What happened to Rodney Alcala from Woman of the Hour in real life following his arrest?

Woman of the Hour is genuinely one of the most insane Netflix shows I’ve ever watched and the fact Rodney Alcala was a real person is absolutely horrifying, but what actually ended up happening to him in real life following his arrest?

Whilst the show provides some context for what happened to him after his arrest, let’s have a deeper look at the details of his life before he appeared on The Dating Game, as well as the awful events that happened after his arrest.

Via Netflix

In real life, Rodney Alcala enlisted in the army but was discharged following a nervous breakdown and allegations of sexual misconduct, according to CBS News.

Following his first attack he chose to relocate to New York and created the alias John Berger for himself to keep his identity hidden. He was a keen photographer and would frequently take pictures of his victims before or after their murders.

As for how Rodney even managed to get onto The Dating Game in the first place, it all comes down to the lack of technology at the time. It wasn’t possible to do background checks or access criminal databases so the production team had no clue about Rodney’s criminal background which included a previous attempted murder charge.

Via Netflix

As for what happened after Rodney Alcala was arrested by police following the events of Woman of the Hour, the show includes some but not all of the details. Unfortunately, Rodney was allowed to be released on bail whilst he was awaiting his trial date. Sadly he went on to murder another two women, a 21 year old woman and a 12 year old girl.

He was then arrested again in 1979 and convicted of seven murders although authorities think he could have killed as many as 130 people throughout his life. In 2010 he was convicted of five counts of first degree murder and sentenced to death, with prosecutors in New York and Wyoming sentencing him to another 25 years in jail.

Whilst he was given the death penalty on multiple counts for his various murders, Rodney never made it to the chair as he died on July 24, 2021, of natural causes at age 77. Around the last few years of his life, he received constant care and was moved to a hospital before he passed away. Before he passed his execution had actually been postponed indefinitely as a result of a moratorium on the death penalty instituted by the state in 2019.

Woman of the Hour is available on Netflix now – For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes about Rodney Alcala in real life like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

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Featured image via Netflix.