Cold Case

In the 1970s and 1980s communities across California lived in terror. In the San Joaquin Valley there was the 'Visalia Ransacker'. Sacramento had the 'East Area Rapist', while Orange County had the 'Original Night Stalker'.  In the decades before DNA profiling and centralised crime databases, each county worked independently and there was little sharing of information. It wasn't until DNA testing in 2001, that it became clear all of these criminals were the same man. 

Crime writer Michelle McNamara gave this criminal a new name - the 'Golden State Killer'. She sought to explore this cold case in an attempt to help solve it. McNamara wanted to understand how a peeping tom who prowled the suburbs escalated from ransacking and burglary to rape and then increasingly brutal murder.  McNamara kept interest in this case alive by launching her TrueCrimeDiary website in 2006 and writing a series of articles about this killer published in Los Angeles magazine. 

McNamara's search for the killer is detailed in her book I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer (2018).  Part police procedural, part true crime saga, I'll Be Gone in the Dark is a fascinating exploration of the mechanics behind cold case investigations. Despite its gruesome subject matter, McNamara avoids sensationalism and is always respectful of the victims and the trauma they experienced. 

What makes it a compelling read is McNamara herself and the lengths she went to try to solve this mystery. With Nancy Drew pluck and DCI Jane Tennison's resolve, McNamara investigates thoroughly, interviewing witnesses, visiting crime scenes, combing through thousands of pages of evidence.  When she teams up with Paul Holes, Contra Costa County cold case investigator, they make quick progress on the case - ruling in and out suspects, developing a profile and zeroing in on the killer. 

McNamara died suddenly in 2016 and her book was completed by writers Paul Haynes and Billy Jensen. Her husband pushed to have the book published, and it ended up as a New York Times Bestseller. There is now also an HBO documentary series about McNamara's investigation. 

The final chapter of the book is McNamara's 'Letter to an Old Man' where she writes directly to the Golden State Killer. She tears him down and foreshadows his eventual capture, writing

'One day soon, you'll hear a car pull up to your curb, an engine cut out. You'll hear footsteps coming up your front walk...'

Two months after publication of the book, Joseph James DeAngelo (age 72) was arrested on 24 April 2018 charged with eight murders and later charged with 13 kidnapping and abduction attempts. While he is suspected of committing at least 50 rapes, the statute of limitations has expired on these crimes. To avoid the death penalty, DeAngelo plead guilty to all these crimes, including the rapes, and on 21 August 2020 he was sentenced to life without parole. 

While McNamara never managed to identify DeAngelo and died before his capture and arrest, her work undoubtedly raised awareness of his crimes, made him the Golden State Killer, and contributed to his downfall.