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Patton Oswalt Discusses Cause Of His Wife's 2016 Death
Patton Oswalt and Michelle McNamara (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
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Michelle McNamara, author and founder of the website True Crime Diary, may have died as a result of heart blockages caused by prescription medication and an undiagnosed heart condition. Patton Oswalt, McNamara's husband, and a comedian, made the revelation in a statement to the Associated Press, notes the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles coroner's Lt. David Smith stated, however, that McNamara's official cause of death is still pending.
McNamara died in her sleep in April 2016 at the age of 46.
"We learned today the combination of drugs in Michelle's system, along with a condition we were unaware of, proved lethal," Oswalt wrote. He added that the heart blockages were caused by mixing Adderall, Xanax, and the pain medication fentanyl.
In an October interview with the New York Times, Oswalt described the night before his wife's death.
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McNamara was working on a book called The Golden State Killer, trying to solve a series of unsolved murders from the 1970s and 80s.
McNamara believed she was close to tracking [the killer] down, and was working long days and nights, her obsessive determination overwhelming her mounting anxiety. Worried about her health...Oswalt, suggested that she take a night to “sleep until you wake up.” It was a phrase they used to describe what could seem like an impossible luxury for the working parents of a 7-year-old girl. So on April 21, Ms. McNamara took some Xanax and went to bed.
“I have a feeling it might have been an overdose,” Oswalt later added. “That’s what the paramedics there were saying while I was screaming and throwing up.”According to USA Today, Oswalt said his wife's death “hasn’t left a void, she’s left a blast crater.”
In an August Facebook post, Oswalt described the grief he experienced in the 102 days since McNamara's death. "Grief is Jason Statham holding that 4th grade bully's head in a toilet and then fucking the teacher you've got a crush on in front of the class. Grief makes depression cower behind you and apologize for being such a dick."
In addition to Oswalt, McNamara is survived by her seven-year-old daughter.
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