Michelle McNamara: Patton Oswalt"s Late Wife Helps Apprehend Golden State Killer

Back in April of 2016, author Michelle McNamara passed away unexpectedly at the age of 42.

Though perhaps best known to the general public as the wife of comedian Patton Oswalt, McNamara was a highly-regarded true crime writer who was hard at work on her magnum opus at the time of her death.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark became an instant bestseller when it was published posthumously in February of this year, and now it looks as though the book may have helped lead police to a serial killer and rapist who evaded capture for more than four decades.

Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested in Sacramento this morning on two counts of murder.

There’s reason to believe that DeAngelo might be the man police referred to as the East Area Rapist and who McNamara dubbed the Golden State Killer – an elusive suspect whose DNA ties him to 12 murders, 45 sexual assaults, and 120 burglaries committed between 1976 and 1986.

The investigation has been referred to by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert as “the most prolific unsolved serial killing case probably in modern history.”

At the time of her death, McNamara’s manuscript was left unfinished.

The published version has been supplemented with material from researcher Paul Haynes and journalist Billy Jensen as well as an afterword by Oswalt, all of whom took to social media today to celebrate what appears to be the completion of McNamara’s life’s work.

“Think you got him, Michelle,” Oswalt said in an emotional video posted to Instagram this morning.

The famed comic will also produce an upcoming HBO docudrama about the GSK investigation.

The publicity surrounding the book and HBO special is believed to have prompted Sacramento police to re-open the 32-year-old cold case.

Interestingly, when news of DeAngelo’s arrest broke, Oswalt was with the book’s research team at a press event in McNamara’s hometown of Chicago last night, which also served as the first night of filming for the HBO documentary.

“Ended with me saying, ‘He’s running out of time.’ And now all of this. Surreal,” Oswalt tweeted today.

Many fans of McNamara’s work have posted some of the more eerily prescient passages of her first and last book, particularly a section in which she addresses the killer directly, imagining him being apprehended as an old man.

“You’re long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly toward the insistent bell,” McNamara writes.

“This is how it ends for you … Open the door. Show us your face. Walk into the light.”

While there are certainly no happy endings in a story this macabre, we hope that DeAngelo’s arrest can bring a modicum of relief to those who were tormented by his crimes – as well as the family of the woman who devoted her final days to seeing him brought to justice.

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Patton Oswalt Remembers Michelle McNamara in Moving Essay

Ever since his wife, Michelle McNamara, died in her sleep at the age of 46 last month, Patton Oswalt has been uncharacteristically quiet.

The beloved comedian and actor tweeted a loving tribute to McNamara one week after her death, writing:

“She wrote lines that stung & hummed. 13 years in her presence was happily humbling. #RIPMichelleMcNamara.”

He included a link to make donations to in McNamara’s honor to 826LA, an organization that assists students with their writing skills.

Fans of Oswalt’s know that he and his McNamara – a writer who operated the website True Crime Diary – shared a common love of words.

The comic is as well-known for his eloquence as for his cunning wit, so it was no surprise when he paid more long-form tribute to his beloved wife of 11 years in a way that honored both her work and her devotion to her husband and daughter.

He accomplished that today, in an essay for Time magazine that is both moving and full of surprising revelations about a life well-lived:

After recounting her tireless work for the website that made hers a familiar name in certain online circles, Oswalt recalls McNamara’s earlier days and lesser-known achievements:

“Those are facts but not her entire story,” he writes.

“Her life also involved social work in Belfast and Oakland, and screenwriting in Los Angeles, and teaching creative writing at Minnesota State, and motherhood and marriage and glorious, lost years on the outskirts of the early 90s Chicago music scene, where she also worked for a young Michelle Obama.

“One day Michelle Obama’s husband came into the office to speak to the staff. He was impressive and funny. Another encounter, another memory in a life spent fascinated with people and relationships and the unknown.

“The reaction to her passing, the people who are shocked at her senseless absence, is a testament to how she steered her life with joyous, wicked curiosity. Cops and comedians call—speechless or sending curt regards.

“Her family is devastated but can’t help remember all of the times she made them laugh or comforted them, and they smile and laugh themselves. She hasn’t left a void. She’s left a blast crater.”

You can read Oswalt’s entire tribute to McNamara at Time magazine’s website now.

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Patton Oswalt Bids Emotional Farewell to Michelle McNamara

Patton Oswalt has released his first public statement since the sudden, tragic and unexpected death of his wife.

On April 21, Michelle McNamara died in her sleep at the age of 46.

A countless number of celebrities responded to the death by sending their condolences to Oswalt via various forms of social media.

And now the comedian/actor has gone ahead and done the same, in beautiful fashion.

“She wrote lines that stung & hummed. 13 years in her presence was happily humbling. #RIPMichelleMcNamara,” Oswalt Tweeted on Friday, including with his message a link to make a donation in McNamara’s honor to 826LA.

That’s organization which assists students with their writing skills.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2016: Gone, But Not Forgotten

McNamara, who was mostly worked as a crime writer, married Oswalt in 2005.

The pair were parents to a seven-year-old daughter named Alice.

No cause of death has been given,for this tragedy, although Oswalt’s publicist said last week that her passing was “a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly.”

An official at the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office told People Magazine it would most likely take several months to determine a cause of death because the office has a backlog of cases.

While it’s understandable that people would be curious for an answer, of course, nothing changes the terrible fact that Oswalt is now without a wife and Alice is without a mother.

McNamara founded the website True Crime Diary.

She also wrote and recorded podcasts about true crime, while appearing on the Investigation Discovery series A Crime to Remember.

She once said she was mostly intrigued by cases that weren’t necessarily garnering major headlines, and also that she started her website at Oswalt’s behest.

At the time of her passing, McNamara was working on a book about a serial killer she dubbed The Golden State Killer, whom she wrote a series of pieces about in Los Angeles Magazine.

We send along our thoughts and prayers to Oswalt and his family.

Michelle McNamara Dies; Wife of Patton Oswalt Was 46

Michelle McNamara, the writer and founder of website True Crime Diary and the wife of Patton Oswalt, tragically passed away in her sleep at home in Los Angeles on Thursday.

She was 46.

A rep for the actor and comedian has confirmed this news to The Associated Press.

No cause of death has been given at this time.

Oswalt and McNamara got married in 2005 and welcomed a daughter named Alice in 2009.

She turned seven years old earlier this month.

McNamara was best known professionally for writing about true crime.

She was a graduate of both the University of Notre Dame (for undergrad) and University of Minnesota, where she earned a Master’s in Creative Writing).

In 2007, she started a blog titled True Crime Diary in which she wrote about old and new unsolved cases.

She told Suicide Girls at the time that the idea for this blog came from Oswalt and that “I wanted to get more involved in the cases than fueling my own curiosity.’

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2016: Gone, But Not Forgotten

In the wake of this awful news, a number of celebrities have taken to Twitter to express sympathy.

“My heart goes to the Oswalt family,” wrote Elijah Wood, while Kevin Smith added:

“Oh my God, @pattonoswalt – my heart breaks for you & your family’s devastating loss. If you need any help, I’m here.”

Margaret Cho tweeted, “I LOVE YOU – I am here for you always @pattonoswalt xo” and Billy Eichner shared a similar sentiment:

“I love you @pattonoswalt. We all do.” 

Oswalt has yet to publicly address her death.

The comedian last tweeted about Prince’s passing, which also happened on April 21.

We send our prayers and thoughts to McNamara’s family, friends and loved ones.