To Catch A Murderer
A Writer's Obsession With a Serial Killer
True crime aficionado Michelle McNamara was born with a nose for murders most foul. Raised in Oak Park, Illinois, she first became obsessed with homicides as a teenager, when a neighbor, Kathy Lombardo, was violently raped and murdered. 14-year-old Michelle turned into an avid detective, not unlike Nancy Drew, and started her own investigation, even searching the murder site herself. There she discovered bits of Lombardo’s Walkman, her first evidence (!), as well as her own unyielding interest in killers.
After graduating from college with an MA in creative writing, Michelle moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. She began a blog TrueCrimeDiary, with particular interest in a serial rapist-turned-murderer she called the “Golden State Killer.” Between 1974 and 1986, this fiend is believed to have been responsible for over 50 rapes, 13 murders, and 100 burglaries in northern California. Michelle wrote many articles for Los Angeles magazine on this gruesome topic, eventually getting a book deal with HarperCollins.
She completely threw herself into the book she titled, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, staying up nights researching and hunting for clues via social media. Just as Michelle was closing in on who this horrifying criminal was, she died suddenly in her sleep, leaving behind her actor/comedian husband, Patton Oswald, and their seven-year-old daughter, Alice.
It wasn’t a killer who stole her life, it was an accidental overdose, but this tenacious writer would not be silenced, even in death. Her husband, along with true crime author Paul Haynes, finished her book and it was released almost two years after she died, hitting the New York Times Bestseller list in February of this year.
Two months later, a suspect was arrested in the case, Joseph James DeAngelo. Although authorities claim that Michelle’s book had no impact on their investigation, Oswald pointed out via twitter, the fact that the police used the name Golden State Killer, a moniker Michelle had coined, is proof of the value of her deep investigation into this morbid case.
This is such a great story, of course, it’s going to be a documentary series on HBO. Filming started in April of this year and is being directed by the prolific documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus, best known for her biopic What Happened, Miss Simone? and the upcoming feature film, Lost Girls, a fictional true-crime story.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer is a must-read. But be warned, you may not sleep well once you start it.
