UNWITTING

Did Serial Psycho Keep Photo Scrapbook Of Targets?

By Elizabeth C.

WITH ONE OR TWO EXCEPTIONS, THE LIGHT EMANATING from the subjects' eyes reflects unguarded ease with being in a serial killer's company.

The individuals depicted in the 215 images released by the New York Police Department probably had no idea that the charming cameraman was a sociopathic killer. Their photos are among 1,000 pictures uncovered when authorities arrested Rodney Alcala for a series of California murders between 1971 and 1979.

Alcala, 66, was convicted last month of committing five murders in the 1970s. Most were tied to him from DNA evidence. The jury recommended that he be put to death. Detectives suspect that many more women may have fallen prey to Alcala, a U.C.L.A. graduate who allegedly briefly studied under Roman Polanski.

After his conviction, California police sent several hundred photos to New York, where Alcala lived on and off during the 70s and where he is the primary suspect in two murders.

After initially withholding the pictures, New York police on Tuesday released them with the hope that new information they might generate could help resolve "cold" cases. According to CBS, already three women have notified authorities that they are depicted in Alcala’s pictures.

In California, Huntingdon Beach, authorities released about 120 photos last month. Since then, news reports claim four families have come forward claiming that long-lost loved ones are depicted in the photos. Police are trying to confirm those reports.

New York authorities have yet to decide whether to try Alcala for the murders of two New York women.

During his trial it was revealed that Alcala had been a contestant on the game show, The Dating Game.