Hello from Alison at the Norton Shores Branch of MADL. Welcome to the MADL hoopla Book Club Blog for the month of October 2020! Ah, October; that month of windy days, falling leaves, apples and pumpkins. This time of year always seems perfect for a book that sends a chill down your spine or raises the hairs on the back of your neck. Not sure if that’s because Halloween falls at the end of October or if it’s the passing of all the summer lushness that causes that feeling. As I’m one of those people who doesn’t like scary movies or fictional horror, I chose a true crime novel instead. Go figure! I know I’m not alone; true crime is an extremely popular genre in publishing and I know there are many MADL readers who also enjoy this type of book. However, it seems slightly ironic that I don’t enjoy horror novels but do like a true crime book. I don’t know if it’s the solving of the case or bringing the criminals to justice that is appealing to me, because obviously the crime itself is just as horrific as any made up supernatural storyline, if not worse. I’ll be honest—I can’t explain it; I just know that I enjoy true crime.
Having said that, serial killers aren’t normally a topic that I’m interested in when I read true crime, but the draw for me to I’ll be Gone In The Dark is really the story of the author Michelle McNamara. I want to know why a true crime journalist became obsessed with this particular case—what was it about this series of crimes that captured her like no others? Michelle kept a blog called True Crime Diary that is still up and available to read, although nothing has been added since her last post in June of 2015. And if you weren’t aware, the Golden State Killer was just recently sentenced in August 2020, during which he offered an unusual statement in court that is documented in this article from the Associated Press. I want to find out what Michelle uncovered that helped to finally track down this particular murderer.
If serial killers are a topic that interests you, you might enjoy a three-season fictional TV series originally on FOX from 2013-2015 called The Following. Kevin Bacon (one of my favorite actors) plays former FBI agent Ryan Hardy, a psychologically scarred veteran who had captured notorious serial killer Joe Carroll nine years earlier. Carroll has now escaped from death row and is not only communicating with a network of killers in the outside world, but has much more planned than just a prison escape - and there's no telling how many additional killers are out there. Here is season one’s official trailer:
For your viewing pleasure, MADL owns all three seasons of The Following. Visit MADL’s online catalog to request a copy.
Next week, we'll be discussing the Prologue - Irvine 1986 chapters of I’ll be Gone In The Dark, so make sure to read through the Irvine 1986 chapter before checking the discussion page for week 2 to avoid spoilers. I hope you'll check back and leave a comment-- I can't wait to hear what you have to say!
WEEK 2: Prologue - Irvine 1986
I realize now that I enjoy reading true crime when there is success in catching and prosecuting the perpetrator. This story is starting very scarily for me! How are you feeling about the book so far? When author Michelle McNamara sadly passed away in April 2016, the book wasn’t finished and no one had been arrested for the serial crimes she was investigating. (In June 2016 the FBI did promote the case and asked for public assistance.) When this book was finally published in February 2018, still no one had been apprehended, although exciting developments would soon follow. While I don’t know yet how this book will end or what role the author’s research may have played in finally arresting a suspect later in 2018, if I had started this book when it had been released knowing that no one had been arrested, my reading experience might have been even more frightening! Michelle McNamara’s writing style is definitely contributing to my fear—I feel she does an excellent job of putting the reader right in the middle of these events as they are happening. How are you enjoying the writing style? McNamara’s husband, comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, wrote a touching tribute to her at her death that was published in Time magazine that begins with a compliment to her writing skills.
It’s interesting that we get biographical information about the author as part of the narrative. Do you find that unusual? In most true crime books that I’ve read, unless the author is an involved investigator or victim, it seems like there isn’t usually background information about them personally. Do you think it’s included because the author passed away before the book was finished? Or because she was a celebrity’s spouse? I found the information interesting about Michelle McNamara’s family and childhood, and the local murder in her neighborhood that apparently started her fascination with crime. Michelle stated that she was obsessed with solving crimes because the perpetrator loses power “…when we know his face.” What do you think Michelle means by that? How do you feel about her obsession?
This book is not organized chronologically, but jumps back and forth in time. How do you like this arrangement of events?
One feature about the Golden State Killer (GSK) that stands out to me as we move through the high number of sexual assaults and murders that are occurring in 1970s California is the serious amount of work that seems to go into planning the crimes. All the reconnaissance that appears to be done by this criminal: the phone calls, the Peeping Tom incidents, the burglaries, etc., that the victims experience before the actual assault or murder itself are terrifying, aren’t they? And it would certainly seem to increase the odds of the criminal being caught to take all these chances. Two points that the author makes in this reading section stand out to me. One is the concept of “overkill”: the consideration of personal rage vs. external behaviors when looking at the violence of a crime. The author says that in the case of extremely violent crimes, the overkill concept often causes investigators to think, incorrectly, that there is a relationship between offender and victim when it might simply be how much resistance is offered by the victim. What do you think of this theory?
The second point shared by author McNamara that registered with me was her “paradox of the smart rapist”. McNamara explains the paradox as defined by an FBI profiler: that most people easily consider complex crimes, such a jewel heist, as being committed by an intelligent criminal, but rape is perceived as a depraved act that people cannot relate to so, of course, it couldn’t have been done by an intelligent person. Apparently, this is problem even for law enforcement. What do you think about this paradox when you consider the GSK’s treatment of his victims? How do you think it has affected police investigations into the crimes in the book so far?
Another interesting feature that stands out to me in the book so far is the lack of cross-connecting cases within police jurisdictions. It is understandable in these early days before the Internet and law enforcement databases that this would be the case. How ironic that comparisons between two early murders were brought up by the Santa Barbara police departments, only to be downplayed by the Ventura and Orange police departments. Author McNamara mentions a 1981 Los Angeles Times newspaper article that questioned a possible link between murders committed at this time; then the narrative jumps to 1996, where improvements in DNA analysis absolutely connect at least two of the earlier murders to the same perpetrator. How does having all this hindsight now make you feel for the victims and their families?
The investigative procedure is the one aspect of true crime that I’m really interested in; in another life, a career as a crime scene investigator might be appealing! If forensic science appeals to you a well, you might enjoy browsing through the 24 episodes included in Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals, a Great Courses® video series available to anyone with a MADL library card via the digital movie resource Kanopy Here’s a preview for the Jack the Ripper episode:
I hope you will check back next week as we read through the Ventura 1980 – Los Angeles 2012 chapters of I’ll be Gone in the Dark. Please don’t forget to comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Author Michelle McNamara is really building her case on the Golden State Killer (GSK) in this section of reading, don’t you think? In 1997 we start learning about cold case units being formed and individual detectives making attempts to start linking the cases. We see how DNA testing becomes more and more sophisticated, and also how budgets within individual law enforcement departments impact DNA capabilities, both positively and negatively. How do you think forensics and crime lab budgets affected the investigation? Finally, April 2001 sees a huge development: DNA matches connect the serial rapist in the Bay area to later murders in Orange County. You can read the original SanFrancisco Chronicle article, with a 2013 update, that the author references as breaking the story here. Two days after the 2001 news story, we learn that a victim from 30 years earlier gets a phone call with a voice she recognizes immediately, saying “Remember when we played?” How did that make you feel?
This section of the book also describes the evolution of the GSK from rapist to killer. The attack on October 1, 1979 that went awry is held out as the turning point, as the victims were able to escape the house and then give somewhat of a description. Up to this point, author McNamara states, the GSK had been in control. After the failed October 1, 1979 attempt, the next two attacks showed a loss of control—a sexual assault didn’t occur because each time the males apparently intervened and were shot, and McNamara theorizes that he then shot the females and fled, concerned noise would attract attention. What do you think of that theory? We learn that a British crime psychologist believes that “A criminal is more vulnerable in his history than his future”; that working backwards through crimes shows where the perpetrator may not have been as careful about leaving evidence as he would be later, upon gaining experience. Can you describe some changes in the GSK’s actions as time goes on?
As cold case investigators work on the cases from the late 1990s into the early 2000s, a common question starts arising—why do the GSK crimes stop in 1986? According to many in law enforcement at the time, sexually motivated predators didn’t just stop -- the killer was either doing serious prison time or was dead. With what we know at this point in the book, why do you think the crimes had stopped?
In this section of reading, Michelle McNamara takes us deep into the world of the “Walter Mitty” detectives: the members of A&E channel’s Cold Case Files message boards about the East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker (aka EAR-ONS: the early nickname for the perpetrator committing all these California crimes before McNamara came up with ‘Golden State Killer’). While the Cold Case Files EAR-ONS discussion boards the author describes aren’t on the original website anymore, you can look at them on ProBoards, a free message board service. What did you think about these “civilian” individuals who spend an enormous amount of time trying to solve the cases? How did you feel about the fact that actual law enforcement investigators were occasionally steering the hunt? McNamara mentions here her uneasy realization that the frenetic searching that she and other EAR-ONS message board members do for the case “…mirrors the compulsive behavior …. of the one we seek”. What do you think about that comparison? Do you think McNamara’s level of interest on this case is unusual? Do you find the author’s occasional diversion from true crime reporting to the more personal revelations of a memoir a nice break or distracting?
Michelle McNamara brings up an interesting point about the GSK — despite having been a case that spanned an entire decade, included 60 victims and inspired California Proposition 69 that mandated DNA collection from all felons as well as all adults and juveniles charged with certain crimes -- only one book had been written about it by the time she began investigating. She compares that to the 26 books written about the 1996 murder of one individual, Jon-Benet Ramsey. Why do you think that is? Does that comment provide any insight into Michele’s obsession with the case?
The comparison of the EAR-ONS message board members as “Walter Mitty detectives” and Michelle’s conviction that the ‘Mittys’ were going to solve this case made me smile and took me away for a moment from the grim reality of this book. Growing up I was a big fan of humorist James Thurber, after being introduced to him by my dad, and his short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was a favorite. Somewhat stereotypical for today’s social context, the story of the meek man who develops a colorful fantasy life, including being a daredevil pilot or life-saving doctor, always cheered me up—especially the self-knowing wink of an ending. If you’re not familiar with Thurber’s original story, it’s available via hoopla in a collection called Humorous American Short Stories. A 21st century movie interpretation of the story starring Ben Stiller came out in 2014, and while not really adhering to Thurber’s original concept at all, you might find it an entertaining break from the GSK. Here’s the official trailer:
Just FYI, MADL owns the 2014 movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on DVD for your viewing pleasure. Visit MADL’s online catalog to request a copy. If you really get into the Walter Mitty world, a 1947 film version starring comedian Danny Kaye is also a lot of fun. That movie is available to anyone with a MADL library card via the digital movie resource, Kanopy.
Looking forward to next week as we finishI’ll be Gone in the Dark by reading the Contra Costa 2013 chapter through to the Epilogue. Please don’t forget to comment; I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
October is winding down and we have reached the end of I’ll Be Gone in The Dark! Before we get into what happened in this last section of reading, I have to say that I believe that reading this book in October 2020 is a very different experience from reading it when it was released in February 2018. I feel I absorbed author Michele McNamara’s investigative trail and the co-writing done after her death in a very unique way against the backdrop of the arrest and conviction of the Golden State Killer (GSK). How did that knowledge affect your reading of the book?
One reason I’m glad I read the book in 2020 is McNamara’s chilling descriptions of the GSK’s “…illusion of uncertainty…” at both the crime scenes and throughout his crime sprees. It’s a horrific thought that there was a serial perpetrator out there who would stay quiet at a crime scene for quite a while after the initial act, until at just the moment a victim might think it was safe to move a knife would graze their skin. The GSK’s breaks between bouts of crime also seem to be “…a cruel and effective trick” to keep victims and communities on edge. How did this criminal modus operandi make you feel? What do you think it says about the GSK?
I did enjoy Michelle’s background stories about the communities she traveled through when visiting crime scenes in 2013. I have to say that I did start to feel a little overwhelmed in these chapters; revisiting the seemingly never-ending crime locations was beginning to depress me simply with the sheer volume. So I did appreciate the little breakaways, and one that fascinated me was about the tarantulas of Mount Diablo. A quick search on the Internet impressed me with the popularity of this particular tarantula population and their mating rituals! Had you heard about the Mount Diablo tarantulas before? They were still a tourist attraction this past September even with COVID19, according to this article from the East Bay Times newspaper in Walnut Creek, CA.
The chapter titled ‘The One’ made me feel sad that the author passed away before finishing the book, not to mention before the GSK was apprehended. Here she focuses on several suspects who were followed and questioned over the years, but eventually ruled out. Why do you think a detective or McNamara herself experienced an adrenaline rush when they felt they had narrowed it down to a viable suspect? How did knowing the outcome of this story affect the impact of this chapter for you? McNamara’s co-authors shared a note where Michelle said that she felt there was a little Sherlock Holmes in everybody that makes them think that they could solve a crime if they had enough information. Do you believe that’s true? Why or why not?
The discussions about the lack of DNA matching over the 30-plus years from the first crime to the writing of the book were fascinating to me. Law enforcement’s surprise that there weren’t even any familial hits in the criminal DNA databases over the years certainly held true all the way to actual capture of the GSK, didn’t it? McNamara was certainly on the right track in her notes where she discusses trying DNA matching with commercial sites like 23andMe and ancestry.com, where individuals voluntarily submit their DNA for family history searching. If you aren’t aware of how family DNA connections were used to find the GSK, you might find this 2019 article from LiveScience interesting. How do you feel about law enforcement using genealogy DNA to solve crimes?
In part three of the book, completed by McNamara’s lead investigator and an investigative journalist, the concept of geographic profiling is discussed. This is the process where linked crime scene locations are analyzed to find possible “…anchor points (home, work, etc)…” for the perpetrator. While this type of profiling is described as more of an art than a science in the book, the final possible home anchor point settled on for the GSK by criminologist Paul Holes was the town of Carmichael in Sacramento County, CA. Unknown to Holes, an even earlier geo-profile done for the GSK also put the home location close to his in the same city. Where you intrigued or bored with the step-by-step description of the geographic profiling process? I was curious to compare these results to where the actual GSK lived. After reading news reports in the Sacramento Bee that stated Joseph DeAngelo’s home was in Citrus Heights, CA, it freaked me out to go back and re-read the sentence in this section that said “…of particular interest is the swath of Sacramento County where Carmichael, Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks meet..”. How does that information make you feel?
I found the afterword by Patton Oswalt, McNamara’s spouse, especially touching. What I liked about McNamara’s focus in this book was also something that Oswalt touched on; that she wasn’t into gory details or out for the acclaim of catching the GSK – she just wanted him caught. Oswalt says that Michelle was “…born with a true cop’s heart and mind—she craved justice, not glory”. How do you think the writing supports that claim? Author McNamara’s own epilogue was almost prophecy to me in hindsight. Do you agree with her premise that the Golden State Killer stopped his serial crimes when the “world began to change”, that technology would catch up to him and he knew it? Or do you have a different theory to share?
As always, what I like to ask at book club whether online or in person, is: did you enjoy the book? I certainly did, but I really felt that this was a ‘before and after’ book—the sections written by Michele were riveting and engaging, while the sections completed by her co-authors were competent and thorough, but sort of flat. Was there anything about this book that set it apart from other true crime that you’ve read? I am glad that Oswalt wanted to see his wife’s book through to publication. Did knowing that the author passed away before completing this book make a difference to you? If you read the hoopla eBook version of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, there are two appendices providing reprints of articles from both the New York Timesand the Sacramento News & Review about the capture and arrest of the Golden State Killer and McNamara’s research and eventual book. Both articles presented very differing views about whether or not the book was a catalyst for solving the case. What role do you think this book may have played in the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo in 2018?
If you enjoyed I’ll Be Gone in The Dark , just this summer HBO aired a six part documentary based on the book, complete with archived interview footage with Michelle along with interviews with detectives, victims and their families. While the release date is yet to be announced for a DVD of the documentary, I thought you might still enjoy the official trailer:
Thanks for joining the MADL hoopla Book Club Blog for I’ll Be Gone in the DarkI’ll Be Gone in the Dark. Don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know how you enjoyed the book! Mark your calendar for November’s MADL hoopla Book Club Blog when we will be reading the fiction book Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section.