‘I'll Be Gone In The Dark’: Meet the real people behind the HBO documentary based on Michelle McNamara's book
A six-part documentary series based on the book of the same name, 'I’ll Be Gone In The Dark' chases the shadows behind a vicious serial killer and rapist dubbed as The Golden State Killer, East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker.
Directed by Academy Award nominee and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus — who is also known for her work on HBO’s 'Who Killed Garrett Phillips' and 'Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper' — the series adapts the book and brings the tale in McNamara’s own words, through exclusive original recordings and excerpts from her book read by actor Amy Ryan. Drawing on extensive archival footage and police files as well as exclusive new interviews with detectives, survivors and family members of the killer, the series weaves together a picture of a complex and flawed investigation that challenged police for decades.
The series also gives a glimpse into McNamara's blog True Crime Diaries which recorded years of relentless pursuit for justice for the victims and helped keep the case in the public eye. While McNamara died in her sleep in 2016, here are all the people connected to her who share stories of her and help bring the docuseries alive.
Michelle McNamara
A true-crime author, who penned down her book 'I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer', she was married to comedian Patton Oswalt. The couple have a daughter, Alice. Michelle grew up in Oak Park, Illinois and was the daughter of Irish American parents, Thomas W McNamara, a trial lawyer and Rita McNamara, a stay-at-home mother.
In 2006, McNamara launched her website TrueCrimeDiary and was fascinated with the serial crimes originating from the unsolved murder of Kathleen Lombardo that happened two blocks from where she lived when she was young. In 2014, McNamara was on an SXSW Interactive panel called 'Citizen Dicks: Solving Murders With Social Media' along with close friend and investigative journalist Billy Jensen. She later began work on a book to delve into the investigation into the killer blamed for a series of rapes and murders across California from 1976 to 1986. She even coined the now infamous moniker "The Golden State Killer."
However, McNamara died in her sleep on April 21, 2016, at her California home due to the effects of multiple drugs.
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is a celebrated comedian, who clinched an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award for his 2016 Netflix special 'Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping'. The 51-year-old is all set to regale audiences with a new hour-long special 'Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything'. He is known for voicing Remy in the Pixar film 'Ratatouille' and for his stints in 'Big Fan' (2009), 'Nature Calls', 'Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie' (2016), 'Nostalgia' (2018), 'The Secret Life of Pets 2' (2019), 'Blade: Trinity' (2004), 'The Informant!' (2009) and 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' (2013).
Known for his work on TV shows like 'Seinfeld', 'Ratatouille', 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' and 'Reno 911!', he got hitched to late true-crime writer and journalist Michelle McNamara in 2005 and the two had a daughter, Alice, four years later. McNamara's book was only half-finished at the time of her death and Oswalt called in journalists Billy Jensen and researcher Paul Haynes to help finish the book — which was finally published in February 2018.
Amy Ryan
Born as Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski in Flushing, Queens in New York City, Amy Ryan is the daughter of Pamela Ryan, a nurse, and John Dziewiontkowski, a trucking business owner and has a rich Polish, Irish and English descent. She came to the world of showbiz in 1987 and is known for her roles in 'Gone Baby Gone', 'Changeling', 'Win Win' and 'Birdman'. Not just that, she is also popular for her TV roles in HBO's 'The Wire' (2002–08), NBC's 'The Office' (2008–11) and HBO's 'In Treatment' (2010).
She also earned Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the 2000 revival of 'Uncle Vanya' and the 2005 revival of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
Billy Jensen
A crime journalist, producer, and on-air correspondent, he specializes in unsolved murders, missing persons and the intersection of citizen detectives, law enforcement, and technology. He closely worked with Michelle McNamara while she documented the crimes of the Golden State Killer. He was a special correspondent of the Warner Bros. show 'Crime Watch Daily' and starred in the four-hour History Channel special 'DB Cooper: Case Closed?' (2016).
Paul Haynes
A true-crime writer and researcher who was close to McNamara, he is the producer of 'On the Story with Erica Hill' (2016) and 48 Hours (1988). He first heard about the Golden State Killer in 2008 and helped finish McNamara's book 'I’ll Be Gone In The Dark' along with her husband Patton Oswalt.
The series features several other interviews with detectives, multiple East Area Rapist survivors, family members, acquaintances and friends including Nancy Miller, Los Angeles Editor, social worker Melanie Barbeau and close friends Sarah Stand and Adam Drucker. Through the six episodes, it also documents an introduction by Gillian Flynn and afterword by Oswalt.
‘I'll Be Gone In The Dark’ premieres on June 28 at 10 pm ET on HBO.