Member-only story
Rodney Alcala
A DATE WITH DEATH
“Love, the priceless possession I try to find. It’s not in my body, it’s in my mind.”-Jill Barcomb, murdered by Rodney Alcala
GROWING UP ALCALA
Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor was born August 23, 1943, in San Antonio, Texas. He is infamously known as Rodney James Alcala. His parents, Raoul Alcala Buquor and Anna Maria Gutierrez, had four children. When Rodney was eight, the family relocated to Mexico. Raoul abandoned his wife and children in 1953. When it became clear that Raoul would not return, Anna and her children moved to Los Angeles to build a better life.
Rodney joined the U.S. Army when he was 17-years-old. He worked there as a clerk until he had a nervous breakdown. During his mental break, he went AWOL and hitchhiked to his mother’s home. Once the Army caught up with him, they performed a psychological evaluation and diagnosed Rodney with Antisocial Personality Disorder
EARLIEST CRIME
Tali Shapiro was eight years old and walking to school in Hollywood. A man driving a beige car approached and asked if she needed a ride. She told the man that she doesn’t talk to strangers. He convinced her that he knew her family and that he was safe. Tali got into the stranger’s car against her better judgment. That stranger was Rodney Alcala.
Unbeknownst to Rodney, a neighbor was watching this interaction. This suspicious citizen followed the car to Rodney’s Hollywood apartment and watched as the little girl followed him in. He called the police.
Tali has no memory of what happened inside of that apartment, but LAPD Officer Chris Comacho will never forget. When he knocked on the door, Rodney poked his head out of a side window and said he was showering. “You have ten seconds!” Camacho warned. On the 11th second, Camacho kicked the door open. A pair of white Mary-Jane shoes…
