I'll Be Gone in the Dark docuseries greenlit at HBO after Golden State Killer suspect's arrest

Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is having an incredible run. Barely a week after an arrest was made in the Golden State Killer case the book unpacks, the true crime read has been greenlit as a docuseries at HBO.

HBO Documentary films announced Tuesday that a documentary series based on the best-selling book is now in production with Emmy-winner Liz Garbus (Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper, What Happened, Miss Simone?) at the helm.

The book is part personal memoir of McNamara’s search, part true crime hunt for the person who terrorized California in the 1970s and ’80s, whom McNamara dubbed the “Golden State Killer.” The perpetrator was believed to be responsible for at least 50 home-invasion sexual assaults and 10 murders. On April 24, the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office arrested former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo in connection with the case, charging him with several counts of the crimes.

McNamara’s book was published posthumously following her sudden death. Her husband Patton Oswalt worked exhaustively with her lead researcher, Paul Haynes, and a close colleague, Billy Jenkins, to compile her notes and complete the book after her passing. Oswalt told EW that he found 7,000 pages of police reports and more than 40 boxes of documents after McNamara’s death, making him determined to finish the project that had consumed a decade of her life.

When an arrest was made in the case, Oswalt told EW, “My mind is going in a million directions right now, but on top of all the exhaustion and surrealism, I just feel very, very happy that her work wasn’t in vain.” He can now add documentary series to the mounting list of accomplishments to stem from McNamara’s exhaustive research and quest for justice.