Profile of Serial Killer Rodney Alcala

Rodney Alcala is a convicted rapist, torturer, and serial killer who evaded justice for 40 years. Dubbed the Dating Game Killer Alcala was once a contestant on the show, The Dating Game, where he won a date with another contestant. However, the date never happened because the woman found him to be too creepy. Alcalas Childhood Years Rodney Alcala was born on August 23, 1943, in San Antonio, Texas to Raoul Alcala Buquor and Anna Maria Gutierrez. His father left, leaving Anna Maria to raise Alcala and his sisters alone. At around the age of 12, Anna Maria moved the family to Los Angeles. At the age of 17, Alcala joined the Army and remained there until 1964 when he received a medical discharge after being diagnosed with a severe anti-social personality. Alcala, now out of the Army, enrolled in UCLA School of Fine Arts where is earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1968. This is the same year that he kidnapped, raped, beat, and tried to kill his first known victim. Tali Shapiro Tali Shapiro was an 8-year-old on her way to school when she was lured into Alcalas car, an act that did not go unnoticed by a nearby motorist who followed the two and contacted police. Alcala took Tali into his apartment where he raped, beat, and attempted to strangle her with a 10-pound metal bar. When police arrived, they kicked in the door and found Tali laying on the kitchen floor in a large puddle of blood and not breathing. Because of the brutality of the beating, they thought she was dead and begin to search for Alcala in the apartment. A police officer, returning to the kitchen, saw Tali struggling to breathe. All attention went to trying to keep her alive, and at some point, Alcala managed to slip out the back door. When searching Alcalas apartment, the police found several pictures, many of young girls. They also found out his name and that he had attended UCLA. But it took several months before they would find Alcala. On the Run but Not Hiding Alcala, now using the name John Berger, fled to New York and enrolled in NYU film school. From 1968 to 1971, even though he was listed on the FBIs most wanted list, he lived undetected and in full view. Playing the role of a groovy film student, amateur photographer, single hot shot, Alcala moved around New Yorks single clubs. During the summer months, he worked at an all girls summer drama camp in New Hampshire. In 1971, two girls attending the camp recognized Alcala on a wanted poster at the post office. The police were notified, and Alcala was arrested. Indeterminate Sentencing In August 1971, Alcala was returned to Los Angeles, but the prosecutors case had a major flaw - Tali Shapiros family had returned to Mexico soon after Tali recovered from the attack. Without their main witness, the decision was made to offer Alcala a plea deal. Alcala, charged with rape, kidnapping, assault, and attempted murder, accepted a deal to plead guilty to child molestation. The other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to one year to life and was paroled after 34 months under the indeterminate sentencing program. The program allowed a parole board, not a judge, to decide on when offenders could be released based on if they appeared rehabilitated. With Alcalas ability to charm, he was back out on the streets in less than three years. Within eight weeks he returned to prison for violating his parole for providing marijuana to a 13-year-old girl. She told police that Alcala kidnapped her, but he was not charged. Alcala spent another two years behind bars and was released in 1977, again under the indeterminate sentencing program. He returned to Los Angeles and got a job as a typesetter for the Los Angeles Times. More Victims It did not take long for Alcala to get back into his murderous rampage. The Murder of Jill Barcomb, Los Angeles County In November 1977, Alcala raped, sodomized, and murdered 18-year-old Jill Barcomb, a New York native who had recently moved to California. Alcala used a large rock to smash in her face and strangle her to death by tying her belt and pant leg around her neck.Alcala then left her body in a mountainous area in the foothills near Hollywood, where she was discovered Nov. 10, 1977, posed on her knees with her face in the dirt.Murder of Georgia Wixted, Los Angeles County In December 1977, Alcala raped, sodomized, and murdered 27-year-old nurse Georgia Wixted. Alcala used a hammer to sexually abuse Georgia, then used the claw end of the hammer to beat and smash in her head. He strangled her to death using a nylon stocking and left her body posed in her Malibu apartment. Her body was discovered Dec. 16, 1977.Murder of Charlotte Lamb, Los Angeles County In June 1979, Alcala raped, beat, and murdered 33-year-old legal secretary Charlotte Lamb. Alcal a strangled Charlotte to death using a shoelace from her shoe and left her body posed in a laundry room of an El Segundo apartment complex where it was discovered on June 24, 1979.Murder of Jill Parenteau, Los Angeles County In June 1979, Alcala raped and murdered 21-year-old Jill Parenteau in her Burbank apartment. He strangled Jill to death using a cord or nylon. Alcalas blood was collected from the scene after he cut himself crawling through a window. Based on a semi-rare blood match, Alcala was linked to the murder. He was charged with murdering Parenteau, but the case was later dismissed.Murder of Robin Samsoe, Orange County On June 20, 1979, Alcala approached 12-year-old Robin Samsoe and her friend Bridget Wilvert at Huntington Beach and asked them to pose for pictures. After posing for a series of photographs, a neighbor intervened and asked if everything was alright and Samsoe took off. Later Robin got on a bike and headed to an afternoon dance class. Alcala kidnapped and mu rdered Samsoe and dumped her body near the Sierra Madre in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Her body was scavenged by animals, and her skeletal remains were discovered on July 2, 1979. Her front teeth had been knocked out by Alcala. Arrested After the Samsoe murder, Alcala rented a storage locker in Seattle, where police found hundreds of photos of young women and girls and a bag of personal items that they suspected belonged to Alcalas victims. A pair of earrings found in the bag were identified by Samsoes mother as being a pair she owned. Alcala was also identified by several people as the photographer from the beach on the day Samsoe was kidnapped. Following an investigation, Alcala was charged, tried, and convicted for Samsoes murder in 1980. He was sentenced to receive the death penalty. The conviction was later overturned by the California Supreme Court. Alcala was again tried and convicted of the murder of Samsoe in 1986 and was again sentenced to the death penalty. The second conviction was overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Three Times a Charm While awaiting his third trial for the murder of Samsoe, DNA collected from the murder scenes of Barcomb, Wixted, and Lamb was linked to Alcala. He was charged with the four Los Angeles murders, including Parenteau. At the third trial, Alcala represented himself as his defense attorney and argued that he was at Knotts Berry Farm on the afternoon that Samsoe was murdered. Alcala did not contest the charges that he committed the murders of the four Los Angeles victims but rather focused on the Samsoe charges. At one point he took the stand and questioned himself in third-person, changing his tone depending on if he was acting as his lawyer or as himself. On Feb. 25, 2010, the jury found Alcala guilty of all five counts of capital murder, one count of kidnapping and four counts of rape. During the penalty phase, Alcala attempted to sway the jury away from the death penalty by playing the song Alices Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie, which includes the lyrics, I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL. His strategy did not work, and the jury quickly recommended the death penalty to which the judge agreed. More Victims? Immediately after Alcalas conviction, the Huntington Police released 120 of Alcalas photos to the public. Suspecting that Alcala had more victims, the police asked for the publics help in identifying the women and children in the photos. Since then several of the unknown faces have been identified. New York Murders Two murder cases in New York have also been linked through DNA to Alcala. TWA flight attendant Cornelia Michael Crilley, was murdered in 1971 while Alcala was enrolled at NYU. Ciros Nightclub heiress Ellen Jane Hover was murdered in 1977 during the time that Alcala had received permission from his parole officer to go to New York to visit family. Currently, Alcala is on death row at San Quentin State Prison. Sources Orange County District Attorney48 Hours Mystery: Rodney Alcalas Killing Game

Single Parent Families Vs. Two Parent Homes - 3398 Words

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This relationship appears to be operating through differences in family processes parental involvement, supervision, monitoring, and parent child closeness—between intact and non-intact families and peers living in traditional intact families (two married-biological parents), youths living in two-biological-parent blended families, two biological- parent cohabiting families, biological mother- stepfather families, biological-mother cohabiting partner families, biological-mother only families, biological father-cohabiting partner families, biological-father-only families, grandparent only families, and foster families engaged, on average, in higher levels of antisocial behavior. 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The crying game Essay - 2166 Words

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Macro Economics Essay Sample free essay sample

1. Will increases in authorities disbursement financed by borrowing aid advance a strong recovery from a terrible recession. Why or why non? 2. Does financial policy have a strong impact on aggregative demand? Did the displacement of the federal budget from shortage to surplus during the 1990s weaken aggregative demand? Did the authorities disbursement additions and big budget shortages of 2008–2011 strengthen aggregative demand? Discuss. 3. What is the current rate of unemployment? ( See bls. gov and province the month you are reporting. ) How quickly has GDP grown during the past 3 old ages? ( See bea. gov and province the one-year growing rate for each year. ) What do these figures indicate about the cogency of the Keynesian position? 4. Are alterations in discretional and financial policy probably to be instituted in a mode that will cut down the ups and downs of the concern rhythm? Why or why non? This assignment is due by 11:59 p. m. ( ET ) on Monday of Module/Week 4. We will write a custom essay sample on Macro Economics Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Answer No. 1In instance of fiscal recession. there is a deficit of financess in the state. The people populating in the state do non hold adequate money and authorities is besides non able to supply adequate subsidies to them. One of the ways to avoid the recessive conditions and guarantee better support to the economic system is borrowing money from abroad. Borrowing of financess from other states might work out the job of the economic system in the short tally but. in the long tally. the financial shortage for the state will increase. This will once more set the economic status of the state at interest. In this manner. adoption from abroad is non a proper method of coming out of recession. Answer No. 2 The financial policy in a peculiar state does do influence on the aggregative demand in the state. For illustration if the authorities increases the degree of responsibilities on coffin nails and baccy so. there is likeliness that demand of the merchandise will diminish due to increase in the monetary values thanks to lifting responsibilities and revenue enhancements ( Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. n. d. ) . During the old ages of 1990s. there was a displacement in the economic system from shortage to surplus. When the economic system moved into financial excess so. it’s disbursement towards the state declined to a certain degree. Due to the diminution. the degree of subsidies had reduced and demand of merchandises besides decreases. With the addition in authorities disbursement aggregative demand does increase but. it is non ever the instance when. there is financial shortage in the state. Answer No. 3 In the state of the United States of America. the current rate of unemployment is 8. 2 % . This rate is for the month of June in the twelvemonth 2012. In twelvemonth 2010. the growing rate of GDP was at the degree of 4. 2 % . In twelvemonth 2011. it reduced to the degree of 1. 6 % . In the first one-fourth of 2012. the growing rate of gross domestic production is at the degree of 1. 9 % . These figures indicate that. economic system of the United States of America is non stable at the current clip and still a batch of work is required to be done to convey the state to stableness. This matches the position of Keynesian. Answer No. 4 Though the authorities tries to guarantee that. alterations in discretional and financial policies are made in such a mode that. there is a decrease in the ups and downs of the concern rhythm. But. the economic system of the United States of America does non work in isolation. There are assorted states with which. it has its linkage ( United States GDP Growth Rate. n. d. ) . Therefore. at certain times. troublesome economic conditions in other states besides impact the United States of America to a certain degree. Mentions United States GDP Growth Rate. ( n. d. ) . Retrieved February 9. 2013 from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. tradingeconomics. com/united-states/gdp-growth Labor ForceStatisticss from the Current Population Survey. ( n. d. ) . Retrieved February 10. 2013 from hypertext transfer protocol: //data. bls. gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

Tess Of D`Urbervilles Essays - Lost Films, Determinism

Tess Of D`Urbervilles If written today, Tess of the d'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy may have been called Just Call Me Job or Tess: Victim of Fate. Throughout this often bleak novel, the reader is forced by Tess's circumstance to sympathize with the heroine (for lack of a better term) as life deals her blow after horrifying blow. One of the reasons that the reader is able to do so may be the fatalistic approach Hardy has taken with the life of the main character. Hardy writes Tess as a victim of Fate. This allows the reader to not blame her for the things that happen around her. Much of the critical debate surrounding Tess centers around this very point: Is Tess a victim? Are the things that happen to Tess beyond her control or could she have fought her way out of her circumstances? Better yet, could Hardy have written her out of her troubles or did his fatalistic approach to the novel force him to ultimately sacrifice poor Tess? Further, Is Hardy's approach to the novel and its main character truly fatalistic? In this essay, I will explore these questions and the doctrine of Fatalism as it applies to Tess. Fatalism is defined in Websters Dictionary as "the doctrine that all things take place by inevitable necessity" (175). Fatalism is the idea that all actions are controlled by Fate, a primitive force that exists independent of human wills and outside of the controls of power of a supreme being such as God because God ultimately has no power; he is a creation of man who granted Him His power. Since He doesn't truly possess those powers, he is left without the ability to alter circumstances. In short, if one subscribes to this doctrine, you believe that Fate controls how things happen and God can do nothing to save you, even Tess. Overall, Tess seems to go through life experiencing one negative event after another. Fateful incidents, overheard conversations and undelivered letters work against her ability to control the path her life takes. Tess's future seems locked up from the beginning of the novel. As the story opens, we first meet her father and learn of Tess's ancestry: "Durbeyfield...are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d'Urbervilles...that renowned knight who came from Normandy...if knighthood were hereditary, like a baronetcy...[John] would be Sir John" (4). Somehow the reader knows almost immediately that this knowledge isn't necessarily going to save the poor clan, especially once we learn of the Fate of Tess's ancestors: "Where do we d'Urbervilles live?" asks "Sir" John to the parson who responds, "You don't live anywhere. You are extinct" (5). If one believes in the concept of natural selection, they probably realize rather quickly that this isn't the best family from which to descend. Tess seems to sense her doomed state. This is evidenced in her identification with the d'Urberville clan. Examples of this are her ability to see or hear the d'Urberville Coach and her realization of her resemblance to the d'Urberville woman of the farmhouse at Wellbridge: "[Tess's] fine features were unquestionably traceable in these exaggerated forms" (277). These eerie events suggest that the fated d'Urberville blood undoubtedly flows through her veins. Another example of Tess's awareness of being ill fated is when she meets Alec. Tess laments about her fate: "Had she perceived this meeting's import she might have asked why she was doomed to be seen and converted that day by the wrong man, and not by some other man, the right and desired one in all respects (75). She may not have known what to call it, but she definitely applies the doctrine of Fatalism to herself which according to author Leonard Doob is a telltale sign of a person who feels fated: "When the principal is judging himself [in this case, herself] and believes that fate is affecting him, his perception is usually direct: he introspects, thinks, or meditates. But he may respond indirectly when someone else, an observer,, gives him information about himself...Fatalism by a principal, therefore, is a pessimistic inevitability doctrine applied by him about himself to himself" (7). If Tess didn't start life feeling as though Fate was working against her, there are plenty of incidents which could easily convince her: the death of the family horse because of her negligence, the letter of confession that slipped beneath the carpet and caused her to enter into marriage as a deception, the death of her father, and the return of Angel just too late. Incident after

Reconstruction of the United States after the Civil War essays

Reconstruction of the United States after the Civil War essays The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freed African Americans in rebel states, and after the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment emancipated all U.S. slaves wherever they were. As a result of this free African Americans faced the problem of hostile whites around them preventing them to prosper. Despite the defeat of the Confederacy the nation was still unprepared to deal with the question of full citizenship for its newly freed black population. The Reconstruction was the time after the Civil War (1865-1877) when the United States was reorganizing the southern states and providing the means to accepting them back to the Union. Also to define how whites and blacks could live together, peacefully. These two major problems were placed on the weight of the soldiers of Andrew Johnson. Johnson became president after Abraham Lincoln. He was born in to a poor family, so he taught himself how to read and married a wife who taught him how to write. Before his presidency, he was the only senator from a confederate state to remain loyal to the Union. He hated wealthy slave owners. Before Abraham Lincolns assassination, he made it clear that he wanted a lenient Reconstruction plan. In December 1863, he announced his Proclamation of Amnesty which is also known as the Ten-Percent Plan. Lincoln's Reconstruction plan was designed to make an easy, peaceful reentry of the former Confederate states into the Union. Lincoln's policy was to forgive the South, rather than to punish them. Lincoln's Ten-Percent Plan allowed the former Confederate states to rejoin the Union when ten percent of the voters declared their loyalty to the Union. Lincoln's plan would let white southerners control the reconstruction process. Under this plan, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia came back to the Union. Lincoln wanted to let plantation owners keep their property, rather than divide up plantation property and give the land to former slaves. Lincoln's p...

Audre Lorde, Black Lesbian Feminist Poet

Audre Lorde, Black Lesbian Feminist Poet Audre Lorde Facts Known for:  poetry, activism. While some of her poetry is known for being romantic or erotic, she’s better known for her more political and angry poetry, especially around racial and sexual oppression. She identified through most of her career as a black lesbian feminist. Occupation:  writer, poet, educatorDates:  February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992Also known as: Audre Geraldine Lorde, Gamba Adisa (adopted name, meaning Warrior – She Who Makes Her Meaning Known) Background, Family: Mother: Linda Gertrude Belmar LordeFather: Frederic Byron Husband: Edwin Ashley Rollins (married March 31, 1962, divorced 1970; attorney) Children: Elizabeth, Jonathan Partner: Frances Clayton ( - 1989)Partner: Gloria Joseph (1989 – 1992) Education: Catholic schools, Hunter High School (New York City)Hunter College, B.A., 1960.   Library Science.National University of Mexico, 1954.Columbia University, M.L.S., 1962. Library Science. Religion: Quaker Organizations: Harlem Writers Guild, American Association of University Professors, Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa Audre Lorde Biography: Audre Lorde’s parents were from the West Indies: her father from Barbados and her mother from Grenada.   Lorde grew up in New York City, and began writing poetry in her teen years. The first publication to publish one of her poems was Seventeen magazine. She traveled and worked for several years after graduating from high school, then came back to New York and studied at Hunter College and Columbia University. She worked in Mount Vernon, New York, after graduating from Columbia University, moving on to become a librarian in New York City.   Then she began an educational career, first as a lecturer (City College, New York City; Herbert H. Lehman College, Bronx), then associate professor (John Jay College of Criminal Justice), then finally professor at Hunter College, 1987 – 1992.   She served as visiting professor and lecturer around the United States and the world. She was aware early of her bisexuality, but by her own description confused about her sexual identity, given the times. Lorde married an attorney, Edwin Rollins, and had two children before they divorced in 1970. Her later partners were women. She published her first book of poems in 1968. Her second one, published in 1970, includes explicit references to love and an erotic relationship between two women.   Her later work became more political, dealing with racism, sexism, homophobia and poverty. She also wrote about violence in other countries, including Central America and South Africa. One of her more popular collections was Coal, published in 1976. She characterized her poems as expressing her â€Å"duty to speak the truth as I see it† including â€Å"not just the things that felt good, but the pain, the intense, often unmitigating pain.†Ã‚   She celebrated differences among people. When Lorde was diagnosed with breast cancer, she wrote about her feelings and experience in journals which were published as The Cancer Journals in 1980. Two years later she published a novel, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, which she described as â€Å"biomythography† and which reflects her own life. She founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press in 1980s with Barbara Smith. She also founded an organization to support black women in South Africa during the time of apartheid. In 1984, Lorde was diagnosed with liver cancer. She chose to ignore the advice of American physicians, and instead sought experimental treatment in Europe. She also moved to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but continued to travel to New York and elsewhere to lecture, publish and engage in activism. After Hurricane Hugo left St. Croix with devastating damage, she used her fame in mainland cities to raise funds for relief. Audre Lorde won many awards for her writing, and was named New York State Poet Laureate in 1992. Audre Lorde died of liver cancer in 1992 in St. Croix. Books by Audre Lorde The First Cities.  Introduction by Diane di Prima. Poets Press. 1968.Cables to Rage.  Broadside Press. 1970.From a Land Where Other People Live.  Broadside Press. 1973.The New York Head Shop and Museum.  Broadside Press. 1974.Coal.  Norton. 1976.Between Our Selves.  Eidolon. 1976.The Black Unicorn.  Norton. 1978.The Cancer Journals. Spinsters Ink. 1980.Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. Crossing Press. 1982.Chosen Poems Old and New.  Norton. 1982.Sister Outsider. Crossing Press. 1984.Our Dead behind Us.  Norton. 1986.A Burst of Light.  Firebrand Books. 1988.Need: A Chorale for Black Women Voices.  Women of Color Press. 1990.Undersong: Chosen Poems Old and New.  Norton. 1992.The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance.  Norton. 1993.The Collected Poems of  Audre Lorde.  Norton. 1997.