Rodney Alcala, nicknamed the “Dating Game Killer,” died on Saturday while on death row at the age of 77. According to CBS, Alcala died of natural causes.
A former Dating Game contest who competed against the serial killer recalled what it was like to be on the 1978 show with him.
"He was annoying, he was nasty, he was trying to be intimidating, he was imposing, and I wanted to punch this man out but of course didn't punch him out because I don't punch people out,” said Jim Mills.
Mills was bachelor number two while Alcala was bachelor number one. The two met backstage.
"He said 'I get my girl every time', that's what he said,” Mills recalled. “That was a creepy, creepy thing to say, but we didn't know how creepy it was til' I found out what he was and what he did with women."
The woman ended up choosing Mills, but ended up not going out with him afterward because she thought he was creepy. He killed three women shortly after.
CBS reports that Alcala was chosen to be a contestant even though he served two prison sentenced for assaulting two underage girls and was a registered sex offender.
Alcala was sentenced to death in 1980 for the murder of Robin Samsoe. He was sentenced to death again in 2010 for Samsoe’s murder as well as the murder of four other women. In 2013, he received an additional 25 years to life when he pled guilty to two murders in New York.