Royal harpist
What we know about Rodney Alcala’s mom Anna Maria Gutierrez-Eppen
Anna earned three degrees in her lifetime and wrote children’s books
ANNA Maria Gutierrez was the mother of the Dating Game Killer Rodney Alcala, who is featured in Netflix’s thriller Woman of the Hour.
However, there is much more to Anna’s life than her serial killer son, including a life in academia and royal connection.
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A harpist for the Queen of Spain
Anna was born in Torreon, Mexico, on January 10, 19090, and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.
She also received a bachelors and master's degree at the University of Southern California, before receiving another degree from Cal State LA.
Anna reportedly played the harp for the Queen of Spain and started to write popular children’s stories.
Then, she married Raul Alcala Buqor and gave birth to their son Rodrigo “Rodney” Jacques Alcala on August 23, 1943.
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The family moved from Texas to Mexico in 1951, but Raul abandoned them just three years into their new life.
Taking matters into her own hands, Anna moved Rodney and his two sisters to Los Angeles in 1954.
Her son was already beginning to show signs of being academically gifted and went on to attend various private schools, before becoming a paratrooper.
Rodney’s crime spree begins
All was not as it seemed with Rodney as he fled from the army in 1964 after a nervous breakdown.
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In 1968, he kidnapped and attempted to rape Morgan Rowan but she managed to escape his clutches when her friends broke a window and saved her from Rodney.
That same year, he attacked an 8-year-old girl named Tali Shapiro with a metal bar and left her in a coma for 32 days.
Tali was saved from death when a traveling salesman named Donald Haines witnessed Rodney luring the child into his car.
Donald phoned the police when he saw a “creepy” look in Rodney’s eye, allowing the authorities to rush to the scene and save Tali.
Rodney fled to New York and attended New York University, where he studied under Roman Polanski.
While living in NYC, he murdered 23-year-old flight attendant Cornelia Crilley in 1971.
That year, he was arrested for attacking Tali but charging him was difficult since her parents refused to allow her to take the stand.
As a result, Rodney was convicted of child molestation but not with rape or attempted murder.
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John Berger and John Burger
After leaving prison in 1977, Rodney used his alias from New York: “John Berger”, though he sometimes spelled it “John Burger”.
He developed a new tactic to lure in victims, which involved pretending to take pictures of his victims for a modeling portfolio.
Then, he would brutally murder them.
His crime spree led to him signing up for the hit game show The Dating Game, where he attempted to charm contestant Cheryl Bradshaw.
However, his off-putting and sinister humor caused Cheryl to refuse Rodney’s offer of a date.
The incident was dramatized in Netflix’s Woman of the Hour, starring Anna Kendrick as Cheryl and Tony Hale as the show’s host Ed Burke.
Anna posts Rodney’s bail
Rodney’s murder spree continued and on February 14, 1979, he kidnapped and raped 15-year-old hitchhiker Monique Hoyt.
Monique managed to escape when Rodney used a gas station bathroom, despite the fact that Rodney had just hit her in the head with a rock.
Although Monique filed a police report about the incident, Anna posted Rodney’s bail.
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A search of Anna’s home cracks the case
Rodney was finally caught after he tragically murdered 12-year-old Robin Christine Samsoe on June 20, 1979.
Detectives circulated a picture of the suspect, who had been described to them by Robin’s friends, and Rodney’s parole officer from the Tali Shapiro case recognized him.
A police search of Anna’s house finally cracked the case, as Rodney had hidden a receipt there for a storage locker in Seattle.
The authorities followed the trail up to Washington state and found a pair of earrings belonging to Charlotte Lee Lamb in the locker.
Charlotte had been murdered in 1978, but no suspect had been apprehended for the crime.
This evidence was enough for Rodney to be finally arrested in July 1979 and sentenced to death in June 1980.
However, the verdict was overturned and he would go on to remain in prison until his death in 2021.
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Anna’s death
Anna died on February 18, 1999, at the age of 90.
Her obituary said that she had inspired countless people with her amazing achievements, including her performance for the Queen of Spain.
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She never commented publicly about her son’s crimes, though he was referenced in her obituary.
Anna had dropped the name Alcala, though, by the time of her death and instead used the name German which belonged to her second husband.
Evil Rodney Alcala's victims
During his reign of terror between 1968 to 1978 it is strongly believed Rodney Alcala murdered over a 100 people.
However the serial killer was only convicted of eight murders.
Alcala's victims were:
- Cornelia Crilley - Alcala's killing spree started with Cornelia Crilley, a 23-year-old flight attendant living in New York.
- Jill Barcomb - On November 9, 1977, Alcala brutally murdered Jill when she was just 18-years-old.
- Charlotte Lamb - On June 24, 1978, the 31-year-old legal secretary from Santa Monica, was found dead in the laundry room of the apartment complex.
- Jill Parenteau - The 21-year-old was killed in her Burbank apartment in 1979.
- Robin Samsoe - Robin was just 12-years-old when she was murdered on June 20, 1979.
- Ellen Jane Hover - Ellen was just 23-years-old when she disappeared without a trace on July 15, 1977 and murdered by Alcala.
- Georgia Wixted - On December 16, 1977, 27-year-old nurse Georgia was discovered dead in her Malibu apartment.
The people who were attacked by Alcala and survived are:
- Tali Shapiro was rescued by bystander Donald Haines in 1968.
- Monique Hoyt - Monique was 15-years-old when she was attacked by Alcala on Valentines Day in February 1979 - luckily she managed to escape.
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