True Crime Writer & Blogger Michelle McNamara dead at age 46

[morf13]

Los Angeles writer and Author, Michelle McNamara of Los Angeles is dead at the age of 46. She died in her sleep. She was married to Actor & Comedian,Patton Oswald. She also left behind a young Daughter.

Michelle ran the website, TRUECRIMEDIARY.COM

She posted & blogged about many of the cases we discuss here at Websleuths. Everything from the GoldenStateKiller to The Zodiac Killer, to Lindy Sue Biechler, to the JonBenet Ramsey case. I had the pleasure of corresponding with her on various cases over the years, and was a Guest on her True Crime radio show. I was flattered when she asked me to a Guest blog piece on her website about the Lindy Sue Biechler case. Michelle had a keen interest in many of the cold,and forgotten cases that were not in the news every day. In addition to hosting radio shows about crime, she also had articles published,and appeared in various crime shows on TV.

Michelle's death will be a big loss for the True Crime & unsolved mystery community. I thought that it be worth posting about her, as I am sure many People here knew her, or were familiar with her work.

Here's a link to her story-
http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...arried-comedian-patton-oswalt-dies-46-n560836

 

[Canaille]

I've always enjoyed her husbands acting. So sorry I never knew about her website. May she rest in peace and may her family take comfort knowing she is in God's hands.

 

[lucky2]

My prayers go out to Michelle and her husband and little girl, and thanks to all the behind the scenes help she gave me through difficult times. She was a very intelligent lady.

 

[morf13]

My prayers go out to Michelle and her husband and little girl, and thanks to all the behind the scenes help she gave me through difficult times. She was a very intelligent lady.

She had some mysteries yet to tackle. She was writing a book about the Golden State Killer, which she had studied and researched a lot, I think she was almost finished. I hope there is some way it can still be published

 

[foureyes]

Ms. McNamara, fantastic writer, was one in a million. Her all encompassing article -Nature, Nurture and the Unknowledgable, recently written from a Roy
Hazelwood interview answered the question below: http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=about

Will it ever be possible to figure out what goes into the development of violent fantasies so that we can devise some kind of prevention?

 

[Tricia]

Has there been any cause of death reported?

 

[Frigga]

Oh my gosh- she was so young... and with a 7 year old daughter. Prayers for her family and all who loved her.

I wonder if it was a heart attack? Women are very prone and with strange, almost nonexistent symptoms- coupled with the fact we are almost always concerned with our loved ones health while sometimes ignoring our own. I'm inspired to go in for a check up now.

So very sad- she will be missed!

 

[foureyes]

"No cause of death was given but Oswalt’s publicist, Kevin McLaughlin, said the passing "was a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly."

It could be months until officials determine why McNamara died, the Hollywood Reporter recently wrote, adding the Los Angeles County coroner’s office is backed up.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...eath-wife-michelle-mcnamara-article-1.2619504

 

[morf13]

"No cause of death was given but Oswalt’s publicist, Kevin McLaughlin, said the passing "was a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly."

It could be months until officials determine why McNamara died, the Hollywood Reporter recently wrote, adding the Los Angeles County coroner’s office is backed up.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...eath-wife-michelle-mcnamara-article-1.2619504

I think it will likely be a case of heart or brain related disease or event. I would hate to speculate about any other possibility

 

[animlzrule]

What a heart wrenching and raw portrayal of grieving. Beautifully written and expressed. I think his daughter is in loving, capable hands. His commentary and writing is always so smart. And very, very funny. Follow him on twitter for some good social and political commentary. I'm so sorry he lost his partner in life, so young.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...-his-wifes-death_us_57a0a4cde4b0e2e15eb72042?

 

[eucalyptuz]

Michelle McNamara (46), April 22, 2016 - Accidental overdose?/suicide?

I am perplexed by this case of an untimely death of a person I feel must have been a member here on Websleuths. She mentioned and linked to several cases her in her blog: http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm

6 months ago Michelle McNamara died in her sleep. The cause of death has not yet been released by the coroner but apparently attending paramedics and more recently her comedian husband, Patton Oswalt, suggest that it could have been an accidental overdose of Xanax. From what I know about this drug I am surprised at this conclusion. Xanax has a rapid onset and rare occurrences of overdose unless alcohol or other drug contradictions are involved. To be audibly snoring at 9:40am after taking Xanax the night before and to be dead a few hours later is troubling. Perhaps an aneurism? or heart attack? but 6 months later and there's no release from the coroner re: blood tests, PM results etc... A bit sad these lengthy delays. A few commenters on various news sites have mentioned that maybe she was getting too close to the identity of a serial killer...but surely if there was any evidential suggestion of foul play there would be ME results by now ?!?

Anyhow, I dug around here a bit trying to find out if we had a thread for her and also link to the serial killer case she was writing about, but I came up blank. Is there a thread for the Golden State Killer? Perhaps cases are connected by another moniker here?

Here are a couple of links about her crime-writing and death:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/arts/patton-oswalt-ill-never-be-at-100-percent-again.html

"WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Michelle McNamara, a 46-year-old true-crime writer, died chasing a serial killer.
The Golden State Killer, a name she coined while working on a book about him, raped and murdered dozens of victims in the 1970s and ’80s and remains at large. After years of investigative reporting into these unsolved murders, Ms. McNamara believed she was close to tracking him down, and was working long days and nights, her obsessive determination overwhelming her mounting anxiety.
Worried about her health, her husband, the comedian Patton Oswalt, suggested that she take a night to “sleep until you wake up.” It was a phrase they used to describe what could seem like an impossible luxury for the working parents of a 7-year-old girl. So on April 21, Ms. McNamara took some Xanax and went to bed."

http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/michelle-mcnamara/

"Michelle McNamara’s Obsession With Unsolved Crime Was Life-Affirming
The late author wrote a riveting story about the Golden State Killer for Los Angeles magazine. That she won’t ever see him identified is another tragic element of her untimely death"

If anyone is familiar with the cases being attributed to this Golden State Killer, perhaps we could link them here in this thread for Michelle. Rest in Peace.

 

[dub]

Golden state killer was how she referred to the original nightstalker/east area rapist.

I don't know how to link from my phone but there is a thread on here I think in the serial killer forum.

 

[eucalyptuz]

Thank you Dub, I found the thread where you suggested in the SK forum:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...aka-The-Original-Night-Stalker-1976-86/page20

 

[eucalyptuz]

Archive of Michelle's true crime writings for LA Magazine:
http://www.lamag.com/?s=michelle+mcnamara

 

[eucalyptuz]

I have found out she was a websleuther!
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/member.php?5290-ladymemac
I feel it's OK to 'out' her user name as she posted here giving her full name and the link to her blog...

 

[dotr]

http://www.today.com/parents/comedian-patton-oswalt-keeps-wife-s-memory-alive-daughter-t104451

Actor Patton Oswalt and wife Michelle McNamara in 2011. McNamara passed away earlier this year at the age of 46.

 

[dotr]

[video=youtube;qNgfoPsCBno]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNgfoPsCBno[/video]

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Any type of an aneurysm, stroke, or myocardial infarction would show up on the autopsy. After the unexplained death of a 56 year old friend of mine, I was told by the Coroner's Office that the only cardiac related condition that might not show up at all would be a cardiac dysrhythmia.

With my friend they looked for everything - and found nothing. No prior illness and nomevidence whatsoever of foul play, accident, suicide, or overdose. So the ruling was "natural death, undetermined cause" Not knowing cause of death is awful. You have all the grief topped by a lot of confusion.

 

[lucky2]

Michelle was the one who reached out to me personally in the darkest time of my life and brought some light of understanding. She was working on a case of several deaths in my family. She called it "evolution of a story" on her blog before I met her. Here the case was called : http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-Glenn-Spriggs-47-LaBelle-15-July-1992/page24

She did more for me than I can write from my phone but I was just thinking about her and wanted to tell her husband that she changed my life for the better and I hope he and their daughter are doing ok thru this difficult time.

 

[popsicle]

[h=1]Patton Oswalt says heart condition, meds killed wife[/h]
His statement released by a publicist says coroner’s officials told him that the blockages, combined with her taking the medications Adderall, Xanax and the pain medication fentanyl, caused his wife’s death in April 2016.