Golden State Killer Goes Global After Sky Investigates HLN Doc Series Unmasking A Killer
The Golden State Killer is going global after Sky picked up a five-part series looking at the notori..
The Golden State Killer is going global after Sky picked up a five-part series looking at the notorious serial killer who committed at least 12 murders, 45 rapes and hundreds of break-ins. The UK pay-TV broadcaster has acquired Unmasking A Killer, which originally aired on CNN spin-off channel HLN, from distributor Kew Media Group. It will air the series on its female-skewing channel Sky Living next weekend.
This comes days after police arrested and charged 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo for a number of the murders. Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced the news last week, coming after Paul Holes, a retired investigator with the Contra Costa District Attorneys Office and long time investigator on the case, is thought to have made a break on the case by searching a free genealogy website.
The HLN series, which is produced by Joke Fincioen and Biagio Messina of Joke Productions, profiled the case, following investigators searching for the sadistic criminal who evaded police for forty years. It looks at the manhunt, patterns, escape methods and mind games of the Golden State Killer, raising a key to catching the criminal – potentially linking him to another series of unsolved crimes.
The doc series features interviews with investigators, law enforcement and victims, who have never spoken out publicly and offers information to help solve the mystery of a man who has managed to fly successfully under the radar for decades.
The Golden State Killer is one of the hottest properties in television following the arrest. Earlier in April, Deadline revealed that HBO Documentary Films acquired the rights to Michelle McNamaras bestselling true-crime book Ill Be Gone in the Dark: One Womans Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer. The book is a meticulous exploration of the case and McNamara, was in the midst of writing the book when she unexpectedly died in 2016. The book was completed by McNamaras lead researcher Paul Haynes and a close colleague, Billy Jensen, and framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and afterword by her husband, comedian Patton Oswalt, who also executive produces the docuseries.
Oswalt, who stars in AP Bio, took to social media following the arrest, celebrating his wifes role in the process. He said that McNamara would be “beyond excited” with the news but called it “bittersweet”. He said, “But every time they said #GoldenStateKiller they credited the work of #MichelleMcNamara and #IllBeGoneInTheDark.”
