“What drives me is the need to put a face on an unknown killer,” says Michelle McNamara in a new teaser for “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.” The upcoming HBO docuseries is based on the late author’s 2018 true crime book of the same name. The bestseller details her obsessive search for the serial rapist and murderer she coined as the Golden State Killer.
“The tragedy of this case to me is that it’s not better known,” explains McNamara, who first started investigating the cold case in a blog.
The six-part docuseries is directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning helmer Liz Garbus (“What Happened, Miss Simone?”) and features excerpts from McNamara’s book read by Amy Ryan (“Lost Girls”).
“After my husband and daughter fell asleep, I hunted the killer with my laptop,” Ryan, who is reading McNamara’s words, says in a voiceover. We’re told that McNamara was doing two things at once — writing a book and trying to solve the case.
“She had material that other investigators had never seen,” one character emphasizes. Another adds, “She introduced you to the lives of the victims and made you care.”
McNamara died in 2016. Her work proved instrumental in the 2018 arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer.
“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” premieres June 28 on HBO.
