Thank you for joining us for an evening with cold-case investigator and true-crime icon Paul Holes, live from the City Opera House in downtown Traverse City. Our discussion about Paul's new memoir "Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases" is hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paige St. John.
02:30 NWS Scholarships awarded
06:50 Guest introductions
08:35 Program begins
13:15 Why did cold case work become such a passion for Paul?
19:20 Original policing issues with the GSK case
24:35 On the politics behind the GSK case
30:00 Why did Orange County refuse to share DNA evidence?
40:00 On the privacy issues in using genealogical DNA in prosecutions
55:40 Further discussion of privacy issues and the purchase of Ancestry
1:00:00 Talking about the personal toll of cold-case investigation
1:09:50 On balancing empathy with true-crime "voyeurism"
1:12:00 Q&A Begins
For a decade, The Golden State Killer stalked and murdered Californians in the dead of night, leaving entire communities afraid to turn out the lights. The sadistic predator disappeared in 1986, hiding in plain sight for the next thirty years in middle-class suburbia.
In 1994, when cold case investigator Paul Holes came across the old file, he swore he would unmask the Golden State Killer and finally give these families some closure. Twenty-four years later, Holes fulfilled that promise, identifying a 73-year-old former cop named Joseph J. DeAngelo. Headlines blasted from the U.S. to Europe: one of America’s most prolific serial killers was in custody.
That case launched Holes’s career into the stratosphere, turning him into an icon in the true crime world with television shows like The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes and America’s Most Wanted, and the podcast Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad. Everyone knows Paul Holes, the gifted crime solver with a big heart and charming smile who finally caught the Golden State Killer. But until now, no one has known the man behind it all, the person beneath the flashy cases and brilliant investigations.
In this memoir, Holes takes us through his memories of a storied career and provides an insider account of some of the most notorious cases in contemporary American history, including the hunt for the Golden State Killer, Laci Peterson’s murder, and Jaycee Dugard’s kidnapping. This is also a revelatory profile of a complex man and what makes him tick: the drive to find closure for victims and their loved ones, the inability to walk away from a challenge-even at the expense of his own happiness.
Holes opens up the most intimate scenes of his life: his moments of self-doubt and the impact that detective work has had on his marriage. This is a story about the gritty truth of crime-solving when there are no flashbulbs and “case closed” headlines. It is the story of a man and his commitment to cases and people who might have otherwise been forgotten.
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Each year, the National Writers Series helps hundreds of students hone their writing and reading skills. We believe exceptional writing skills can create a pathway to an amazing future. In collaboration with the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, NWS awards four scholarships each year.
Thank you to our major sponsors:
Event Sponsor: A Generous Friend of NWS
Sustaining Sponsor: Cordia
Winter/Spring Season Sponsor: Today's Golden-Fowler Home Furnishings
Season Arts Benefactor Sponsor: NWMIArts.com
Grantors: Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts
Community Partners: Morsels, Traverse Area District Library, Image 360, Horizon Books, Amical
Official Airport: Traverse City Cherry Capital Airport
9 май 2022
