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was found. That was the day Robin disappeared. disappeared. They said he was snapping pictures of girls and Crappa returned to the area five days later and found asked one to get "loaded" with him. Robin's body. But she was so emotionaly overwrought she It was enough to convince jurors, who took three hours to did not report the siting for seven months, after the body had retum the same guilty verdict. One of the panelists character. been discovered by another forestry worker. ized Alcala a dangerously intelligent man, devious and The defense had a field day trying to discredit Crappa's tes- depraved. timony. Alcala's attomeys accused Crappa of concocting the Suserior Court Judge Donald McCartin then upheld the story and later said authorities had brain-washed her with low- jury's recommendation for the death penalty. Alcala had been level hypnosis before she testified. dealt his second date with death. The defense won a small victory in the second trial, when "Mr. Alcala is as guilty as any man who has ever come the ranger-turned-nurse said on the stand that she had amnesia. Crappa believed she subconsciously blocked out all memory been a vicious, malevolent individual who has preyed on the of the event because it was too painful. The slight, short-haired youngest members of society, and nothing has made any woman partially biamed herself for Robin's death because she impression on Mr. Alcala.. didn't stop and question the man. She'd been wracked with "Death is the only proper penalty in a case such as this." nightmares over the incident. And so Alcala was returmed to his old home-death row. Crappa's announcement shocked the courtroom, especialiy It's impossible, however, to discuss with Alcala the pre- the prosecutor. Goethais' case then hinged on the remaining sumed terror of his young victim. He still denies any part in evidence. Robin's abduction or slaying. A pair of gold earrings had been found in a Seattle storage Now 47, he spends hours in his solitary 5-foot-by-11-foot locker rented by Alcala shortly before his capture. Robin's cell in Northem Califomia's San Quentin Prison concentrating mother, Marianne Frazier, identified the earrings as some her on complicated legal issues. His thin wrists may be bound by daughter was fond of wearing.. metal shackles, but he's still as cocky as ever. Alcala and his attomeys toid jurors that he had owned those Alcala authored his own appeal to the seven-member earrings for more than a year before Robin disappeared. Alcala Supreme Court, which was heard on October 8, 1992 in Los claimed he was wearing one of the earrings on the Dating Angeles. A ruling will be issued within 90 days. Garne show in 1978, a tape of which was shown to the uncon- He still distrusts lawyers-he went through more than four vinced jury. during his trials. He says they make mistakes and overlook Also found in the Seattle storage locker and at his parent's obvious facts. home were nearly 1,000 pictures of boys, giris and women, In 1990, he granted a rare interview, but only on the condi- some of them nude. Dozens of the photos were of a long- tion that the reporter read his 400-page petition for a new triat. haired Alcala, his back to the camera, wearing what appeared He then administered a 15-minute quiz to ensure its most to be women's underwear. minute details had been properly digested. One of the pictures was of a Sunset Beach girl who testified His chances of a new trial seem remote after cwo convic- the photo was snapped the same day Robin disappeared. tions and as many death sentences. He's grown older in prison, Prosecutors claimed the material showed Alcala's abnorma! his curly black hair now streaked with the silver of age and interest in sex, especially with girls. So did another item found dipping below the collar of his prison-issue denims. in the search-a 10-year-old videotape showing Alcala engaged in sex acts with three young women, they said. The case seemed nearly sewn up. Little is known about Alcala's past. He couldn't control his But the prosecution was dealt another blow. Two snitches urges. but somehow managed to keep his childhood a secret. from the Orange County Jail recanted their testimony that Prosecutors and police agree, however, that he is highly Alcala had admitted to abducting Robin and slapping her until intelligent. There were estimates his IQ is as high as 160. But she passed out. They said they'd concocted the story to gain concessions in personality, they say. their own legal cases. One of the men said he was motivated to "It always seemed to me that 75 percent of the time Rodney testify because of a jailhouse code of ethics against child was OK---ambitious, a contributing member of society," pros- molesters. ecutor Goethals said. "But occasionally Rodney's wires Despite this. there was still some incriminating evidence crossed. I don't know if it was environmental or hereditary, but remaining. if you were an attractive young woman, you didn't want to be Robin's yellow bicycle was eventually traced to a thrift around him at that time." store 5 miles from Aicala's home, and 50 miles from the Alcala grew up without a srong father figure. His mother, coastal neighborhood where the girl was abducted. The bike Anna Maria German, remarried early in his life, but Alcala did had been sold before investigators caught up to it. not have a strong relationship with the man. And several girls, including Brigett Wilvert, identified His mother testified at the penalty phase of Alcala's trial Alcala as the man they had seen on the beach the day Robin day phn unnnidnn nnnn no aho d! nH nog ponn e,, dnn nh gnns POLICE OCTOBER 1993 63