I'm sure you've heard the news a contestant on a TV dating show turned out to be a serial killer meet Rodney Alcala The Dating Game Killer in 1978 Rodney Alcala appeared on the hit TV show The Dating Game introduced as a successful photographer his good looks and charm want him the date but the woman later canceled after getting an off-putting Vibe what the audience didn't know was Alcala was hiding a terrifying secret he was a serial killer alcala's reign of terror began in the late 1960s he lured young women and girls with Promises of photo shoots then brutally assaulted and murdered them his intelligence and charm allowed him to evade capture for years even as he continued to collect victims it wasn't until 1980 that Rodney Alcala was finally convicted of his crimes Decades of Trials and appeals later he was sentenced to death but his execution in California had been postponed indefinitely due to a moratorium on the death penalty instituted by the state in 2019 he died of natural causes 2021 at age of 7 7 linked to at least eight murders authorities believe he may have killed as many as 130 people this horrifying true story inspired Hollywood to make the 2017 The Dating Game Killer movie and the 2023 women of the hour like share and follow for more true crime stories that inspired Hollywood's darkest movies