Rodney Alcala Gives His Own Closing Argument, 2010

Acting as his own lawyer, Rodney Alcala tried to persuade a jury that a mother's testimony about her murdered daughter's earrings could not be trusted.

Subject

Rodney James Alcala

Recorded

February 22, 2010

Runtime

2:41

Content warning: Refers to the murder of a 12-year-old girl.

The Argument

In February 2010, at his third trial for the 1979 murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, Rodney Alcala acted as his own lawyer. This Orange County Register report shows part of his closing argument to the jury on the afternoon of February 22. Seated at the counsel table and speaking in a flat voice, he attacks the testimony of Robin's mother about the earrings her daughter wore. He says no one but her testified that Robin's ears were pierced, and that she never produced a photograph of Robin wearing earrings. The report also includes clips of the prosecutor, Matt Murphy, from his closing argument.

Historical Context

Alcala was a photographer with a long record of violence against women and girls. In 1978 he appeared as a contestant on the television show "The Dating Game". In 1979 Robin Samsoe disappeared near Huntington Beach, and her remains were later found in the Sierra Madre foothills. Alcala was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death in 1980 and again in 1986, but both convictions were overturned. By the time of the 2010 retrial, prosecutors had added charges for the murders of four women in Los Angeles County in 1977 to 1979: Jill Barcomb, Georgia Wixted, Charlotte Lamb and Jill Parenteau.

Circumstances of the Argument

Alcala represented himself throughout the 2010 trial, at one point questioning himself on the witness stand. A key piece of evidence was a pair of earrings found in a Seattle storage locker he rented, which Robin's mother identified as her daughter's. Alcala claimed the earrings were his own. He told the jury he had been at Knott's Berry Farm when Robin was taken. The jury convicted him of all five murders on February 25, 2010, and recommended death on March 9.

What the Recording Covers

The video is a news report: a narrator summarises the day, and the courtroom sound runs under it. Alcala's own argument runs for about a minute, focused entirely on the earrings and on the mother's credibility. The prosecutor's clips address the storage locker, the alibi and the new carpet Alcala put in his car after Robin disappeared.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It is rare to see an accused serial killer arguing his own case to a jury. The clip shows the method Alcala used throughout the trial: picking at single pieces of evidence while leaving the larger case untouched. Three days later the jury rejected his arguments.

Archival Importance

Alcala was later convicted in New York of two 1970s murders and died on California's death row in 2021. This report preserves a short record, made on the day, of his final defence in the case for which he was condemned.

Important Caveats

What Alcala says in the clip is his argument as a defendant, not a finding of fact. Robin Samsoe's mother testified that the earrings were her daughter's, and the jury accepted the prosecution's case. Alcala's courtroom words are public; the narration is the newspaper's and is credited to it.

Alcala: ...then there should be some earrings, some pictures with earrings.

Narrator (Orange County Register): During a two-hour, often rambling closing argument Monday afternoon, accused serial killer Rodney Alcala, who was defending himself in the death penalty trial, sat at the counsel table and spoke in a dull monotone. Alcala could not make his laptop computer project on the large courtroom screen, and he often scrambled to find photos and other exhibits. Alcala spent some of his argument attacking the credibility of [Marianne] Connelly, 12-year-old Robin Samsoe's mother. Alcala is accused of kidnapping and murdering Samsoe in 1979. Alcala claimed Connelly, who he refers to as Frazier, Connelly's previous name, made up a story about her daughter's earrings being the same earrings that were found in a Seattle storage locker rented in Alcala's name.

Alcala: No testimony from anyone other than Mrs. Frazier that Robin's ears were pierced. None of her friends were aware of that. They were unaware of her wearing earrings. And Mrs. Frazier had plenty of opportunity to provide you, the jury, with a picture of Robin wearing earrings. She stated on the stand that she had pictures of Robin. And if Robin, like she says, wore earrings all the time, that was her habit, then there should be some earrings, some pictures with earrings, and there should be some person who isn't familial to testify that Robin wore earrings. However, no one testified other than Mrs. Frazier that Robin wore earrings.

Narrator (Orange County Register): Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy had brought up the earrings and the storage locker earlier in his closing arguments.

Matt Murphy, prosecutor: He expressed relief to his sister that the police didn't know about the storage locker. So what does an innocent man have to hide? Number one.

Narrator (Orange County Register): Murphy also questioned Alcala's alibi at the time of Samsoe's abduction, that he was at Knott's Berry Farm at the time.

Matt Murphy, prosecutor: There isn't a single witness that puts Rodney Alcala at Knott's after three o'clock, except for Rodney Alcala.

Narrator (Orange County Register): And Murphy noted that Alcala had changed the interior of his car shortly after Samsoe's disappearance.

Matt Murphy, prosecutor: He put new carpeting in his car. Who does that? And he said he spilled gas in there. Okay. Who does that?

Narrator (Orange County Register): Alcala will continue his closing arguments Tuesday morning. ---