Convicted serial killer Rodney James Alcala, also known as the ‘Dating Game Killer’ died early Saturday at a hospital near Corcoran State Prison, California, officials said, as per CNN reports. He was 77. 

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Awaiting his execution, Alcala died of natural causes, police authorities said. He was first sentenced to death in 1980 for kidnapping and murder of a 12-year-old. However, his conviction was reversed by the California Supreme Court and Alcala was granted a new trial. His 1986 death sentence was overturned in 2003 and a third trial was granted. In 2010, an Orange County jury convicted Alcala for five slayings. His DNA had been connected to four other homicides. Authorities estimate that he may have killed up to 130 people across the country.

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Alcala received an additional 25 years to life in 2013 after pleading guilty to two homicides in New York. He was charged again in 2016 in connection to the death of a 28-year-old woman. But a  prosecutor said Alcala was too ill to face trial.

The serial killer had been housed in Corcoran where he could receive medical care around the clock.

According to prosecutors, he stalked women like prey and took earrings as trophies from some of his victims.

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“You’re talking about a guy who is hunting through Southern California looking for people to kill because he enjoys it,” Orange County, California, prosecutor Matt Murphy said during his trial, as per Hollywood Reporter. 

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According to the California corrections department, investigators considered him a suspect or linked him to other deaths in four other states. 

Rodney James Alcala was nicknamed ‘Dating Game Killer’ because he had been a contestant on ‘The Dating Game’ in 1978. He had introduced himself as a successful photographer in the show. By then Alcala had already been convicted in the 1968 rape of an 8-year-old girl. He had served a 34-month sentence, authorities said, CNN says, quoting authorities.