Horrific murder
Cornelia Crilley: The sad fate of Trans World Airlines flight attendant raped and murdered by Rodney Alcala
Cornelia’s murder went unsolved until 2011
CORNELIA Crilley was a Trans World Airlines flight attendant who was murdered by Rodney Alcala.
Alcala was known as the Dating Game Killer because of his appearance on the show of the same name, in an outing dramatized on Netflix’s Woman of the Hour.
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Tragic murder
Not much is known about Cornelia’s early life, before she was killed by Alcala on June 21, 1971.
She was living in Manhattan at the time, while working as a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines.
Cornelia had reportedly accepted Alcala's offer of help in moving some furniture, before he strangled her to death.
Unfortunately, Cornelia’s murder went unsolved until 2011 and it was only then that Alcala was revealed to be the man who killed her.
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Cornelia was his third confirmed victim, in a crime spree that began in 1968.
Alcala had attacked 16-year-old Morgan Rowan and 8-year-old Tali Shaprio, but both victims were rescued before he could kill them.
Tali was saved by Donald Haines, a salesman who grew suspicious when he saw Alcala lure the 8-year-old into his car.
The Dating Game Killer
Alcala's crime spree was brought to a temporary halt, when he was jailed for child molestation in 1971.
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However, since Tali’s parents didn’t want her to take the stand, it made it difficult to charge Alcala with rape or attempted murder.
The killer later murdered a 27-year-old nurse named Georgia Wixted and an 18-year-old girl named Jill Barcombe, amongst several other victims.
He appeared on The Dating Game in 1978, where he tried to charm a bachelorette named Cheryl Bradshaw into choosing him as a date.
Cheryl eventually did pick Alcala, but chose not to go on the date after he made several sinister jokes.
Eventually, Alcala was brought to justice after murdering a 12-year-old girl named Robin Samsoe.
The police circulated a sketch of the suspect which was recognised as Alcala by his old parole officer, who had been assigned to him after his attack on Tali.
He was arrested in 1979 and sentenced to death in 1980.
However, the sentence was overturned in 1984 and he spent the rest of his life in prison, before dying in 2021.
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Woman of the Hour
Alcala's horrifying crime spree was dramatized in Netflix’s Woman of the Hour.
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The film, which particularly focuses on Alcala's appearance on the Dating Game, was directed by Anna Kendrick, who also stars in the movie as Cheryl Bradshaw.
Woman of the Hour made its Netflix debut on October 16, 2024, and is available for streaming.
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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