Michelle McNamara, finds a new obsession in the "East Area Rapist" (EAR), who terrorized California in the 1970s and '80s, responsible for 50 home-invasion rapes and 12 murders.
Michelle McNamara reflects on the 1984 murder of her childhood neighbor Kathy Lombardo, which she credits with planting the seed for her lifelong fascination with unsolved crimes.
In 1979, law enforcement is thrilled when the East Area Rapist (EAR) attacks abruptly stop in Northern California, but in reality, EAR has moved south to commit a number of gruesome murders in the Santa Barbara area.
Michelle and her editors agree to push her book deadline after being granted access to the Orange County Sheriff's Department's East Area Rapist / Original Night Stalker (EAR/ONS) room.
As Michelle's loved ones cope with her sudden death, her work to unmask the Golden State Killer lives on. After inheriting Michelle's 37 boxes of case files, Paul Haynes and Billy Jensen work alongside Patton Oswalt, to finish her book.
As 72-year-old former police officer Joe DeAngelo's arrest unfolds in real time, chilling facts materialize that illuminate Michelle's prescience in her book's epilogue.
The victims of the Golden State Killer seek closure following the recent sentencing. Plus, one final boots-on-the-ground investigation brings shocking new revelations to light in the case that inspired Michelle McNamara's fascination with unsolved crimes: the murder of Kathy Lombardo.
