A rigorous timeline of all the Rodney Alcala murders before and after Woman of the Hour

Woman of the Hour is an incredible film depicting the harrowing murders at the hands of serial killer Rodney Alcala. The film is centred around his 1978 appearance on The Dating Game TV show, but he has been linked to over 130 cases of murder throughout the 1960s and 70s. Woman of the Hour chops and changes between different murders that happened all through the decade, and the real order of events is actually very different. So, here’s a timeline of all the Rodney Alcala murders and everything that happened in his case, including the events from Woman of the Hour.

1968 – The first attack on eight year old Tali Shapiro

In 1968, Rodney Alcala physically and sexually assaulted eight year old Tali Shapiro. She was found laying in a pool of blood, but very much still alive and lived to tell her story. After the attack, Rodney served 34 months in prison for child molestation and was then freed.

1971 – The murder of Cornelia Crilley

via Netflix

Remember in Woman of the Hour when Rodney helped a young air hostess move into her new apartment and then murdered her? Her real name was Cornelia Crilley and she was 23 years old. This was just the beginning of his killing spree – between 1971 and 1978, Rodney had murdered five women.

1978 – His appearance on The Dating Game

via Netflix

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In 1978, when the real Dating Game episode in question was filmed, Rodney was on the FBI top 10 most wanted fugitives list. We know he was previously charged with child molestation and served 34 months in prison, but before his appearance on the show he went to prison for another two and a half years in 1974 for giving drugs to a 13 year old girl. The lack of the show’s background checks meant Rodney was able to get on with no trouble.

1979 – Rodney met the runaway

via Netflix

Rodney Alcala encountered 15 year-old runaway Monique Hoyt in 1979, a year after his appearance on The Dating Game. Just like the show, Monique managed to escape a gruelling fate by asking Rodney to keep what happened between them, and then fleeing the minute she was alone. However, in reality, he firstly assaulted her in his flat and then took her to the mountain range to photograph her. After she managed to escape him, she reported him to the police, but he was shortly back out on the streets after his mother posted his bail. He would go on to murder two more women before he was arrested again.

1979 – Rodney was arrested for the last time

In 1979, Rodney was finally arrested for good and would commit no more murders. He was charged for the murders of seven women, but the real number could be anywhere up to 130.

2010 – His third and final trial

Rodney appeared in court for his third trial after his appeal was successful, and he represented himself. However, he was sentenced to death row once again which was helped by Monique Hoyt who showed up and “put the nail in the coffin” for good.

2010 – Rodney’s photos were released to the public

In March 2010, the Huntington Beach California and NYC police departments released 120 of Rodney Alcala’s photographs in the hopes of getting the public to identify the victims. There were an additional 900 photos that couldn’t be released because they were too sexually explicit, but 21 women came forward to identify themselves and “at least six families” said they recognised loved ones who had previously gone missing.

2021 – Rodney Alcala died in prison

Rodney died in prison of natural causes at aged 77.

Woman of the Hour is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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