Here’s the story of William Richard Bradford and Rodney Alcala, two headshot photographers that killed aspiring models and photographers.
Any casting director will tell you that you need a headshot in order to make it into the entertainment industry. But, what if the person you are getting a headshot from is a serial killer? Sounds like a storyline to Fox’s Scream Queens? Unfortunately, this actually happen. Here’s the true story of William Richard Bradford and Rodney Alcala, serial killing headshot photographers who allegedly killed over 100 aspiring models and actors.
Who is William Richard Bradford?
William Richard “Bill” Bradford was a Los Angeles serial killer who was incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison in 1984 for the murder of his 15-year-old neighbor Tracey Campbell and barmaid Shari Miller.
But, it all started in July 1984, while out on bail and awaiting trial for rape, Bradford met Shari Miller, a bar maid at a Los Angeles bar called “The Meet Market.” Bradford told her he was a professional photographer and offered to help her build up her modeling portfolio with a free photo shoot.
Bradford took Shari Miller to a campsite in the deserts of north Los Angeles, photographed her in various modeling poses, and then strangled her. After killer her, Bradford sliced off her tattoos and removed her blouse. He then took her body to a Hollywood parking lot, where he dumped her body in an alley. When the body was found with no ID she was labeled “Jane Doe #60.
A few days later, Bradford convinced his 15-year-old neighbor Tracey Campbell that she could be a model and he did the same thing again. Bradford would later strangle Tracey Campbell.
Bradford would later be arrested, fire his lawyer, and decide to represent himself. During the phase in trial in which Bradford acted as his own attorney, he offered no evidence or arguments to prove he was innocent. In fact, during the closing statement Bradford said the following: Think of how many you don’t even know about. You are so right. That’s it.” implying he killed many more.
In 2006, the Los Angeles Police department released head shots taken from the photos in Bradford’s apartment.
Detectives claimed they believed the women could all be Bradford’s victims due to his history of taking photos of his victims before killing them. Since the photos were released, at least one woman #28 has been identified as as Donnalee Campbell Duhamel, a woman whose decapitated corpse was found in a canyon in Malibu in 1978.
A vast majority of the women remain unidentified, and are all viewed as possible victims.
Who is Rodney Alcala?
You would think this is a random occurence. But, in the late 70s another photographer named Rodney Alcala did the same thing. Claiming to be a headshot photographer, he would take photos of his victims before savagely killing them.
On July 26, 1979, homicide detectives from Huntington Beach, California found hundreds of photographs of unidentified women in a Seattle storage locker belonging to a man named Rodney Alcala. Detectives were looking into the murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe, who had been seen talking with Alcala a month previously. Her earrings were found in the same locker along with hundreds of photos.
Alcala was born in San Antonio, studied fine Arts at UCLA and would later travel to NYU, where he studied film under Roman Polanski. Polanski, whose wife would be later murdered by serial killer Charles Manson, taught Alcala how to use a camera, which helped him create a career as a “fashion photographer.”
This is how he was able to take so many photos of aspiring models. Including 23-year-old New York flight attendant Cornelia Crilley who he strangled to death in 1971. He would also strangle several other woman he tricked into taking photo shoots with.
Rodney Alcala appears on The Dating Game
Alcala would later appear on the ABC game show The Dating Game, where he beat two contestants for a date with a woman named Cheryl Bradshaw. However, this didn’t work out as Bradshow said he was “creepy” backstage. She told CNN in 2010, “He was quiet, but at the same time he would interrupt and impose when he felt like it. He became very unlikable and rude and imposing as though he was trying to intimidate. I wound up not only not liking this guy… He was a standout creepy guy in my life.”​
Later that year he would murder two other women, Charlotte Lamb and Jill Parenteau
It would take nearly 30 years due to several appeals before Alcala was given the death penalty.
In three different trials, he was proven to have murdered at least seven different women, and detectives believe that number is actually incomplete. In fact, Huntington Beach Police Department released Alcala’s photos at the end of the 2010 trial, hoping some of the hundreds of women could be identified.
“A handful of woman (less than 30) identified themselves as having posed for the pictures,” reported HBPD detective Patrick Ellis. “His collection included coworkers, classmates, girlfriends, family members, and strangers, but less than ten admitted to knowing him personally.”
While you might say, this took place over 30 years ago. Most recently, the website ModelMayhem.com, was allegedly linked to several murders, according to ABC news.
From ABC17.com:
Model Mayhem has a dangerous history. The National Women’s Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation said it can connect a dozen missing girls nationwide to the website.
One of them, Kara Nichols, is from Colorado Springs, Colo. She has been missing since last October when she told a friend she was heading two hours to Denver for a modeling gig.
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