James Patterson & Vicky Ward Team On Book About Idaho Student Murders; Skydance TV To Option Rights For Television
19.05.2023 - 20:39
/ deadline.com
The story of the horrific Idaho student murders is in the works for the page and the small screen. Bestselling author James Patterson and award-winning journalist Vicky Ward are teaming on a nonfiction book about the 2022 murders of the four University of Idaho students. Additionally, Skydance Television intends to option the rights to the book for development as a docuseries, based on Patterson and Ward’s investigation, as part of their first-look deal with Patterson.
The book, which does not yet have a title or release date, will be published by Little Brown and Company. According to the publishing company, in it, Patterson and Ward will give a dramatic account of the November 2022 murders of the four students in the Idaho college town of Moscow and the investigation of suspect Bryan Kohberger.
Patterson and Ward will draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts, and also will attend Kohberger’s trial. “They will go beyond the headlines to tell the highly detailed story of this complex and horrific crime, while honoring the victims in a compassionate portrait of the lives the four lived before being tragically cut short,” according to the publisher.
Kohberger was indicted earlier this week on burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
“The last time a true crime story haunted me this deeply was when I covered Jeffrey Epstein in Filthy Rich,” said Patterson. “The Idaho murders have captured imaginations all around the world and I’m as caught up in it as anyone else. Because all of this happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of In Cold Blood. It’s a