Patton Oswalt On His Late Wife's Mission To Find The 'Golden State Killer'

Editor’s Note: This segment discusses violence and rape, and contains audio that some listeners may find disturbing or offensive.

At the time of her death in 2016, true crime journalist Michelle McNamara had been researching a serial rapist and murderer she dubbed the “Golden State Killer.” Now the book she had been working on — “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer” — has been published.

McNamara’s husband, comedian and actor Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt), joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to talk about the book.

Interview Highlights

On the Golden State Killer and the nature of his crimes

“I mean, he shook up the idea that a locked door, a bolted window kept you safe. And that can really spread like a virus and an infection through a community. That’s the whole point of a community, is people getting together to feel safer. Now suddenly he was directly attacking that idea.

“It was … the husband was made to lie face down on the floor. He would stack cups and plates on his back. He goes, ‘If I hear any these at the floor, I’ll kill both of you.’ It’s an attack on the woman, it’s an attack on the idea of a man protecting a woman, it’s an attack on two people that are, you know, in love and pledged to one another. It’s just all — every single aspect of security