WITH leading man looks and snake oil salesman-like charm, serial killer Rodney Alcala has long fascinated Hollywood writers.
But one of his few living victims has slammed Netflix for its new Woman of the Hour movie, which focuses on the psychopath’s 1978 appearance on the Dating Game TV show.
Ronald Alcala murdered at least six women and attacked many more[/caption]
Morgan Rowan was brutally attacked as a teenager[/caption]
Morgan Rowan was attacked TWICE by the murderer – at the ages of 13 and 16 – and was left with horrific injuries after he raped, strangled and slashed her with a knife.
She only escaped with her life because a friend broke a window in Alcala’s house to save her – but she was left scarred for life, both mentally and physically.
Now she has slammed the new drama – directed by and starring Anna Kendrick – saying the streaming giant failed to consult survivors and twisted key aspects of Alcala’s story without any consideration for the feelings of the women he raped and killed.
Retired mum-of-two Morgan, 72, from Glendale, California, told The Sun: “The storyline for that movie is not factual.
“They just took the basic premise that he’s a murderer and went on a game show and that’s about the only thing that’s fact. They made up the rest of it.
“In reality, the girl on the game show (Cheryl Bradshaw) refused to go out with him but they created a scene where she did.
“She met him for a few minutes backstage and then she told the producer she didn’t want to go because she thought he was creepy.
“I don’t like the revision of history and I don’t like the fact they are giving him more fame and attention.
“It’s difficult to see the whole thing portrayed so differently.
“As bad as he was, they should get the story right, because if you’re changing his history, then you are changing mine too.”
Knocked unconscious
Alcala was described by detectives as a “killing machine” who murdered dozens of women while posing as a party-loving photographer and hippy.
He enjoyed toying with his victims, strangling them until they lost consciousness, then waiting until they revived, sometimes repeating the process several times before finally finishing them off.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, he served as a paratrooper in the US Army from the age of 17, but he was discharged three years later in 1964 on medical grounds after being diagnosed by a military doctor as having an antisocial personality disorder.
He went on to study film under famed director Roman Polanski at New York University and he is believed to have started his killing spree when he was in his early 20s.
The scene is the starting point for the Netflix drama[/caption]
Morgan was 13 when she first met him outside a Hollywood music venue on Sunset Boulevard.
She said: “It was broad daylight and I thought he was an older teen, although he must have been 22.
“He called me over and I didn’t get a lot of attention from boys so I was pleased.
“But he kept talking to other people so I was reaching over and scratching his arm to get his attention.
“At first, he thought it was cute and then he got mad and told me not to do it again.
“I was dumb and I did it again and he dragged me by my arm to the back of the club and knocked me out.
“He left me behind a dumpster and I woke up and didn’t know where I was. I ran to the club owner and told him what happened and they banned him from the club.
“I tried to stay away from him after that, but all my friends loved him. He was an extremely popular person on the 1960s Hollywood scene.”
Terrifying ordeal
Morgan next entered his murderous crosshairs in 1968, when she was just 16 years old and about to move to New York with her parents.
She continued: “He approached me and said, ‘I don’t want you to leave mad at me. I was just a dumb kid and I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
“I said, ‘I just want you to leave me alone.’
“He disappeared and an hour later me and my friends jumped in a car to go to I-Hop and it turned out Rod was driving.
“I was begging to get out, but they wouldn’t stop.
“We went to the restaurant and I considered calling my father but I didn’t and Rod was chatty and nice in the restaurant so, like a fool, I got back in the car.”
As bad as he was, they should get the story right, because if you’re changing his history, then you are changing mine too
Morgan Rowan
She ended up alone in a room in Alcala’s house in LA, where he raped, strangled and beat her savagely, slashing her with a knife, before a friend intervened.
She said: “My friend broke a window to get me out of there but Rod didn’t run away, he was nonchalant about it.
“I was badly bruised with broken ribs and teeth and I was wearing nothing but a ripped blouse. We escaped by jumping in a car with some guys and my friend called the police.
Teenager Morgan at one of the music clubs she frequented as a teenager[/caption]
Robin Samsoe, 12, was the youngest of the six known murder victims[/caption]
Georgia Wixted was murdered in her Malibu apartment in 1977[/caption]
“But the police officer who attended told me I shouldn’t dress the way I dress and what did I expect?
“He didn’t like hippies and he said, ‘You guys all do each other like a box of rabbits and now you want me to charge this guy with rape?’
I was badly bruised with broken ribs and teeth and I was wearing nothing but a ripped blouse
Morgan Rowan
“I was a virgin until then, but he wasn’t going to help. He said, ‘You knew the guy, you went to his house, there’s no way he’s going to jail for rape.’”
Morgan was too embarrassed to tell her parents what happened.
Instead, she told them she sustained her injuries by being thrown on to the dashboard of a car.
Who are the UK’s worst serial killers?
THE UK’s most prolific serial killer was actually a doctor.
Here’s a rundown of the worst offenders in the UK.
- British GP Harold Shipman is one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. He was found guilty of murdering 15 patients in 2000, but the Shipman Inquiry examined his crimes and identified 218 victims, 80 per cent of whom were elderly women.
- After his death Jonathan Balls was accused of poisoning at least 22 people between 1824 and 1845.
- Mary Ann Cotton is suspected of murdering up to 21 people, including husbands, lovers and children. She is Britain’s most prolific female serial killer. Her crimes were committed between 1852 and 1872, and she was hanged in March 1873.
- Amelia Sach and Annie Walters became known as the Finchley Baby Farmers after killing at least 20 babies between 1900 and 1902. The pair became the first women to be hanged at Holloway Prison on February 3, 1903.
- William Burke and William Hare killed 16 people and sold their bodies.
- Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was found guilty in 1981 of murdering 13 women and attempting to kill seven others between 1975 and 1980.
- Dennis Nilsen was caged for life in 1983 after murdering up to 15 men when he picked them up from the streets. He was found guilty of six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to life in jail.
- Fred West was found guilty of killing 12 but it’s believed he was responsible for many more deaths.
Vile attack on eight-year-old
But she was thrown into turmoil when, six weeks later, she learned that Alcala had snatched an eight-year-old girl off the street on her way to school and raped her in the same house.
That girl was Tali Shapiro, now 64 and working as a train attendant in California.
Incredibly, despite being caught red-handed as he raped and beat the schoolgirl with a steel bar, the attempted murder and rape charges were dropped when her parents refused to let her give evidence in court.
Cheryl Bradshaw called off the date after finding Alcala ‘creepy’[/caption]
Alcala at a 2010 hearing in California, where he was sentenced to death for a third time[/caption]
In 1971, Alcala was convicted of child molestation and sentenced to three years.
After his release, he went on to murder at least six more victims – although the true number could be 130 – while presenting himself as a photographer and luring men and women into lewd photo shoots.
He became known as the Dating Game killer after appearing on the popular show – the US version of Blind Date – in 1978. It was not until a year later that he was apprehended again.
But Alcala repeatedly appealed his conviction on technicalities until 2010 when he was sentenced to death after Tali testified against him.
He died of natural causes in jail aged 77 in 2021.
Tali Shapiro was just eight when she was almost killed by the monster[/caption]
Morgan is now friends with Tali after a heartfelt letter[/caption]
Morgan says she spent 50 years being wracked with guilt for not doing more to put him behind bars.
She hopes the Netflix series will highlight how the US justice system repeatedly failed his victims. A previous film about the killings called the Dating Game Killer was released in 2017.
Morgan said: “Tali went to court to face him, which was incredibly brave of her and it was the first time I knew her name or saw her face.
“About four years ago I was on Facebook and it turned out we had a mutual friend. I was stunned to see her name.
“I contacted the mutual friend and said, ‘Would you please ask her if she would accept a letter from me?’
“She agreed and it took me a week to write the letter. I told her I was so sorry and she wrote back, ‘There is nothing to forgive. There is only one man that is responsible for this and he is pure evil.’
“It was a really big moment in my life, it really was, because I had been carrying so much guilt.
“Eventually we met and now I see Tali at her home in Palm Springs every couple of months. She means everything to me.
“We call each other sisters and it means everything to have her in my life and for her to forgive me, even though I’m never going to forgive myself.”
We have contacted Netflix for comment.
Morgan has written a book on the case called Stolen from Sunset.
Anna Kendrick also directed the drama[/caption]
