Michelle McNamara

As 72-year-old former police officer Joe DeAngelo’s arrest unfolds in real time, chilling facts materialize that illuminate Michelle’s prescience in her book’s epilogue, “Letter to an Old Man.” Researcher Paul…

As Michelle’s loved ones cope with her sudden death, her work to unmask the Golden State Killer lives on. Inspired by McNamara’s interest in genealogy and online DNA testing services,…

Michelle and her editors agree to push her book deadline after being granted access to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s East Area Rapist / Original Night Stalker (EAR/ONS) room. Poring…

In 1979, law enforcement is thrilled when the EAR attacks abruptly stop in Northern California, but in reality, the still unknown assailant has moved south to commit a number of…

Michelle reflects on the 1984 murder of her childhood neighbor Kathy Lombardo, which she credits with planting the seed for her lifelong fascination with unsolved crimes. Local detectives who worked…

Writer Michelle McNamara, author of True Crime Diary, her blog about unsolved crimes, finds a new obsession in the “East Area Rapist” (EAR), who terrorized California in the 1970s and…

Odessa, TX, 1961: Teenager Betty Williams isn’t home. She’s not at school. Police are sure she is a runaway, until they uncover a shocking high school rumor that will change…

New York, NY, 1973: When a twenty-eight year old schoolteacher for deaf children is murdered in NYC, detectives immerse themselves in the swinging world of 1970’s nightlife, where club-goers and…

Gaffney, SC, 1968: When a local reporter receives a mysterious phone call from a murderer who threatens to kill again, Gaffney police must race against the clock to try to…

Berkeley, CA, 1955: Little Stephanie Bryan has disappeared without a trace, and police will have to use every tool at their disposal, from newspaper reporters to bloodhounds, to solve the…

San Bernardino, CA, 1964: When Lucille and Cork Miller’s car crashes, Cork burns to death inside. Half the evidence suggests it was an accident, but could Lucille have wanted her…

Tucson, AZ, 1965: When Gretchen Fritz and her sister Wendy leave for a movie and never come home, police must infiltrate the tight-knit world of Speedway teens to discover the…

Michigan, 1967. A young co-ed from Eastern Michigan State University goes missing. Her body is found months later, rotting in a field. A year later, another co-ed, disappears and is…

Queens, NY, 1965. Two children disappear in the night, taken from their bedroom. Hours later they turn up dead, strangled. The police have no clues but an instant dislike for…