'I'll Be Gone In The Dark' Sheds Light On Both Justice And Its Pursuers

The HBO documentary series I'll Be Gone In The Dark, which concluded Sunday night and is now available on demand in its entirety, is based on crime writer Michelle McNamara's book about the case known as "The Golden State Killer," who was believed to be responsible for multiple rapes and murders during the 1970s and 1980s. But ultimately, the series is more about McNamara herself than it is about the case — and it's more interesting for it.

There are two things a lot of people who haven't read her book may know about Michelle McNamara other than her writing and specifically her pursuit of this case: she was married to Patton Oswalt, and she died in April of 2016, two years before the criminal she spent a good chunk of her life chasing was apprehended. The former police officer who was ultimately arrested — and who pleaded guilty to 13 murders — wasn't any of the people she had suspected. He was found using DNA evidence not directly related to her work. Commentators have, ever since, struggled to balance their respect for her tenacity in keeping the case active in the mind of the public with concerns about how her obsession with it seems to have eaten away at her, and maybe even contributed to the accidental overdose that caused her death.