Police in Los Angeles have charged a 34-year-old man with murdering two men and attempting to murder another after meeting them through an online dating app.
Rockim Prowell, 34, of Inglewood in the L.A. metro area, was arrested last week after a lengthy cold case investigation into the deaths of two men in 2021 and 2023.
Prosecutors say Prowell, whom some local news reports have described as an alleged “serial killer”, met up with 51-year-old Miguel Angel King in July 2021 after chatting online before shooting him dead and stealing his car.
King's body was not discovered for another month, dumped in the Angeles National Forest and bearing a bullet wound.
Two years later, Prowell allegedly agreed to meet with 53-year-old Robert Gutierrez using the same dating service. Gutierrez's body has never been found but prosecutors said his car was discovered in Prowell's garage.
In February 2025, prosecutors claim Prowell tried again, tying up a 40-year-old man he met online then stealing his wallet and beating him with a baseball bat.
This time his prospective victim managed to escape, only for Prowell to allegedly chase him down in a vehicle and break his leg.
"Imagine the terror and horror these victims felt after being duped into believing they were meeting for one reason, only to face inexplicable violence," L.A. County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said Monday.
"These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard of life. This suspect has now been stopped in his tracks because of the diligent and tenacious work done by investigators at both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department."
If convicted of all charges, Hochman added, Prowell would face the death penalty or life in a state prison without any possibility of parole.
Prowell was arrested in 2021 for allegedly using a prosthetic mask to disguise himself as a white man while raiding homes across Los Angeles.
The D.A.s' statement on Monday said Prowell was "on probation" for burglaries he committed between 2019 and 2021.
The L.A. County D.A.'s office and the LAPD were not immediately available for comment.
Prowell is charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts each of carjacking and burglary, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.
He is reportedly being held on bail of $2 million and does not yet appear to have entered a plea.
