Journalist’s dangerous obsession with a forgotten serial killer unraveled her reality

Laura Greenberg was a writer determined to recognize wherefore radical kill. In her hunt for answers, she befriended a long-forgotten serial slayer down bars. As helium described his crimes, her consciousness of world began to unravel.

Greenberg’s unsettling enslaved with Doug Gretzler — who, on with accomplice Willie Steelman, killed 17 people, including 2 children — continues to haunt her decades later. Her hunt for knowing is the absorption of Oxygen’s caller true-crime documentary, "Charmed by the Devil."

The movie explores however Greenberg visited Gretzler 350 times, exchanged hundreds of letters and recorded much than 500 hours of audio successful a relentless effort to, arsenic she enactment it, "understand the monster."

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Laura Greenberg's startling enslaved with decease enactment inmate Douglas "Doug" Gretzler is the taxable of the caller Oxygen true-crime documentary "Charmed by the Devil." (Oxygen)

Growing up, filmmaker and Nickelodeon dependable histrion Ben Giroux lone knew that his aunt was interviewing "a feline who killed somebody." It wasn’t until 2020, during the pandemic, that helium gained afloat entree to Greenberg’s startling recordings.

"I went and visited Doug 350 times successful prison," Laura Greenberg is heard saying successful the documentary. "We wrote hundreds of letters, and we recorded 500 positive hours of audio tapes. I wanted to recognize the monster." (Oxygen)

"She ever says determination are 17 bodies betwixt them," Giroux told Fox News Digital. "He was a monster. He was the devil. And yet she was capable to look beyond that and found a quality connection. She says she wouldn’t enactment a statement connected what that transportation was. I’m definite her reply changes regular connected however she would specify it."

Giroux noted that the extent of that transportation is what makes the communicative truthful unnerving.

Laura Greenberg saved hundreds of hours of recordings from Doug Gretzler, including audio heard publically for the archetypal clip successful the documentary. (Oxygen)

"When you locomotion into her house, it’s fundamentally a depository dedicated to this case," helium shared. "There are constabulary reports, transgression country photos, written letters and paintings. It’s a monolithic trove of connection betwixt her and Gretzler. It’s an obsession. I deliberation they came to some trust connected and go codependent connected each different successful that obsession."

Gretzler and Steelman landed connected decease enactment aft a three-week sidesplitting spree successful Arizona and California. Steelman died of cirrhosis of the liver successful 1986 — the aforesaid twelvemonth that Greenberg, a scrappy newsman for City mag successful Tucson, got a extremity astir Gretzler that sparked her curiosity.

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Greenberg archetypal contacted Gretzler by letter, hoping to summation his trust. At the time, helium refused to sermon his crimes with anyone. Still, her words intrigued him capable to respond. What followed was an unbroken speech of letters and recorded conversations. Soon after, she visited him successful prison.

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Laura Greenberg was a Tucson-based newsman who wanted to cognize wherefore radical kill. (Oxygen)

"Gretzler was idiosyncratic cipher had ever heard of due to the fact that the lone idiosyncratic helium was talking to was my aunt," said Giroux.

The boundaries blurred quickly. They bonded implicit their shared New York City upbringings. Greenberg, who was surviving with a fellow astatine the time, would hold until helium fell asleep, past softly fastener herself successful the bathroom, gully a bath and, arsenic she aboriginal described, perceive arsenic Gretzler spoke successful item astir the murders. At 1 point, helium professed his emotion for her and grew progressively jealous aft she married.

Doug Gretzler (pictured here) and Willie Steelman robbed market store proprietor Walter Parkin and killed each 9 radical wrong Parkin’s location extracurricular Lodi, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported. Among the victims were a 9-year-old lad and an 11-year-old girl. A loved 1 of the household spoke retired successful the documentary. (Oxygen)

"No 1 knew these tapes existed until now," enforcement shaper Lauren Flowers told Fox News Digital.

Doug Gretzler had been connected decease enactment since Nov. 15, 1976, the Los Angeles Times reported. (Oxygen)

"I was amazed by however mean immoderate of these conversations were, knowing the volition was to perceive astir gruesome crimes and uncover the why. Then you enactment connected different portion and perceive them speech astir the upwind oregon music, what Laura was buying astatine the market store — adjacent realizing they erstwhile went to the aforesaid euphony festival and hung retired astatine immoderate of the aforesaid places."

Flowers noted that the documentary raises hard ethical questions astir however adjacent a writer should get to a story. The antithetic entree Greenberg gained — and the intimacy that followed — volition apt rise eyebrows among viewers, she pointed out. Giroux and Flowers said the movie explores Greenberg’s pursuit arsenic nonrecreational boundaries are tested.

Doug Gretzler (left) and Laura Greenberg (right) are primitively from New York City. (Oxygen)

Gretzler gave Greenberg elaborate accounts of his beingness and crimes. At 22, helium fled his responsibilities arsenic a hubby and begetter successful New York and headed to Colorado, wherever helium fueled his days with drugs and alcohol. 

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Willie Steelman (pictured here), Doug Gretzler's accomplice, died successful 1986 portion incarcerated connected decease row. (Oxygen)

There, helium met Steelman, a volatile 28-year-old who had precocious been institutionalized. They formed a "pact," with Gretzler pledging implicit loyalty to Steelman, whom helium considered a brother.

Together, they embarked connected a cross-country travel with a elemental program — to bargain wealth and drugs. It rapidly spiraled into thing darker. Gretzler said flatly that it didn’t instrumentality overmuch for him to kill.

Laura Greenberg said she doesn't regret their arguable relationship. (Oxygen)

While immoderate families said the interviews helped reply lingering questions, Greenberg acknowledged that nary mentation could ever warrant the brutality of the murders.

Douglas E Gretzler, 22, is seen exiting a constabulary car and is led into the constabulary presumption aft his apprehension successful downtown Sacramento.   (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

As Greenberg gathered information, she reached retired to loved ones of the victims and to Gretzler’s sister. They opened up to her for the archetypal time.

"On the surface, it’s confusing," Giroux said. "Wouldn’t they cull idiosyncratic who became truthful adjacent to a idiosyncratic who took truthful galore lives and devastated truthful galore families? But I deliberation they’ve travel to admit her quality to find the information and excavation for each detail. It speaks to her obsessive personality."

Doug Gretzler reportedly wrote letters of apology to the families of the victims. (Oxygen)

"She got everyone talking — everyone connected with her," Giroux said. "She has a existent acquisition for getting radical to unfastened up. She surely did that with Gretzler, who seldom spoke to anyone else. She wanted to permission nary chromatic unturned."

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Douglas E. Gretzler (left), 22, and Willie L. Steelman, 28, are seen present arriving astatine the San Joaquin County Courts building. According to Oxygen.com, they claimed the lives of 17 people. (Getty Images)

"Does she judge that boundaries were crossed? I deliberation so," Giroux said. "She’s incredibly transparent and candid astir it. She doesn’t shy distant from discussing things that would marque others flinch. She’s remarkably unfastened astir however heavy that transportation became."

Greenberg said she felt "disgusted" arsenic Gretzler revealed the darkest details of his murders. He spoke not lone astir the killings, but besides astir a chaotic childhood, including the decease of his teenage brother. She repeatedly challenged him, making it wide that nary mentation could excuse the standard of his crimes.

Laura Greenberg's nephew told Fox News Digital that she inactive listens to Doug Gretzler's recordings. (Oxygen)

Greenberg pushed Gretzler arsenic she studied however unit took basal successful his beingness and however helium justified his heinous acts. For immoderate of the victims’ families, the interviews clarified however and wherefore the crimes unfolded, filling successful gaps that constabulary files and tribunal records ne'er afloat answered aft years of unresolved questions. It gave them a achy knowing of what happened to their loved ones during their last moments.

"I would capable up the bathtub, and I would perceive to him speech to maine astir murder," Laura Greenberg is heard saying successful the documentary. (Oxygen)

"We wouldn’t person reached anyone without Laura," Flowers said. "Everyone we recovered said, ‘Do you cognize Laura Greenberg? You person to speech to her.’"

"That was particularly existent with Dee Gretzler, Doug Gretzler’s sister," Flowers shared. "She was conscionable a kid erstwhile she learned astir it astatine school. She lives privately, and this is the archetypal clip she’s ever acknowledged that her member was a serial killer. But she knew that if Laura participated, she could archer her story."

"Doug and Willie were abstracted quality beings," retired Tucson Police Detective Weaver Barkman explained successful "Charmed by the Devil." "After they met, this symbiotic narration formed a 3rd personality. When you enactment them together, they crook into thing that is highly dangerous." (Oxygen)

Gretzler invited Greenberg to witnesser his execution connected June 3, 1998. She sat adjacent his sister. In the years starring up to his death, they continued to speech astir "everything successful life, some profound and mundane," said Giroux.

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Laura Greenberg is successful the process of penning a publication astir her encounters with Doug Gretzler. (Oxygen)

"The finality deed her hard," Giroux admitted. "What’s truthful unusual is however mean their interactions sounded astatine the extremity — astir casual. You’d deliberation the execution would beryllium the extremity of the story, but I deliberation it was the beginning. Her obsession lone grew aft that, and her committedness to telling each item of this communicative intensified aft helium was executed."

What remains unchanged are the lives lost.

United Market successful Victo, California, an intended robbery people of Douglas Gretzler and Willie Steelman successful 1973. It was closed the nighttime their transgression spree escalated into the Parkin household murders. (Oxygen)

"I deliberation Laura got Gretzler to judge that the work was his," Flowers said. "There are a batch of radical with s----- childhoods who don’t termination 17 radical — thing she reminded him of repeatedly. From the start, we felt a work to the victims and hoped to supply immoderate closure to their families."

In 1998, Doug Gretzler was executed by lethal injection. Laura Greenberg was contiguous astatine the situation with his sister. (Oxygen)

"The happening to instrumentality distant from my aunt’s transportation to Gretzler is the information of obsession — and however we each request to cheque ourselves," Giroux said. "You don’t privation to spell excessively acold down the rabbit hole. This has consumed 40 years of her life."

"Charmed by the Devil" is disposable for streaming connected Peacock.