I've always been interested in the investigation of cold cases. It's astounding that people can get away with murder, especially with today's science and technology. This book details true crime journalist Michelle McNamara's deep dive into the "Golden State Killer", aka the "EAR" (East Area Rapist), aka the "Original Night Stalker". This unknown individual raped over 50 women and killed 13 people in the 1970s-1980s across California without ever being caught. It's truly remarkable. This rapist/murderer also burglarized 120 homes during his crime spree, taking random and often personal items from homes and the people he attacked. He would leave a lot of these items at other crime scenes, or simply in other random places. He had a distinct look (although he was usually seen with a ski mask covering his face), a distinct voice, and a distinct penis. It was reported by his surviving victims that he was fairly routine in how he exhibited his crimes. He scoped out people and homes for weeks at a time, ran through people's back yards, looked into windows, called his victims on the phone, left over 50 people alive, but was not caught until 2018!! That's absolutely crazy.
It's safe to say that Michelle was pretty much obsessed with her self-appointed task of tracking down this killer. She worked steadily on it for years, talking to dozens of people, scouring thousands of documents, traveling to crime scenes, developing a number of profiles, in her search for this man. She unexpectedly died before finishing her mission, and interestingly enough, the actual killer was not even on her radar. She mentions a tons of possible suspects in this investigative work, but Joseph James DeAngelo, the actual rapist/killer, was not ever named as a suspect in any file, interview, or documentation. Michelle died in 2016. DeAngelo was apprehended in 2018. Each of the suspects that Michelle focused on was eliminated through DNA analysis. After each elimination, she would have to go back to the drawing board. Michelle was definitely on the right track however. She suspected that the rapist/killer lived in the Visalia and Rancho Cordova areas, and she was correct. She suspected that he may have been associated with the military, which he was. He was in the US Navy during Vietnam War and he was a police officer. But, apparently his DNA was not in any sort of data base. Again, remarkable.
Michelle was very detail oriented and extremely personable, focused, and determined. This book, and the way it's laid out, is very engaging and readable. Since she died before it was finished, her notes and transcripts were used to finish it for publication. She was married to comedian Patton Oswalt and all I could think was, "he is a very supportive and patient man"! Not everyone could be married to someone so driven to find the truth! If you are a true crime fan that enjoys the investigative process, this is the book for you.
Wendy's Rating: *****
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