Results tagged “serial murder” from Crime & Courts

Two-time death row inmate Rodney Alcala received a blow from the State Supreme Court today, which ruled that prosecutors in Orange and Los Angeles can try the suspected serial killer at one time for five murders. Two of the slayings have South Bay connections:

•  Charlotte Lamb, 32, of Santa Monica, who was found strangled in the laundry room of an apartment in the 600 block of Illinois Court in El Segundo on June 24, 1978. The manager found her nude, except for a few pieces of jewelry and one shoe, according to Daily Breeze reports at the time. Police said they believe she was killed at the building, but there were no witnesses and none of the residents knew her.
• Georgia Wixted, 27, a nurse at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, was found on Dec. 16, 1977, in her Malibu home naked with a hammer near her body. Blood found at the crime scene linked Alcala to her murder in 2003 and charges against him for her death were filed in Los Angeles then.

The 32-page Supreme Court opinion is available here. Photo of Alcala via the Orange County Register.

The State Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in a rare Los Angeles session. Among the cases on calendar is Rodney Alcala v. Orange County Superior Court. Alcala was a death row inmate who is now facing his third trial for the murder of a Huntington Beach girl in 1979. In 2005, he was indicted for four more murders - including one in El Segundo and one in Santa Monica, where a Centinela Hospital nurse was the victim.

His attorneys are arguing against lower court decisions that allow prosecutors from Orange and Los Angeles counties to try Alcala for all the crimes together. An opinion will be issued within 90 days.

The Orange County Register has followed the case for decades, and has a story today about the arguments.