Golden State Killer documentary premieres tonight, on eve of accused murderer’s hearing

“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” HBO’s new documentary series about the hunt for the Golden State Killer, will debut on Sunday — the eve of the accused murderer’s expected guilty plea. The Sacramento Bee first reported the plea deal.

For decades, Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer, lived undetected in Citrus Heights. The case of the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, had gone cold. Then, in April 2018, authorities in Sacramento County arrested a suspect. DeAngelo, then 72, was taken into custody.

Throughout the 2000s, while DeAngelo lived in the Sacramento area, writer Michelle McNamara — who coined the moniker “Golden State Killer” — worked fiercely to track him down. “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” a six-part show, chronicles McNamara’s tormented, relentless and ultimately fruitless search for the man who eluded authorities for decades.

Faded, soft film footage of 1970s Sacramento flickers across the screen: the viewer tours a beauty pageant, a bustling port and quiet, sun-drenched streets.

“Back in those days, you did know more of your neighbors, people didn’t lock all their doors,” says Fiona Williams, a survivor of the crimes, interviewed in her home. The camera cuts to archival footage of unperturbed children boarding a school bus.

“And terrible crime was just not that common,” Williams says matter-of-factly.

But the Golden State Killer changed everything: “A lot of people will say that the EAR [East Area Rapist] crime period was kind of the end of innocence for Sacramento,” Williams says, leaning back in her chair.

McNamara documented her hunt for the mysterious killer in her widely-read blog, True Crime Diaries. She was also hard at work on a book manuscript, hoping to chronicle her investigation in long form. McNamara never saw the fruits of her labor, She died suddenly in her sleep just before the book could be finished, and two years before a suspect in the case was unexpectedly apprehended in Sacramento.

“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” is taut, charged with McNamara’s obsession with finding the mysterious slayer. Her quest to bring his crimes into the public consciousness leads her across California, and takes her on a winding tour through the most unassuming of Sacramento streets.

At first, the show explains, authorities hoped to keep the string of rape cases out of the media. But as time wore on, and the East Area Rapist continued to commit crimes, newspapers decided they had a duty to publish.

A Nov. 4, 1976 headline from The Bee — with a story from reporter Warren Holloway — fills the screen. It was the first newspaper article ever published on the East Area Rapist.

“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” airs this Sunday. The following morning, the story’s subject — DeAngelo — will appear for a hearing in a cavernous ballroom at California State University, Sacramento, where more than 150 victims, their relatives and media members will witness the expected plea deal.

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Golden State Killer documentary premieres tonight, on eve of accused murderer’s hearing."