Rodney Alcala, Serial Killer, Indicted With Unsolved New York Murders
Rodney Alcala, 67, faced murder charges for the deaths of Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hover in New York after decades of investigation, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced on Thursday, Jan. 27.
The cases of Crilley and Hover have been under investigation since 1971. However, only with accumulating evidences were the detectives able to put a closing to the cases.
“Cold cases are not forgotten cases—our prosecutors, investigators, and partners in the NYPD do not give up,” said Vance in a news release. “These cases were built one brick at a time, as each new lead brought us closer to where we are today. Last year, this Office’s Cold Case Unit began an exhaustive re-examination of these two homicides, including a full re-investigation of evidence, and new interviews with more than 100 witnesses.”
Crilley, a 23-year-old Trans World Airlines flight attendant, was found strangled and raped at her apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in June 1971. Hover, a 23-year-old New Yorker, was found murdered in Westchester County in 1977, according to the release.
Alcala, also known as John Berger, is currently jailed in California for killing four women and a 12-year-old child. The investigators and police were able to get a lead from evidences that were made available during those court cases.
Vance’s office is working to bring Alcala to New York to face these murder chargers.
Rodney Alcala, 67, faced murder charges for the deaths of Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hover in New York after decades of investigation, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced on Thursday, Jan. 27.
The cases of Crilley and Hover have been under investigation since 1971. However, only with accumulating evidences were the detectives able to put a closing to the cases.
“Cold cases are not forgotten cases—our prosecutors, investigators, and partners in the NYPD do not give up,” said Vance in a news release. “These cases were built one brick at a time, as each new lead brought us closer to where we are today. Last year, this Office’s Cold Case Unit began an exhaustive re-examination of these two homicides, including a full re-investigation of evidence, and new interviews with more than 100 witnesses.”
Crilley, a 23-year-old Trans World Airlines flight attendant, was found strangled and raped at her apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in June 1971. Hover, a 23-year-old New Yorker, was found murdered in Westchester County in 1977, according to the release.
Alcala, also known as John Berger, is currently jailed in California for killing four women and a 12-year-old child. The investigators and police were able to get a lead from evidences that were made available during those court cases.
Vance’s office is working to bring Alcala to New York to face these murder chargers.
