I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer –
Michelle McNamara
(5 / 5)
I was listening to a podcast that some friends of mine recommended called “My Favorite Murder”. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a true crime podcast mixed with some sarcastic comedy by two American comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstack. I have never really been into true crime, but I decided to give the podcast a try. During one of their (extremely long) intros, they mentioned ‘I’ll Be Gone in the Dark’, and how it FREAKED them out because it was about a killer in California who raped 50+ women and killed 10 people that they know of, and he was NEVER CAUGHT! Something about the way they were talking about it peaked my interest and I decided to give the audio book a try. Well, I could not stop listening to the story of the East Area Rapist, or as the author penned him, the “Golden State Killer”. I had never heard of him before.
So a brief rundown of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, the 1970’s in Sacramento California was not a good time to be a woman. Numerous rapists were rampant in the area, and perhaps the most prolific was the East Area Rapist (EAR) or the Original Night Stalker, who terrorised over 50 women, and killed 10 (that they know of). He had a particular MO, he would stalk the whole neighbourhood first, ring the victims and neighbours weeks before he would attack. He would know where they were, who was home, and he would pick his night and attack. After the first bout of attacks it was reported that he only ever attacked women who were home alone or with children, never when a man was in the house, and the media were urging women to never be home alone. So then he started attacking couples, tying up the man with rope leaving him helpless and incapacitated while he dragged the woman to another room and attacked her. He eventually graduated to murdering the couples, and also attacked and murdered some women on their own. He went quiet for a while in the early 1980s, and committed his final murder (that they know of) in 1986. Then, nothing. In 2001 the media reported on the cold case and speculated if he was alive or dead, and he CALLED ONE OF HIS VICTIMS! In 2001!!!
So, was he still alive now? Where was he? Who was he? There were so many theories out there about who he could possibly be? His background? Was he in the armed forces? The navy? The police? Nobody had ANY IDEA of who this guy could be.
Michelle’s book was fantastic. I had never read a true crime book before and this was absolutely enthralling! In audio, the narrator was amazing. It had the right amount of tension to create amazing suspense, and I must admit I was freaked out. Something about the knowledge that this was real life and he was probably still out there. Had he read this book? Did he read it and laugh to himself? Happy that he had killed all those people and got away with it?
This is the stuff nightmares are made of people!
After listening to ‘I’ll Be Gone in the Dark’, and becoming a little bit obsessed, browsing forums and websites on the killer and theories of who/where he could be now. I’m sure my family became slightly worried about how obsessed I was – going on and on about this case. I could easily understand just by reading Michelle’s book just how easy it is to get pulled into the case like she was. Speculating like an amateur detective! At the end of the book there was a lot of talk about DNA, and how this was probably the best way they were going to be able to catch this man. It was utterly fascinating. By putting his DNA profile into those sites like ancestry or 23 and me, they would hopefully one day find him or a distant relative, and be able to finally find this scumbag!
The author passed away prior to this books release, her husband (comedian Patton Oswalt) commissioned some other crime writers to help finish it. And I’m so glad they did.
So there I was, obsessing over this book and reading about the case for TWO WEEKS, telling everyone to read this book, that it was so exciting and a TRUE STORY! I was watching the news with my family one night, having literally just had ANOTHER conversation with my Dad about this killer and a new aspect of the case I didn’t realise, and then all of a sudden an international story popped up, about a cold case over in California. A man who raped 50 women and killed 10 people, dubbed the east area rapist or golden state killer was FINALLY CAUGHT! A photo of an old man popped up on our TV here in Australia. It was the man that I had been reading about for the last two weeks. The Golden State Killer was caught using the very DNA technology mentioned in the book.
I cannot describe the awesome reading experience this was. I imagine it will be extremely hard to beat this. Literally two weeks after I was reading and obsessing about this book, the killer was caught. I have never been so elated about a book and the aftermath before! Then followed more weeks of following the developments in this case, he was a police officer, and in the navy, and there were so many things about his life that fit together like a killer jigsaw puzzle. I doubt I will ever have such good timing ever again. It was the most amazing reading experience. I will never forget it!
Would I recommend I’ll Be Gone in the Dark?
Absolutely! What an awesome introduction for me into true crime. Although now the killer has been caught I imagine it may take away a bit of the scary aspect from the story, it is still an amazing true tale, written so well and so articulately, putting you on the edge of your seat. It is such a shame that Michelle McNamara never lived to see this guy caught.
I purchased ‘I’ll Be Gone in the Dark’ at my own expense at audible.com
If you are interested in the case this book is a great start. I also found this booklet by another podcast, “Casefile” pretty darn awesome, as is the podcast itself! It has a 4 part podcast about the case which is just as disturbing as this book!
Reddit have a great EARONS thread which is always up to date with the latest info.
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