identifying other victims.

"We don't make deals with people like Rodney Alcala," he said. "He is a soulless monster who knew it was wrong to do what he did, but he tortured and murdered these women because he liked it."

Alcala refused to talk to AOL News today from the Orange County Jail.