Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s crime drama film ‘Woman of the Hour’ chronicles the murders and other offenses committed by Rodney Alcala, a serial killer known as the Dating Game Killer. Amy is one of the multiple people the serial killer targets after his appearance on national television. She is a teenage runaway who doesn’t have a place to live. Posing as a photographer, he takes advantage of her vulnerability to prey on her. Amy becomes flattered and agrees to join him when he asks her about modeling for him. Things take a sinister turn when Rodney takes her to a secluded mountainous region. One thing leads to another, and she realizes she will have to pull out all the stops to escape from his clutches. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Amy is Based on a Hitchhiker Named Monique Hoyt
Ian McDonald, the screenwriter of ‘Woman of the Hour,’ created Amy based on a 15-year-old hitchhiker named Monique Hoyt, who met Rodney Alcala in Pasadena, California. Even though the fictionalized character meets the serial killer on Valentine’s Day in the thriller film, the real-life encounter occurred on February 13, 1979. After introducing himself as a photographer and asking her interest in modeling for him, the murderer took Hoyt to his house first rather than taking her to the hills as the crime thriller depicts. As per reports, Rodney sexually assaulted her while they stayed overnight at the place. The next day, he took her to Banning in Riverside County, California.
According to Stella Sands’ non-fiction book ‘The Dating Game Killer: The True Story of a TV Dating Show, a Violent Sociopath, and a Series of Brutal Murders,’ Rodney and Hoyt ended up in a mountainous region, where he took her explicit photographs. Sands’ true crime account further details that he attacked the young girl to such an extent that she lost consciousness. The serial killer then took advantage of her in the worst of ways before choking her when she started screaming. Hoyt lost consciousness again, and when she woke up, she reportedly requested him not to reveal what he did to her to anybody. As per ‘The Dating Game Killer,’ she also pretended she wanted to stay with him to gain his trust and asked him whether they could go to his house.
The crime thriller depicts what happened next. Hoyt escaped from Rodney when he stopped at a gas station and went to the restroom. Instead of going to a café, she ran to a nearby motel and revealed what happened to her to the people there. In the film, the police officers capture the serial killer after Amy calls for them. However, in reality, the murderer drove away from the gas station by the time the officials appeared. Hoyt was taken to a police station, where she was given six photographs to identify her rapist based on the descriptions she had given to the officials. The teenager identified Rodney, paving the way for his arrest from his house.
Rodney Alcala Was Found Guilty of the Rape of Monique Hoyt
After his arrest, Rodney Alcala was interrogated by the police. He confessed to raping Monique Hoyt after stuffing her shirt in her mouth to silence her. The rapist was charged with rape and assault of the teenager with the intent to commit great bodily harm. However, the serial killer’s mother was able to bail him out soon. In October 1979, when the case reached the court, Hoyt failed to appear before a judge, only for the latter to order a psychiatric evaluation for the survivor. The case went to trial again in September 1980. By then, Rodney was on death row for murdering the 12-year-old Robin Christine Samsoe.
The short trial ended with a guilty verdict for Rodney, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for raping Hoyt. The prosecutors presented this conviction during the other trials of the serial killer. In one instance, the teenager’s father appeared before the court on behalf of his daughter, stating that she was “still so traumatized that she couldn’t bring herself to come to court,” as per Stella Sands’ ‘The Dating Game Killer.’
After Her Ordeal With Rodney Alcala, Monique Hoyt Chose to Lead a Private Life
After her near-death experience in 1979, Monique Hoyt has been leading a private life, away from the press and the spotlight. However, when Rodney Alcala was being tried again in 2010, she testified against him, which was possibly her only public appearance after the fateful Valentine’s Day of 1979. At the age of forty-six, the soft-spoken woman recollected how the serial killer raped her before a jury. She was visibly unsettled and needed a police officer beside her seemingly to feel safe. Hoyt also kept a hand on her forehead to avoid seeing Rodney. The murderer, who was representing himself during the trial, asked her whether she remembered him apologizing to her while they were in his car.
Hoyt responded that the apology was “meaningless” and “fake.” The survivor also called out Rodney for writing “outrageous tales” about her in his book ‘You, the Jury,’ which was published in 1994. After the trial, Hoyt returned to her private life and has remained away from the spotlight the rapist and serial killer had received before and after his death. The courage she displayed by facing Rodney and testifying against him yielded results. The particular trial ended with him being sentenced to death for the third time. The prosecution commended her bravery, stating, “She showed up and put the nail in Rodney’s coffin.”
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