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Rodney Alcala, convicted Calif. serial killer, gets 25 years to life for NYC killings

Convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala (center) appears in court in New York, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/David Handschuh, Pool)

(AP) NEW YORK - Rodney Alcala, a serial killer already sentenced to death in California, has received a prison sentence in New York after he admitted killing two other young women in the 1970s.

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Alcala was sentenced Monday in a packed courtroom. The judge choked back tears as she gave him a concurrent 25 years to life sentence.

Alcala said last month he wanted to plead guilty to the two murder counts so he could get back to California and pursue an appeal of his death sentence.

The 69-year-old is a former photographer and one-time TV "Dating Game" show contestant. He's been behind bars since 1979.

Alcala was indicted in 2011 in the killings of Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hover in New York, partly on evidence that emerged during his murder trial in California.

Complete coverage of Rodney Alcala on Crimesider

Watch 48 Hours: Rodney Alcala's Killing Game

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