A WOMAN twice attacked by serial killer Rodney Alcala more than a decade before he appeared on The Dating Game says she tried to warn cops – but nobody listened.
Morgan Rowan, then 13, first met Alcala in 1965 at a teen nightclub in Hollywood where he dragged her to a “deserted back loading dock area of the club,” beat her, and knocked her out, she said.
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“My mouth was bleeding a bit, and I had a huge lump on my bleeding head,” Rowan recalled.
“I ran to the owner of the now-open club, and he cleaned me up and assured me that Rod would be banned from the club.
“No police were called. I didn’t want them to.”
Three years later, in August 1968, their paths crossed again.
That time, he took her into a bedroom at a party where he attacked and raped her before friends stepped in to help.
The Los Angeles native says she confided in cops after the second assault but wasn’t believed – so she kept her secret for 40 years.
It wasn’t until she spoke to another Alcala victim – Tali Shapiro – that she opened up.
More than 50 years later, Rowan, now 72, is sharing her thoughts after Woman of the Hour, Anna Kendrick’s new Netflix film about Alcala’s crimes, was released.
She said her 1968 encounter with Alcala in Los Angeles went largely ignored by authorities.
Rowan says it began when a friend said they were going to IHOP, and they “all jumped happily into a car.”
“I was in the back wedged between two friends, and the driver jumped in and started the car…it was Rod,” she said.
“Too late to get out as the car moved into traffic and my friends were not sympathetic to my fears.
“I told the police, but the officer didn’t take it seriously. In the ’60s, they didn’t like hippies. And when he saw me, he just saw it as a fight.
“I had been raped, strangled, had my head beat against the wall, against the floor. I had been punched until my ribs were broken.”
Instead of support, she was met with scorn.
She claims the officer told her, “You knew the guy. You got in his car. You went to his house. You guys are a bunch of free-love hippies. Nobody’s going to put this guy away for rape.”
“He said, ‘If you want, you can come get in the car. We’ll go over there, and we’ll talk to him,’” she continued.
“And I certainly was not going to do that. I certainly was not going to go back anywhere near a person who came within seconds of killing me.”
Reflecting on her ordeal, Rowan says, “People always say I went to a party at his house. I absolutely did not. He basically abducted me. I was not a willing participant in any of that.
“I was a really innocent little girl. I got caught up and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and got hurt.”
She added: “I never spoke about this for 40 years. I kept it to myself.”
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.
BREAKING HER SILENCE
In 2021, Rowan connected with Tali Shapiro — another Alcala survivor — after reaching out to detective Steve Hodel, who famously believes his father was the Black Dahlia killer.
“Steve Hodel had arrested Rodney for what he did to Tali,” Rowan explains.
“I contacted him because I had some questions, and in our discussion, he realized that I was a victim also. He did some research and supported my story, and he brought it forward.
“Tali changed everything,” she said.
“She does not see herself as a victim. And I am learning slowly from her not to see myself as a victim but as a survivor.
“I did what I could do, but I wish I had done more. I wish I’d been braver. I wish I pushed it, but it wouldn’t have stopped anything.
“I mean, he went to prison for what he did to Tali two years later, and they let him out of prison. So at that point, what do I have to do with it? Nothing. If they couldn’t keep him in prison for the horrible thing he did to Tali, they certainly weren’t going to for me.”
Reflecting to the Netflix movie, she said initially she wasn’t interested in it.
“I really didn’t want Rodney Alcala to have any more fame,” Rowan shared.
“He’s kind of unknown. I kind of liked it that way.”
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She had concerns about the dramatization, especially once she realized parts of the film weren’t entirely accurate.
“As I heard more about the movie not being factual, I’m not a fan of rewriting history now that I’ve seen it. At least the victims were factual.”
Rowan reflected on the film’s portrayal of Alcala.
“I think all in all, it was a very good movie. I thought it was well done. It had a lot of tension,” she said.
However, Rowan pointed out how different Alcala’s depiction was from her actual experience with him.
“I don’t think that actor looked like him, sounded like him, acted like him. He wasn’t quiet and morose like that. He was bright and charming and smiling. That’s how he got away with everything.”
Rowan says the filmmakers should have interviewed the surviving victims while making the film.
“They could have maybe done a little more homework. They never talked to me.”
The film focuses on Cheryl Bradshaw’s experience as a contestant on The Dating Game after she chose Alcala as her date during the 1978 episode but rejected him offscreen.
Rowan emphasized Bradshaw’s instincts to turn down Alcala were essential to the story.
“Cheryl had a really important message of trusting your instincts. She knew better than to go out with him because she got some vibes that made her uncomfortable. I think that’s a really important story.”
Rowan has penned Stolen From Sunset, an autobiographical story about surviving Alcala, which was released last year.
“Women must learn not to be a good little girl, sit still, and be quiet,” she said.
“If you’re uncomfortable, you need to get out.
“There are many women out there who have never told anyone, and I want them to see that even after all those years, I finally told this story, and I’m still standing.
“It took many years to be able to accept it, to be able to talk about it,” Rowan added.
“When evil touches you, it changes you, but it doesn’t own you.”
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