The Golden State Killer’s Ex-Fiancée Recalls the Last Time She Saw Him in This I’ll Be Gone in the Dark Finale Clip

The finale of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, HBO’s limited series about the late crime writer Michelle McNamara and her journey to bring the serial killer and rapist she called the Golden State Killer to justice, airs this Sunday. The episode picks up with the apprehension of the killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, who pleaded guilty to 13 murders on June 29, the day after the limited series premiered. The finale goes deeper into who DeAngelo is, with interviews with his family members and people who knew him. 

One of the people interviewed is Bonnie Colwell, who was engaged to DeAngelo in 1970 but broke off the relationship due to discomfort with DeAngelo’s impulsive and controlling behavior. In this clip, she recalls the last time she ever saw DeAngelo, when he showed up at her house with a gun. 

“There was a tapping on the glass of my window,” she says. “I pulled the curtain back, and he was pointing a gun at me, and said ‘Get dressed, we’re going to Reno tonight, we’re gonna be married.'” 

She ran and woke up her father, who put her in the bathroom for protection and went to talk to DeAngelo. He came back about two hours later and told her to go to bed. DeAngelo was gone, but to this day Colwell doesn’t know what happened that night. 

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark Is A Rare True Crime Series That Puts the Survivors In Focus

The rest of the episode follows the survivors of DeAngelo’s crimes as they process the fact that he’s been caught, and McNamara’s widower Patton Oswalt and her research team as they do the same, and reflect on how McNamara’s work helped lead to his arrest. 

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark‘s series finale airs Sunday, Aug. 2 at 10/9c on HBO. The series is available to stream on HBO Max. 

Michelle McNamaraPhoto: HBO