Officer Who Arrested ‘Dating Game Killer’ Says This 1 Thing Is What Led to Rodney Alcala’s Downfall

Rodney Alcala’s infamous appearance on The Dating Game may not have resulted in an actual date, but it did set him up for a date with destiny.

The retired police officer who led the investigation that ultimately took “The Dating Game Killer” off of the streets is reflecting on the convicted serial killer and sex offender’s case — and the TV show appearance that led to his downfall.

Craig Robison, a retired detective with the Huntington Beach Police Department, headed the investigation into Alcala before his 1979 arrest. Now, he is giving an exclusive look into the mind of the notorious California serial killer, whose real-life case inspired the recent Netflix special Woman of the Hour.

Alcala — who is confirmed to have murdered at least seven women and girls and suspected of more — had “a very high IQ,” Robison told Fox News in a new interview, “but the problem with a guy like that, I think, is most of his IQ isn’t focused on developing personal relationships …  it’s all focused on my next victim and how to exploit women and girls.”

Despite his intelligence, however, Robison was able to pin the convicted murderer down, and it was all thanks to his appearance on The Dating Game. In the episode, contestant Cheryl Bradshaw selected Alcala out of a lineup of three for a date, though it was later revealed that she opted out of the commitment, reportedly telling the producers that he was “very strange” and had “weird vibes.”

Regardless of the episode’s outcome, however, investigators were able to find Alcala — who already had a record of arrests and had served time for child molestation for the rape of then-8-year-old Tali Shapiro — because of his appearance on the popular ’60s and ’70s TV program, according to Robison.

The breadcrumb trail that led to the serial killer’s capture can be traced back to the June 1979 disappearance of one of his victims, 8-year-old Robin Samsoe. Investigators had Bridget Wilvurt — Samsoe’s friend who was on the beach with her when she disappeared — sit with a sketch artist, Robison recalled to Fox News. She got a good look at Alcala as he had approached her and Samsoe and asked to take their picture.

The composite drawing that resulted from Wilvert’s description was subsequently released to the public, and a tip line was established, the retired detective explained. Soon after, detectives received a fateful call from someone who had seen Alcala in a very unexpected place: his television.

A parole officer who had seen the sketch told detectives that he believed the man they were looking for may be a contestant he spotted during a reality TV show re-run from the previous year.

“He’s reading the newspaper,” the retired detective recalled of the officer, “and you hear [Dating Game host] Jim Lange come on … he says, ‘And now let me tell you a little bit about your date … he’s this, he’s that, he’s a photographer, he’s all of these great things … meet your date — Rodney Alcala.’ ”

“If you believe in divine guidance … that certainly would be a good clue,” he later added. “The finger of God comes down and says, ‘Hey, you should look at this guy.’ ”

The detectives had also “just identified [Alcala] as a potential suspect” because of another rape case that occurred months before Samsoe’s disappearance. In February 1979, the serial killer was arrested — and later released on bail — for the rape of a 15-year-old hitchhiking girl. She escaped him by pretending to enjoy their time together and running away at a gas station.

With his long rap sheet and most recent rape case, all signs pointed to Alcala. Then, with her friend still missing, Wilvert confirmed that he was the man they met on the beach. Detectives brought the elementary student into the police station, and when she saw Alcala’s face, “You could see a complete change in her demeanor,” Robison told Fox News.

“It was like her blood ran cold,” the retired cop added.

The month after she disappeared, authorities discovered Samsoe’s remains in a mountain ravine, per Fox News. Weeks later, Robison arrested Alcala for her murder.

But the investigation into the now-convicted killer didn’t stop there, and Robison and his team soon uncovered a Seattle storage locker brimming with “boxes and boxes” of implicating evidence like photographs and jewelry. “Trophies,” according to Robinson — including earrings that Samsoe’s mom recognized as her daughter’s.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

In 1980, Alcala was sentenced to death for Samsoe’s murder; the judgment was reversed in 1984, though, and he was granted a new trial. He was sentenced to death again in 1986, only for that judgment to be overturned in 2003.

However, prosecutors soon discovered that Alcala’s DNA matched evidence connected to four other women murdered between 1977 and 1979: Jill Barcomb, 18; Jill Parenteau, 21; Georgia Wixted, 27; and Charlotte Lamb, 31. In 2010, a jury convicted Alcala on five counts of first-degree murder, for which he was sentenced to death again.

Following his conviction, Alcala faced more murder charges in other states and continued to be the subject of active investigations in unsolved murders until his death. On July 24, 2021, he died of natural causes at age 77 while on death row in California. And though the true death toll remains unknown, authorities believe he may have killed up to 130 people, per the Associated Press.