Convicted killer Rodney Alcala plays 'Alice's Restaurant' before asking jury to spare his life

Convicted serial killer Rodney James Alcala asked jurors to spare him the death penalty Tuesday, concluding his defense by playing a portion of “Alice’s Restaurant,” the rambling 18-minute Vietnam War protest song by folk singer Arlo Guthrie.

By assigning the death penalty, “you become a wannabe killer in waiting,” Alcala told jurors before playing a section of the 1960s-era song in which a man being drafted for war tells a military psychiatrist:

"Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth...I mean kill, Kill, kill kill."

As the words reverberated through the Santa Ana courtroom, Robert Samsoe, brother of 12-year-old murder victim Robin Samsoe, stood up and walked out.

Alcala was convicted last month of murdering Samsoe and four Los Angeles County women during a killing rampage in Los Angeles and Orange counties in the late 1970s.

The jury is set to decide whether he should be sentenced to life in prison without parole or condemned to death row. Alcala has twice been sentenced to death for Samsoe’s murder, but each conviction has been overturned.

“This is probably the most important decision you will ever make,” Alcala told the jury. “Choose wisely.”

The jury is set to begin deliberating late Tuesday afternoon.

-- Paloma Esquivel reporting from Santa Ana

Comments

[Joe Momma]

I hope they fry this freak.

[mikeohara]

Seems like a really easy decision.

[Lorne D. Gilsig]

You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.
Come right in its round the back; just a half a mile from the rail road track.
You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant...

[Astonished]

Yeah, chose to relieve this world of this very warped and sadistic maniac and save us from having to feed and clothe his considerably worthless hide. Please, chose very wisely.

[Tommy Trojan]

Dude should be lead out back and shot. Quick and just. I don't want my tax money paying for this guy to rot on death row until he dies of old age.+

[Justice]

Sentencing him to death will give him another run of appeals, while under solitary confinement, where he can start preparing to waste more tax payer dollars, sentence him to four bow legged life sentences without the possibility of parole and one day, let him deal with the rigors of general population, and like the manson clown, let him rot away under extreme circumstances of anxiety, pressure, population order, and fear of the unknown. Cant punish him more than that.

[Tommy Trojan]

We should bring in some of those terrorists from Gitmo and lock Rodney in a room with them. And then tell those terrorists that Rodney desecrated the Koran. That should take care of it. ;)

[nolimitsoldier]

So Alcala was killing people in the late 70's? At that time he was already a felon, convicted of raping a child, when he was hired by a left-leaning LA daily newspaper as a typesetter. According to one of his co-workers at the paper, he showed a few of his co-workers photos he had taken of naked pre-teen girls, but no one did anything about it, including his supervisor. Maybe if his supervisor at that left-leaning LA daily had alerted the police about the child porn he brought into work, lives would have been saved.

[Mike]

let this FREAK rot. I agree -- KILL him now and save us al a ton of $$$. I work hard so please get rid of this cockroach.

[spatter]

Just goes to show, you can kill him all you want, but you will never stop him from being one of the lowest pieces of crap on the planet.

[Jennifer Kaye]

Only in the United States of America is this type of belligerent behavior allowed in a "supposed" court of law. Our legal system is a laughing stock to other countries who truly use the law as a serious method of punishment. Our legal system, our educational system and our employment situation is a very serious indication of the challenges we face in this country. When the criminal and I mean criminal especially in this particular case, has more rights and the freedom to express himself openly, in clear view of and in front of the victims families, we truly cannot hide our dysfunction.

[Cecelia Rios]

The fact that this nut has two overturned convictions are a indictment against the stupid judiciary of ours that did not dispose of this blathering psycho a long time ago. Apparently, his rights were more important than procuring justice for the victims. In Texas at least they don't screw around like in this idiot state; innocent lives could've been saved if he has been sentenced long ago.

[JR]

He probably shouldn't have taunted the jurors.

[uaida]

He should be executed long time ago, can't understand that amazing legal system!!