Dominick Dunne Dies at 83

Dominick John Dunne (October 29, 1925 - August 26, 2009) came from a gifted Irish-American Catholic family in Connecticut. His early career as a TV producer and member of the glitterati imploded at age 50 after his divorce and coincided with the end of his lucrative career in show business.

After sequestering himself in an isolated cottage for six months he refashioned himself as a writer and then later as a true crime writer after his daughter was murdered by her estranged boyfriend. The accuser got four years for manslaughter instead of a longer sentence which a murder conviction would warrant. Dunne objected loudly in court at the sentence and subsequently derailed the career of the judge in the case.

Like many parents he was outraged by the way victims of crime were treated and realized he could have an impact through his writing. Before the murder of his daughter he freely admits he cared less about the criminal justice system or its workings.

He subsequently wrote a fierce account of the trial for Vanity Fair and became the defining voice of that magazine for many years. He also defined how a new generation of writers would consider true crime reporting and many tried to capture his level of passion and elan. His awakening to the justice system however focused on celebrity crime like the Menendez Brothers, OJ Simpson and Phil Spector rather than how the general population interacted with the criminal justice system.

The documentary After The Party (2008) was a critical success and is a major insight into how he viewed himself as a child and a man. The film is full of pathos and courage - he tried to atone for various failures in the course of the documentary and admitted his personal and professional mistakes.

See the official website for more details.