LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- An alleged serial killer on trial in California says a video clip of his appearance as a contestant on a 1978 television game show proves his innocence.
Rodney Alcala, on trial for the killing of four women between 1977 and 1979, said his appearance on "The Dating Game" television show in 1978 proves he was wearing an earring prosecutors allege he took from the body of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe in 1979, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
Alcala has been convicted twice of the murder of Samsoe, but both convictions were overturned. Orange County prosecutors allege new DNA testing links him to the killing of Samsoe and three other women, the Times reported.
Alcala, acting as his own attorney, said the video proves the earring couldn't have come from the victim.
"You have to watch really closely when it plays because it's just a flash," Alcala told the jury as the low-resolution video was shown on a large screen.
Under cross-examination Wednesday, Alcala, 66, admitted to a conviction in Los Angeles County in 1971 for child molestation that took place six years earlier, and in Riverside County in 1980 for a rape that occurred in February 1979, The Orange County Register reported.
