Michelle McNamara

Michelle McNamara
Born Michelle Eileen McNamara
(1970-04-14)April 14, 1970
Died April 21, 2016(2016-04-21) (aged 46)
Los Angeles, California U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Notre Dame
University of Minnesota
Occupation Writer
Years active 2006–2016
Spouse(s)
Patton Oswalt
(m. 2005)
Children 1
Website Official website

Michelle Eileen McNamara (April 14, 1970 – April 21, 2016) was an American freelance writer and crime blogger.[1][2] She was the author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, a true crime book about the Golden State Killer.[3] The book was released posthumously in February 2018 and is being adapted as an HBO documentary series.[4][5]

Early life and education

McNamara grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, the daughter of Thomas W. McNamara, a trial lawyer, and, Rita McNamara (née Rigney), a stay-at-home mother.[6][7] Her parents were Irish American. McNamara was the youngest of the couple's five daughters and one son. They grew up Irish Catholic.[3][8]

In 1988, she graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois, where her senior year she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, the Trapeze.[8]

In 1992, McNamara graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in English.[9] She earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota.[10]

Career

After graduate school, in 1997 McNamara moved to Los Angeles to write in the film and TV industry.[8]

In 2006, McNamara launched her website TrueCrimeDiary.[1][11] McNamara had a long-standing fascination with true crime originating from the unsolved murder of Kathleen Lombardo that happened two blocks from where she lived when she was young.[3][9][12]

McNamara became interested in the Golden State Killer case and penned articles for Los Angeles magazine about the serial killer in 2013 and 2014.[13][2] In 2014, McNamara and true crime investigative journalist Billy Jensen were on a SXSW Interactive panel called "Citizen Dicks: Solving Murders With Social Media."[14][15][16] McNamara and Jensen had a long-term friendship based on their shared passion for researching and writing about true crime.[17]

McNamara coined the term "Golden State Killer", after authorities linked DNA evidence that connected the Original Night Stalker and East Area Rapist.[18] She then signed a book deal with HarperCollins and began to work on a book about the case.

Her book, entitled I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, was posthumously updated and finalized by true crime writer Paul Haynes and her widower Patton Oswalt. The book, released posthumously on February 27, 2018 (almost two years after her death), reached number 2 of The New York Times Best Seller list for nonfiction and number 1 of combined print and e-book, nonfiction.[19][20] As of April 29, 2018, the book had been on the list for eight weeks.[21]

In April 2018, HBO announced that they had purchased the rights for I'll Be Gone in the Dark and were developing it into a documentary series.[4] Filming for the series began on April 24, 2018.[22] The documentary is being directed by Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?).[5]

On April 25, 2018, Californian authorities arrested Joseph James DeAngelo as the alleged Golden State Killer.[23][24] Oswalt stated that authorities' use of the killer's name that McNamara coined was "proof of the impact of her work."[25]

Personal life

McNamara married actor Patton Oswalt on September 24, 2005.[6][26] The couple's daughter Alice was born in 2009.[27][28]

Death

McNamara died in her bed on April 21, 2016[29][30] in her family's Los Angeles, California, home. According to the autopsy report released online by Radar,[31] her death was attributed to the effects of multiple drugs, including Adderall, Xanax, Fentanyl and amphetamines. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was a contributing factor. The coroner ruled it an accidental overdose.[32][33][34] She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.[35]

Selected works and publications

  • McNamara, Michelle (February 27, 2013). "In the Footsteps of a Killer". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (February 27, 2013). "Hear the Golden State Killer" (includes audio). Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (February 27, 2013). "The Five Most Popular Myths About the Golden State Killer Case". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (February 27, 2013). "The Evidence Locker: Inside the Case of The Golden State Killer". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (March 7, 2013). "Update: In the Footsteps of a Killer". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (March 25, 2013). "New Evidence: Investigators Release a Third Recording Believed to Be of the Golden State Killer's Voice - NSFW". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (April 15, 2013). "Golden State Killer Update: One Victim's Family Responds to Our Coverage of the Cold Case". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (June 4, 2013). "Sleuthing with Science: A Q&A with Forensic Genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (June 28, 2013). "Killer Mystery: Is Charles Manson Responsible For More Murders?". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (July 1, 2013). "Why Charles Manson Won't Die". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (July 8, 2013). "Who Murdered UCLA Medical Center Nurse Melanie Howell?". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (July 10, 2013). "Dead Men Talking: The Program Keeping Serial Criminals from Taking Intel on Unsolved Cases to their Graves". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (September 9, 2013). "Update: Investigators Have a New Lead on the Golden State Killer". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle (January 22, 2014). "Update: Was The Golden State Killer a Cowboy?". Los Angeles Magazine.
  • McNamara, Michelle; Haynes, Paul (completed by); Flynn, Gillian (introduction by); Oswalt, Patton (afterward by); Jensen, Billy (2018). I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-0623-1980-7. OCLC 1023574441.

References

  1. 1 2 Duggan, Gerry (September 18, 2007). "Blogs: Michelle McNamara". SuicideGirls. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  2. 1 2 McNamara, Michelle (February 27, 2013). "In the Footsteps of a Killer". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Alter, Alexandra (February 15, 2018). "Michelle McNamara Hunted, and Was Haunted by, the Golden State Killer". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (April 9, 2018). "Docuseries Based On Michelle McNamara's 'I'll Be Gone In The Dark' True-Crime Book In Works At HBO". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  5. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (1 May 2018). "Docuseries Based On Michelle McNamara's Golden State Killer Book 'I'll Be Gone In the Dark' Greenlighted By HBO". Deadline Hollywood.
  6. 1 2 "Michelle McNamara and Patton Oswalt". The New York Times. September 25, 2005. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Michelle McNamara, 46: Writer, mother, OPRF grad". Wednesday Journal. May 17, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 Bolonik, Kera (February 26, 2018). "My Friend Michelle McNamara, the Crime Writer Gone in the Dark". Vulture, New York. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  9. 1 2 Reidy, Jaime (Spring 2013). "Sleuth". Notre Dame Magazine. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Michelle McNamara, Writer and Wife of Patton Oswalt, Dies at 46". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  11. ↑ Dufresne, Tristan; McNamaa, Michelle (April 8, 2011). "The Codex - Who Done It? An Interview With Michelle McNamara". Almost Always Books. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  12. ↑ McNamara, Michelle (April 6, 2012). "Origin Story". TrueCrimeDiary.com. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Michelle McNamara". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  14. ↑ Jensen, Bill; McNamara, Michelle (2014). "Citizen Dicks: Solving Murders With Social Media". SXSW PanelPicker. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  15. ↑ Jensen, Billy; McNamara, Michelle (July 26, 2013). "Solving murders with social media" (Slide presentation). Slideshare. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  16. ↑ "NSA, Assange, Grumpy Cat... 2e journée au festival South by Southwest: Bill Jensen Michelle McNamara 13h00: Résoudre des vrais crimes en ligne". Le Monde (in French). 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  17. ↑ Jensen, Billy (April 23, 2016). "Michelle McNamara, True Crime Writer". Billy Jensen. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  18. ↑ Melton, Mary (April 26, 2016). "Michelle McNamara's Obsession With Unsolved Crime Was Life-Affirming". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers". The New York Times. March 18, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  20. ↑ Canfield, David (March 7, 2018). "Michelle McNamara's posthumous I'll Be Gone in the Dark is a No. 1 best-seller". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers". The New York Times. May 6, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  22. ↑ Raphael, Michele (April 25, 2018). "Arrest of "Golden State Killer" Mirrors Prediction in Michelle McNamara's Book". LA Weekly. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  23. ↑ Inklebarger, Timothy (April 26, 2018). "Late Oak Park native tracked Golden State Killer". Wednesday Journal. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  24. ↑ Modell, Josh (April 27, 2018). "Golden State Killer: Patton Oswalt on Michelle McNamara, Catching Serial Killer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  25. ↑ "'You did it, Michelle': Patton Oswalt praises late wife for work on Golden State Killer". ABC News. April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  26. ↑ Zinoman, Jason (October 26, 2016). "Patton Oswalt: 'I'll Never Be at 100 Percent Again'". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  27. ↑ Susan Mallie; Lourdes Aguiar; Gayane Keshishyan Mendez; Lauren Clark (April 22, 2017). "The Golden State Killer". 48 Hours. CBS News. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  28. ↑ Oswalt, Patton (December 2, 2016). "Patton Oswalt's Year of Magical Parenting". GQ. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Michelle McNamara, writer and wife of Patton Oswalt, dies at 46". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Michelle McNamara, Crime Writer and Wife of Patton Oswalt, Dies at 46". People. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Read the autopsy report - Radar Online" (PDF). Radar Online.
  32. ↑ "Drug Den! Patton Oswalt's Late Wife Hid Cocaine, Painkillers, Party Pills & More". Radar. February 24, 2017.
  33. ↑ Mizoguchi, Karen (February 3, 2017). "Patton Oswalt Reveals Wife Died Due to Prescription Medications and Undiagnosed Heart Condition". People. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  34. ↑ McCartney, Anthony (February 3, 2017). "AP Exclusive: Oswalt says heart condition, meds killed wife". AP News. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Michelle Eileen McNamara (1970-2016)". Find a Grave. 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
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