HBO releases trailer for documentary series on writer’s hunt for Golden State Killer
HBO this week released a trailer for a six-part documentary series “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark” that explores writer Michelle McNamara’s investigation into the serial killings and rapes attributed to the perpetrator she called the Golden State Killer.
McNamara indulged her obsession with unsolved criminal cases at night as her family slept. Her obsession included the case of the man who terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s, also known as the East Area Rapist based on a series of rapes in eastern Sacramento County. McNamara coined the name Golden State Killer.
HBO describes the documentary series, based on McNamara’s book of the same name, as “a detective story told in McNamara’s own words.” McNamara described her investigation as a search for a man who was attacking women and girls throughout Northern California.
“The great tragedy of this case to me is that it’s not better known,” McNamara says in file footage featured in HBO’s trailer. “The story of the victims has to be told.”
McNamara unexpectedly died in her sleep in 2016, before her book could be released. Her husband, comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, worked to get the book published after her death.
Oswalt was helped by Billy Jensen, a journalist who covers unsolved crimes, and Paul Haynes, who helped McNamara research the serial killer while writing the book. They combed through McNamara’s notes and emails to piece together her work after she died.
In April 2018, authorities in Sacramento County arrested Joseph James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old retiree and former police officer, at his Citrus Heights home. DNA evidence led investigators to identify DeAngelo as the prime suspect in more than a dozen murders and dozens of rapes throughout California from 1974 through mid-1986 committed by the East Area Rapist.
HBO’s “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark” series, which premiers June 28, was directed by Academy Award nominee and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus.
The series features exclusive original recordings and excerpts from her book read by actor Amy Ryan, according to HBO. It includes archival footage and interviews with detectives, survivors and family members of the killer.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
