Patton Oswalt: ‘I Knew I Wouldn’t Be Able to Live’ If Michelle McNamara’s Golden State Killer Book Wasn’t Finished

Patton Oswalt is having something of a victory tour after the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department announced April 25 it had apprehended 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo in connection to the Golden State Killer murders. Michelle McNamara, Patton’s late wife, was working on a book about the cold case murders before her death in April 2016. The Golden State Killer claimed 12 lives in California from the mid-1970s to 1986.

The actor and comedian happened to be a guest on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on April 25, and the conversation between Oswalt and Meyers pivoted from the former’s NBC series “A.P. Bio” to the Golden State Killer. Oswalt shared with Seth that McNamara’s wish was to see the killer behind bars, so he made it his mission to complete her novel after she died. Although Oswalt did not participate in writing the book, he said he did beg McNamara’s collaborates Billy Jensen and Paul Haynes to finish it.

“I begged them to help,” Oswalt told Meyers. “I was neck deep in grief and suddenly a single father and not sleeping. I knew I wouldn’t be able to live and go on in life if the book was undone. They found a way to finish it and put it together. Now that he’s been caught, they can link him to all these other cases.”

Oswalt believes McNamara’s book helped keep the Golden Sate Killer case in the spotlight and force law enforcement to pursue the cold cases. You can watch Oswalt’s entire sit-down with Meyers in the video below.