By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
Crime journalist, Baylor alum and newly-published author Claire St. Amant took to Fabled Bookshop Monday evening to promote her new memoir about the true crime genre: “Killer Story: The Truth Behind True Crime Television.“
St. Amant is something of an expert when it comes to true crime. She’s helped create over 20 episodes of CBS’ hit crime show “48 Hours.” She hosts not one, but two true crime podcasts. She even has a television series in the works. Now, she’s telling the story behind those stories in “Killer Story: The Truth Behind True Crime Television.”
“Killer Story” is not a memoir about the chilling shows that make their way to television screens, but one about the behind the scenes. For St. Amant, these behind the scenes stories involve a lot of “telling on myself,” as she recounts experiences like sneaking into a jail to talk to a killer, eating dinner with a hitman, looking into the “void” and “ink blot” eyes of merciless killers and even being detained herself.
One night ahead of the book’s Feb. 18 release date, St. Amant stopped by Fabled Bookshop for an interview and book signing. There, she gave a preview to her upcoming book, shared stories from her early career and explained the multitude of true crime work she does –– and hinted at some more.
St. Amant graduated from Baylor in 2008 with degrees in journalism and professional writing. After working in the Peace Corps, she returned to Texas and worked for various publications. Her big break came in through her coverage of Michelle Williams’ trial.
Williams, a resident of Keller, was convicted of murdering her husband. She received only an 18-year plea deal. When St. Amant came across the story, the unusual sentence led her to pursue her long-held interest in investigative journalism and to “do some digging.”
What did that digging reveal? According to St. Amant, she “uncovered many cons [Williams] had perpetrated throughout the years.”
Among these cons were faked pregnancies, tampered evidence and an assortment of other lies which St. Amant said allowed Williams to lie her way into a softer sentence. Her sentence was upgraded to 60 years.
The new verdict gave St. Amant even more passion to report on crime.
“I can make a difference with my reporting, and I can affect the justice system. It really gave me that fire to find these stories,” she said.
But even more than that, it led her to her next role at CBS, where she worked for seven years on “48 Hours,” one of the most popular and longest-running crime shows in America.
From there, St. Amant transitioned into a number of roles in the media and true crime industry. She started the podcast “Final Days on Earth” in 2021, which is meant for hardcore crime junkies, as it spends each season analyzing a single unsolved crime. For those interested in a quicker pace, St. Amant’s other podcast, “Justice Pending,” focuses on one crime per episode.
As “Killer Story“ –– the latest in St. Amant’s true crime creations –– becomes available on Feb. 18, St. Amant indicated that it won’t be her last production. While she continues to produce content for her podcast, she’s working with companies like Paramount and Netflix to get a true crime TV show off the ground.
“The only reason this book exists is because it’s so hard to make television,” St. Amant said. “It takes so long to make TV. I was like ‘What can I do that I don’t have anyone else that I’m waiting on?’”
Dozens of people were in attendance at Fabled Bookshop to buy the book a night before its release and get it signed.
Among those in attendance was San Luis Obispo, Calif. junior Sloane Crone. While Crone, like the other attendees, is a fan of literature and true crime herself, she also said she felt the genre had been “trivialized.”
As gripping as St. Amant tries to make her stories, the trivialization of cases is also something she acknowledged in her discussion. Amant said she “took it as a great honor to speak to these victims’ families.”
“As victims of crime they have so many things out of their control,” St. Amant said. “The opportunity to participate in their own stories gives them some of that control back.”
When these stories are told with that empathy and respect, they can be not just modes of entertainment, but of empowerment, Crone said.
“I think it’s also comforting –– almost validating in a way –– as a victim of crime myself, to see that people do get justice.”
