Rodney James Alcala - known to the public as 'The Dating Game Killer' - has been found dead in his prison cell at the age of 77.
Per the New York Post, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced on Saturday that Alcala died of natural causes at a hospital in San Joaquin Valley.
Alcala was awaiting execution for the murders of four women and a 12-year-old girl, after being sentenced to death back in 2010, The Guardian reports. The murders occurred between 1977 and 1979.
The CDCR statement adds that Alcala's four other convictions were for the murders of Jill Barcomb, 18, Georgia Wixted, 27, Charlotte Lamb, 32, and Jill Parenteau, 21.
However, despite the five convictions, authorities believe Alcala could have committed up to 130 people across the United States.
He received the nickname "The Dating Game Killer' following his appearance on the popular television show. Alcala actually made his appearance in 1978 - amid his killing spree. He was chosen by contestant Cheryl as the winning bachelor.
The Post reports that Alcala was first sentenced to death back in 1980 in California, after being convicted for the kidnapping and murder of 12-year old Robin Samsoe in 1977. However, the California Supreme Court reversed the decision in 1984 and agreed to give Alcala another trial.
Two years later, he was once again convicted of Samsoe’s murder and sentenced to death. But, per the CDCR, this was once again overturned in a federal appeals court.
In 2013, Alcala received an additional 25 years to life after confessing to two murders in New York, The Guardian reports. And in 2016 he was charged yet again after DNA evidence linked him to a homicide of a 28-year-old pregnant woman in Wyoming.
Orange County prosecutor Matt Murphy once declared during Alcala's trial that he "enjoys" killing, and the criminal was known to take some of his victims' earrings as trophies - including those of 2-year-old Robin Samsoe, as identified by the girl's mother.
NBC News reports that despite the fact that California death row inmates are typically held at San Quentin state prison near San Francisco, Alcala was housed over 200 miles away at a prison in Corcoran where he received round-the-clock medical care.
The CDCR states that Alcala may be linked to many unsolved murders across California, Washington, New York, New Hampshire, and Arizona.
