Ann Rule, the true-crime writer who penned 30 books including "The Stanger Beside Me" about Ted Bundy, died this week at the age of 83.
The Associated Press reported that Rule, who once worked at Seattle's Crisis Clinic, signed a book contract to write about the city's suspected serial killer just six months before he was identified as her co-worker, Ted Bundy — a grim coincidence.
Bundy was found guilty of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in 1978, and was executed by electric chair in 1989. He confessed to dozens of other murders in his final hours. Rule, who'd known Bundy since 1971, published her book about her former co-worker in 1980, and it became an international bestseller. She said she corresponded with Bunday until his death.
Rule would go on to write more than 30 books total, and is credited with reinventing the previously male-dominated true crime genre.
"By deciding to focus her books on the victim, Ann Rule reinvented the true crime genre and earned the trust of millions of readers who wanted a new and empathetic perspective on the tragic stories at the heart of her works," Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster, said in a statement.
As a magazine and newspaper writer, Rule said she published 1,400 articles mostly on crime and criminal cases in publications like "True Detective."
With all of her experience, local police forces would sometimes turn to Rule when they suspected they had a serial killer on their hands.
Rule, who was born in Lowell, Michigan to a school teacher and school sports coach, died Sunday at Seattle's Highline Medical Center. Her daughter, Leslie, wrote on Facebook that her mother "died peacefully" and "got to see all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren" before passing.