Judge:

An Orange County Superior Court judge Tuesday sentenced to death a serial killer responsible for killing a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl and four Los Angeles women in the 1970s.

Judge Francisco Briseno accepted a jury’s recommendation that Rodney James Alcala, 66, die for the 1979 murder and kidnapping of Robin Samsoe and the Los Angeles victims. Alcala was convicted in Santa Ana on Feb. 25 of five counts of murder.

“This serial killer is a monster who, for his own sexual gratification ... uses his victims and then ends their lives,” said Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas.

Alcala sat in a wooden chair in jeans, a denim jacket and boots as family and friends of the five victims spoke about their losses. Alcala’s long, curly gray hair hung in his face as he stared at a pen on the table in front of him, while Marianne Connelly, Robin’s mother, talked about losing her daughter. The death was devastating, she said, but for one aspect she is “grateful” — Robin’s death landed Alcala behind bars.

“The defendant made my precious baby a hero, while he will be known as a murderer,” Connelly said. “This world needs more children like Robin, but never again another murderer like Rodney James Alcala.”

This is the third time Alcala has been given the death penalty for Robin’s death, and the first time for the four Los Angeles women — Jill Barcomb, 18, in 1977; Georgia Wixted, 27, in 1977; Charlotte Lamb; 33, in 1979; and Jill Parenteau, 21, in 1979.

The convictions related to Robin were twice overturned on appeal. DNA evidence linking Alcala to the Los Angeles cases wasn’t uncovered until after the second appeal.

Alcala will be sent to San Quentin to await his execution date, but the day might not come as planned, officials said.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Alcala is more likely to die of old age than of lethal injection.

Authorities are now searching for anyone else who might have been victimized by Alcala, a former “Dating Game” contestant.

More than 100 photographs that Alcala took before 1979 and were found in his Seattle storage locker were released to the public last month.

The photographs show different women, as well as girls and two boys. Some of the subjects were posing and others appear unsuspecting that they were being photographed. Some of the women appear to be nude. The Huntington Beach Police Department has received an outpouring of calls in response to the pictures and believes it could have several leads.

The calls have led to “interesting” leads, but nothing has been confirmed yet, prosecutor Matt Murphy said. There is a long way to go before anything can be confirmed, Murphy said.

Bruce Barcomb, brother of Jill Barcomb, asked Alcala to come clean about the number of victims.

“Surrender to the fact that you are a death row inmate and all you have is time until you die,” Barcomb said. “How best to fill the remaining time left on this earth should be your only real life’s ambition. Work with the authorities. Make amends to your victims.”