I'll Be Gone in the Dark

This section describes the murder of Manuela Witthuhn. Manuela is a loan officer who lives with her husband David in a housing development in Irvine, California. In February, David develops a virus that requires him to be hospitalized, meaning that Manuela is left home alone for several days. One day, David calls home to speak to Manuela, only for the phone to go continually unanswered. David asks his mother-in-law, Ruth, to check on Manuela. Upon arriving at the home, Ruth discovers that Manuela has been murdered, with blood splattered across the wall.

Police arrive to investigate the crime. As they examine the body, they notice red markings on her wrists and ankles, suggesting that the murderer had forcefully tied up Manuela. The murderer also left behind the screwdriver used to open the door, and distinctive footprints in the backyard. The police notice that the lamp used to murder Manuela is missing, as well as the voice machine tape. Police believe the murderer took the tape as his voice was on the machine. David recalls that several months earlier, he discovered a series of footprints outside of his house. The police ask David to draw the footprints to the best of his memory, and the resulting sketch matches the footprints found outside the murder scene.

David’s brother Drew, a police trainee, offers to clean-up the crime scene after the police finish their investigation. Whilst cleaning up, Drew discovers a piece of Manuela’s skull below the bed. Drew asks David whether he killed Manuela, to which David sharply replies: “I didn’t kill my wife, Drew” (18). Criminalist Jim White in investigates the crime, noting that aspects of the murder match other recent murders throughout Southern California. 

Six months before the murder of Manuela Witthuhn, Roger Harrington discovers his son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Patty, murdered in their home, which is situated in a gated community in Dana Point, Orange County. Roger discovers the dead bodies lying in bed, hidden underneath a comforter. The bodies are mangled, and the bed is soaked in blood. Police find no forced entry. The two victims were likely killed with a brass sprinkler head taken from the Harrington’s yard. Though no evidence conclusively links the two murders, White notices several similarities in the murders of Manuela and the Harringtons. In both crimes, the victims were tied up and “bludgeoned to death in bed with objects the killer picked up at the home” (23). Further, the killer raped both of the female victims, and the amount of force used suggests the killer carries a high level of pent-up rage against women. However, no further evidence emerges, and both cases go cold.

McNamara recalls the premiere of the film Funny People, which she attends with her husband, the comedian Patton Oswalt. Despite the seeming glamour of movie premieres, McNamara does not enjoy walking down the red carpet. During the premiere, McNamara receives an email, alerting her that police have found Joseph Henry Burgess, a murderer she has been “hunting for and obsessing over” (27). Excited by the news, McNamara convinces Oswalt to go home with her, so that she can read online about the capture. McNamara notes that her obsession with unsolved murders originates from her teens when one of her neighbors was murdered and the killer never found. 

McNamara describes growing up in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. Oak Park is roughly split into two neighborhoods, with the Northern part being wealthier, and the Southern part made up of “mostly blue-collar Irish Catholic families” (33). McNamara’s father is a lawyer, while her mother raises a family of six children, with McNamara being the youngest. McNamara and her mother have a complicated relationship throughout their life, with the two often arguing and speaking rudely to each other. While McNamara’s mother hopes to encourage her writerly interests, she also finds McNamara’s stubbornness and strong-mindedness difficult. After a heated exchange at McNamara’s wedding, the two slowly work at reconciling their relationship until McNamara’s mother unexpectedly passes away in 2007.

When McNamara is 14 years old, a murder occurs in Oak Park, igniting McNamara’s life-long obsession with unsolved crimes. Kathleen Lombardo is jogging one night in Oak Park when an unknown man grabs her and slits her throat in an alleyway. Though the case is assumed a “dead end,” one day McNamara receives an email from her former grade school crush, Dan Olis, with new information about the case (46). Olis tells McNamara that a group of boys, including Olis and his friend Terry Keating, discovered Lombardo’s body. McNamara arranges to meet Keating in Oak Park to hear a description of the night’s events. Keating and the other boys discovered the body after cutting through the alley on their way to a local convenience store. Shortly afterward, a man wearing an open shirt and sandals approached the boys, calmly asking, “What’s going on here?” (48). Though police declare that the killer’s identity is unknown, Keating believes that the man the boys saw is the killer.

This chapter establishes the GSK’s initial crimes: a series of violent rapes committed in the Sacramento area in the late 1970s. The first rape occurs in Rancho Cordova on June 18, 1976, when the GSK breaks into a 23-year-old woman’s home wearing a ski mask and rapes her. The rapes continue throughout the summer, with the fifth assault occurring against Jane Carson on October 5. Two detectives, Richard Shelby and Carol Daly, take the case. While Shelby’s rough nature causes him difficulty interacting with witnesses, Daly’s experience as a sex crimes detective makes her an ideal candidate for interviewing the traumatized victims of the GSK’s assaults.

Throughout October, several more assaults occur. Shelby and Daly note that a clear pattern of behavior marks the rapes; they name the rapist the “East Area Rapist.” Victims describe the rapist as nonchalant and unrushed when performing the assaults. Further, he carefully plans each of his crimes, spending weeks and months stalking and observing his victims before assaulting—atypical behavior for a rapist. The East Area Rapist also frequently steals items of sentimental value from his victims. The police initially seek to keep news of the rapist quiet so as not to disrupt their investigation. However, following the rape of a woman in the “more affluent” neighborhood of Carmichael, newspapers publish stories about the serial rapist (60).

As the rapes continue, Shelby and Daly grow more and more desperate for evidence pointing to the rapist’s identity. However, besides discovering that the rapist’s blood type is A-positive, there is scant evidence. As the assaults continue, the rapist grows increasingly violent. He begins to target heterosexual couples. In these assaults, the rapist places stacks of plates on the man’s back, informing him that he will kill the couple if he hears the plates move or fall. The GSK then takes the woman into the living room, where he assaults her. The GSK’s plates technique and his overall “malevolent patience” suggest to some detectives that he may once have been a member of the military or police (72).

In May 1977, the rate of assaults increases, with several attacks occurring in the same month. Sacramento residents grow increasingly frightful, investing in floodlights and other devices to improve their homes’ security. Many Sacramento men form neighborhood patrol groups to search for the rapist. In spite of these protective measures, the GSK continues to commit assaults undeterred. In these assaults, the GSK threatens his victims, declaring he will kill two people if he finds reports of his attacks in the news. 

In February 1977, Detective Shelby receives a call from the Visalia Police Department, informing him of similarities between the East Area Rapist and a serial burglar, known as the “Ransacker,” who is striking homes in Visalia from April 1974 to December 1975. This burglar is “as prolific [in his robberies] as he was weird” (85). The Ransacker commits more than 100 burglaries, primarily stealing sentimental items rather than valuables or cash. The Ransacker also ruins the houses he robs, tearing up family photographs and arranging the owner’s undergarments throughout the house. While the Ransacker typically strikes when the homeowners are away, in one instance he attempts to kidnap a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint, killing her father in the process. Though the police pour more and more resources into tracking the Ransacker, he continually eludes capture.

On December 10, 1976, Detective Bill McGowen becomes the first police officer to see the Ransacker in person. The Visalia police believe the encounter to be so important that they place McGowen under hypnosis in hopes of unearthing helpful information. When the hypnotist instructs McGowen to relive his encounter with the Ransacker, he describes how he had been staking out the home of the Hanleys, after receiving a phone call reporting footprints in the Hanleys’ yard. McGowen notices a man in a ski mask attempting to open a gate and approaches the man with a flashlight. The Ransacker lets out a high-pitched scream and then attempts to run before McGowen corners him. Though the Ransacker initially puts his right hand up in surrender, he pulls out a concealed gun and fires at McGowen, hitting McGowen’s flashlight. In hypnosis, McGowen recalls that the Ransacker has a distinctively pale baby face, as if he never goes outdoors during the day.

Following the hypnosis, the Ransacker’s crimes come to a halt. However, the Visalia police continue to search for information about the Ransacker’s identity. They discover that years earlier, numerous women had reported that a man similar in appearance to the Ransacker had been peeping through their windows. Once the police learn of Sacramento’s East Area Rapist, they argue that the Ransacker and the GSK are one and the same. The police note that both criminals have a penchant for stealing items of sentimental value and use similar methods to break into homes. However, the Sacramento police dismiss the claim given that reports describe the two criminals’ appearances very differently. While the Ransacker has a fat, baby-like appearance, reports describe the GSK as skinny.