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Journalist’s dangerous obsession with a forgotten serial killer unraveled her reality
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Laura Greenberg was a journalist determined to understand why people kill. In her search for answers, she befriended a long-forgotten serial killer behind bars. As he described his crimes, her sense of reality began to unravel.
Greenberg’s unsettling bond with Doug Gretzler — who, along with accomplice Willie Steelman, killed 17 people, including two children — continues to haunt her decades later. Her search for understanding is the focus of Oxygen’s new true-crime documentary, “Charmed by the Devil.”
The film explores how Greenberg visited Gretzler 350 times, exchanged hundreds of letters and recorded more than 500 hours of audio in a relentless effort to, as she put it, “understand the monster.”
UNEARTHED ‘SON OF SAM’ PRISON TAPES REVEAL CHILLING DETAILS ABOUT SERIAL KILLER DAVID BERKOWITZ
Laura Greenberg’s startling bond with death row inmate Douglas “Doug” Gretzler is the subject of the new Oxygen true-crime documentary “Charmed by the Devil.” (Oxygen)
Growing up, filmmaker and Nickelodeon voice actor Ben Giroux only knew that his aunt was interviewing “a guy who killed somebody.” It wasn’t until 2020, during the pandemic, that he gained full access to Greenberg’s startling recordings.
“I went and visited Doug 350 times in prison,” Laura Greenberg is heard saying in the documentary. “We wrote hundreds of letters, and we recorded 500 plus hours of audio tapes. I wanted to understand the monster.” (Oxygen)
“She always says there are 17 bodies between them,” Giroux told Fox News Digital. “He was a monster. He was the devil. And yet she was able to look beyond that and establish a human connection. She says she wouldn’t put a label on what that connection was. I’m sure her answer changes daily on how she would define it.”
Giroux noted that the depth of that connection is what makes the story so unnerving.
Laura Greenberg saved hundreds of hours of recordings from Doug Gretzler, including audio heard publicly for the first time in the documentary. (Oxygen)
“When you walk into her house, it’s basically a museum dedicated to this case,” he shared. “There are police reports, crime scene photos, written letters and paintings. It’s a massive trove of communication between her and Gretzler. It’s an obsession. I think they came to both rely on and become codependent on each other in that obsession.”
Gretzler and Steelman landed on death row after a three-week killing spree in Arizona and California. Steelman died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1986 — the same year that Greenberg, a scrappy reporter for City magazine in Tucson, got a tip about Gretzler that sparked her curiosity.
WATCH: FOX NATION DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS SERIAL KILLER’S MYSTERIOUS AMAZON REVIEWS
Greenberg first contacted Gretzler by letter, hoping to gain his trust. At the time, he refused to discuss his crimes with anyone. Still, her words intrigued him enough to respond. What followed was an unbroken exchange of letters and recorded conversations. Soon after, she visited him in prison.
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Laura Greenberg was a Tucson-based reporter who wanted to know why people kill. (Oxygen)
“Gretzler was somebody nobody had ever heard of because the only person he was talking to was my aunt,” said Giroux.
The boundaries blurred quickly. They bonded over their shared New York City upbringings. Greenberg, who was living with a boyfriend at the time, would wait until he fell asleep, then quietly lock herself in the bathroom, draw a bath and, as she later described, listen as Gretzler spoke in detail about the murders. At one point, he professed his love for her and grew increasingly jealous after she married.
Doug Gretzler (pictured here) and Willie Steelman robbed grocery store owner Walter Parkin and killed all nine people inside Parkin’s home outside Lodi, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported. Among the victims were a 9-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. A loved one of the family spoke out in the documentary. (Oxygen)
“No one knew these tapes existed until now,” executive producer Lauren Flowers told Fox News Digital.
Doug Gretzler had been on death row since Nov. 15, 1976, the Los Angeles Times reported. (Oxygen)
“I was surprised by how ordinary some of these conversations were, knowing the intention was to hear about gruesome crimes and uncover the why. Then you put on another tape and hear them talk about the weather or music, what Laura was buying at the grocery store — even realizing they once went to the same music festival and hung out at some of the same places.”
Flowers noted that the documentary raises difficult ethical questions about how close a journalist should get to a story. The unusual access Greenberg gained — and the intimacy that followed — will likely raise eyebrows among viewers, she pointed out. Giroux and Flowers said the film explores Greenberg’s pursuit as professional boundaries are tested.
Doug Gretzler (left) and Laura Greenberg (right) are originally from New York City. (Oxygen)
Gretzler gave Greenberg detailed accounts of his life and crimes. At 22, he fled his responsibilities as a husband and father in New York and headed to Colorado, where he fueled his days with drugs and alcohol.
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Willie Steelman (pictured here), Doug Gretzler’s accomplice, died in 1986 while incarcerated on death row. (Oxygen)
There, he met Steelman, a volatile 28-year-old who had recently been institutionalized. They formed a “pact,” with Gretzler pledging absolute loyalty to Steelman, whom he considered a brother.
Together, they embarked on a cross-country trip with a simple plan — to steal money and drugs. It quickly spiraled into something darker. Gretzler said flatly that it didn’t take much for him to kill.
Laura Greenberg said she doesn’t regret their controversial relationship. (Oxygen)
While some families said the interviews helped answer lingering questions, Greenberg acknowledged that no explanation could ever justify the brutality of the murders.
Douglas E Gretzler, 22, is seen exiting a police car and is led into the police station after his arrest in downtown Sacramento. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
As Greenberg gathered information, she reached out to loved ones of the victims and to Gretzler’s sister. They opened up to her for the first time.
“On the surface, it’s confusing,” Giroux said. “Wouldn’t they reject someone who became so close to a person who took so many lives and devastated so many families? But I think they’ve come to appreciate her ability to find the truth and dig for every 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 real gift for getting people to open up. She certainly did that with Gretzler, who rarely spoke to anyone else. She wanted to leave no stone unturned.”
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Douglas E. Gretzler (left), 22, and Willie L. Steelman, 28, are seen here arriving at the San Joaquin County Courts building. According to Oxygen.com, they claimed the lives of 17 people. (Getty Images)
“Does she accept that boundaries were crossed? I think so,” Giroux said. “She’s incredibly transparent and candid about it. She doesn’t shy away from discussing things that would make others flinch. She’s remarkably open about how deep that connection became.”
Greenberg said she felt “disgusted” as Gretzler revealed the darkest details of his murders. He spoke not only about the killings, but also about a chaotic childhood, including the death of his teenage brother. She repeatedly challenged him, making it clear that no explanation could excuse the scale of his crimes.
Laura Greenberg’s nephew told Fox News Digital that she still listens to Doug Gretzler’s recordings. (Oxygen)
Greenberg pushed Gretzler as she studied how violence took root in his life and how he justified his heinous acts. For some of the victims’ families, the interviews clarified how and why the crimes unfolded, filling in gaps that police files and court records never fully answered after years of unresolved questions. It gave them a painful understanding of what happened to their loved ones during their final moments.
“I would fill up the bathtub, and I would listen to him talk to me about murder,” Laura Greenberg is heard saying in the documentary. (Oxygen)
“We wouldn’t have reached anyone without Laura,” Flowers said. “Everyone we found said, ‘Do you know Laura Greenberg? You have to talk to her.’”
“That was especially true with Dee Gretzler, Doug Gretzler’s sister,” Flowers shared. “She was just a kid when she learned about it at school. She lives privately, and this is the first time she’s ever acknowledged that her brother was a serial killer. But she knew that if Laura participated, she could tell her story.”
“Doug and Willie were separate human beings,” retired Tucson Police Detective Weaver Barkman explained in “Charmed by the Devil.” “After they met, this symbiotic relationship formed a third personality. When you put them together, they turn into something that is extremely dangerous.” (Oxygen)
Gretzler invited Greenberg to witness his execution on June 3, 1998. She sat near his sister. In the years leading up to his death, they continued to talk about “everything in life, both profound and mundane,” said Giroux.
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Laura Greenberg is in the process of writing a book about her encounters with Doug Gretzler. (Oxygen)
“The finality hit her hard,” Giroux admitted. “What’s so strange is how normal their interactions sounded at the end — almost casual. You’d think the execution would be the end of the story, but I think it was the beginning. Her obsession only grew after that, and her commitment to telling every detail of this story intensified after he was executed.”
What remains unchanged are the lives lost.
United Market in Victo, California, an intended robbery target of Douglas Gretzler and Willie Steelman in 1973. It was closed the night their crime spree escalated into the Parkin family murders. (Oxygen)
“I think Laura got Gretzler to accept that the responsibility was his,” Flowers said. “There are a lot of people with s—– childhoods who don’t kill 17 people — something she reminded him of repeatedly. From the start, we felt a responsibility to the victims and hoped to provide some closure to their families.”
In 1998, Doug Gretzler was executed by lethal injection. Laura Greenberg was present at the prison with his sister. (Oxygen)
“The thing to take away from my aunt’s connection to Gretzler is the danger of obsession — and how we all need to check ourselves,” Giroux said. “You don’t want to go too far down the rabbit hole. This has consumed 40 years of her life.”
“Charmed by the Devil” is available for streaming on Peacock.
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“America First” has been more than a slogan for President Trump. It has become a governing framework and near-mandate for his administration. America First policy decisions have manifested across immigration strategy, energy regulation, and, perhaps most clearly, trade policy.
The beef market has been in desperate need of an America First recalibration after President Joe Biden’s failed policies. Ground beef prices have become astronomical, reaching an average of $6.69 per pound in December, the highest price since tracking began in the 1980s.
These price increases are outpacing those of other food categories due to structural problems within the domestic beef market. Analysis from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows the domestic herd has fallen to a 75-year low and is continuing to shrink as fewer calves are retained for breeding. As a result, the U.S. cattle herd is unlikely to expand until at least 2028.
From my time as governor of Texas and agriculture commissioner for the nation’s leading cattle-producing state, I understand both the gravity of this situation and the need for a deliberate policy response.
Cattle are shown in pens at the Cattlemen’s Columbus Livestock Auction in Columbus on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images)
In October, President Donald Trump addressed the need for beef affordability measures and signaled plans to increase imports, which he recently finalized through an executive order, opening the U.S. to an additional 80,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings from Argentina this year.
This step is valuable because the U.S. does not produce enough beef to meet domestic demand, necessitating imports. Argentina is a strategic and well-suited partner to remedy our beef shortage because they specialize in lower-cost, lean beef. These trimmings from Argentina will be blended with fattier domestic beef to produce hamburgers and ground beef products – affordable staples in high demand.
Importing the specific type of affordable beef directly addresses supply and aligns with an America First approach. Expanding lean beef imports will reduce pressures on our beef supply, thus reducing costs for consumers while protecting cattle ranchers’ premium production.
THE SURPRISING REASON WHY AMERICANS COULD FACE HIGH BEEF PRICES FOR YEARS
The impacts of these smart imports are complemented and multiplied by broader efforts to strengthen the cattle sector, including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ October plan to fortify the American beef industry and President Trump’s directive for the Department of Justice to crack down on foreign-owned meat packing cartels.
Beyond these efforts, the administration should reassess the existing allocation of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), which were configured in 1995. Reworking would acknowledge shifts in global production patterns and domestic market needs, putting U.S. ranchers in a better position.
Today, the overwhelming share of tariff-free beef imports are dedicated to Australia and New Zealand. Both countries focus heavily on premium, grass-fed exports – products that compete directly with higher-end U.S. beef in domestic and international markets.
By contrast, lean beef imports from South America primarily serve the lower-cost blended segment. Ranchers and their supporters criticizing the import increase from Argentina, but failing to push back about the near-unlimited market access Australia and New Zealand have are fighting the wrong battles.
The beef market has been in desperate need of an America First recalibration after President Joe Biden’s failed policies.
Some policymakers have raised concerns that imports would sideline American ranchers and that we should focus on cutting red tape, lowering production costs and supporting cattle herd growth. These priorities are valid – but they’re not mutually exclusive with strategic imports.
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The notion that imports should be avoided is misguided and ignores structural supply realities. Strategic imports like lean trimmings can stabilize prices while allowing U.S. producers to concentrate on premium markets, where profitability is strongest. This is how we pave the path for rancher success.
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If U.S. ranchers are forced to simultaneously try and dominate serving both low-margin ground products and high-margin premium markets with higher-end cuts, they may become overwhelmed. From a long-term market perspective, overextension can discourage heifer retention and delay necessary herd rebuilding.
President Trump and his team are on the right path with the Argentina deal. This expansion should be defended unapologetically, incorporated beyond just 2026, and considered as part of a long-term strategy rather than a temporary measure.
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Permanently expanding Argentina’s tariff-free access to the U.S. market for lean beef trimmings is how we ensure prices stop rising. The administration should also consider opportunities for expanded imports from other South American nations, such as Paraguay and Uruguay, where production aligns with U.S. market gaps.
Building an American First beef market requires precision and long-term thinking. The current policy shifts are moving in the right direction, which will support ranchers, strengthen our market and deliver affordability for American consumers.
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5th Circuit clears Texas to enforce drag show law in front of minors, Paxton claims ‘major win’
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An appellate court found on Wednesday that Texas can enforce a law regulating drag shows in public places and in the presence of minors, scrapping a lower court order that had enjoined the state from doing so.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reaffirmed its November ruling, saying Texas can enforce the 2023 law regulating “sexually oriented performances.” The two-judge panel said only one plaintiff in the case had standing and sent the lawsuit back to the lower court to reevaluate the plaintiff’s First Amendment claim.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is a candidate for Senate, framed the decision as a “major win” in a statement on social media.
“I successfully defended a law protecting children from being exposed to sexually illicit content at erotic drag shows,” Paxton said. “I will always work to shield our kids from exposure to erotic and inappropriate sexually oriented performances.”
A drag queen performs a routine set to the song “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine at the Texas State Capitol during the “No Kings” national rally in Austin, Texas on June 14, 2025, on the same day as President Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C. (SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)
The lawsuit, brought by numerous self-described LGBTQ organizations, centered on a state Senate bill that defined sexually oriented performances as visual performances that feature a nude person or sexual conduct and “[appeal] to the prurient interest in sex.” Under the law, a person could be prosecuted for causing a performance to occur in the presence of minors.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of President Donald Trump, authored the opinion and was joined by Judge Leslie Southwick, an appointee of former President George W. Bush.
The judges found that most of the plaintiffs, including a nonprofit called Woodlands Pride, did not have standing to bring First and Fourteenth Amendment challenges to the law because the groups’ performances were benign and therefore not relevant to the Texas law.
The judges said, however, that a group called 360 Queen Entertainment did engage in explicit enough performances, sometimes in the presence of minors, and therefore had standing.
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The Texas State Capitol in Austin (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“Based on the evidence introduced at trial, 360 Queen’s performances arguably include proscribed conduct,” Engelhardt wrote. “The owner described one performance where a drag queen, who was wearing a ‘very revealing’ breastplate, pulsed the breastplate in front of people and put the breastplate in people’s faces.”
Sometimes those performances were visible to children, Engelhardt noted.
The panel ordered the district court to evaluate whether 360 Queen was right to claim the Texas law violated its free speech rights under the First Amendment.
In a statement, Brian Klosterboer of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said the 5th Circuit effectively deemed some drag performances “family-friendly” but that the law, which will go into effect in March, still had perceived constitutional problems.
“The law’s vague and sweeping provisions still create a harmful chilling effect for drag artists and those who support them, while also threatening many types of performing arts cherished here in Texas, from theater to ballet to professional wrestling,” Klosterboer said.
An appellate court found on Wednesday that Texas can enforce a law regulating drag shows in public places and in the presence of minors, scrapping a lower court order that had enjoined the state from doing so. (Getty Images)
In 2023, Judge David Hittner, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, found Texas’ law was unconstitutional. It is “not unreasonable” to think it could affect activities like live theater or dancing, Hittner wrote.
Last November, the 5th Circuit vacated that order. On Wednesday, it reaffirmed that decision and denied the plaintiffs’ request to rehear their appeal.
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TUCSON, Ariz. — A 34-year-old man was arrested late Thursday night outside the Arizona home where Nancy Guthrie went missing earlier this month, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told Fox News Digital.
Shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, deputies arrested 34-year-old Antonio De Jesus Pena-Campos in front of Guthrie’s home on misdemeanor DUI charges, the department said.
The arrest is not related to the Guthrie investigation, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department added.
Pima County sheriff’s deputies stopped a blue Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV near Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. A man was later taken into custody after what appeared to be field sobriety testing. (Fox News)
Footage shows Pima County sheriff’s deputies shining a flashlight into the driver’s side of what appeared to be a blue Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV parked near the home where Guthrie was last seen Feb. 1.
Moments later, deputies spoke with Pena-Campos near a white canopy tent set up along the roadside as a deputy shined a flashlight toward the man’s face.
In another sequence, Pena-Campos walks in a straight line in what appears to be part of a field sobriety test. In subsequent footage, he is placed in the back of a sheriff’s pickup truck.
The man was detained as investigators continue searching for Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing Feb. 1 after authorities said she was taken during a home invasion. Investigators have said her pacemaker last synced with her iPhone around 2:30 a.m. that morning.
Her family has since offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her safe return as authorities continue to pursue leads.
NANCY GUTHRIE’S NEIGHBOR SAW SUSPICIOUS MAN WALKING NEARBY 2 WEEKS BEFORE SUSPECTED ABDUCTION
A deputy shines a flashlight toward a man’s face during what appears to be field sobriety testing outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. The man was later taken into custody. (Fox News)
The development comes after a Catalina Foothills resident’s street-facing Ring camera captured 12 vehicles passing by between midnight and 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Guthrie is believed to have been abducted.
Some of the activity occurred around the 2:30 a.m. mark, roughly when authorities said the 84-year-old’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone.
A man walks in a straight line under the direction of deputies during what appears to be field sobriety testing outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. (Fox News)
Homeowners Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas told Fox News Digital that police had not canvassed their neighborhood in the 25 days since Guthrie was allegedly taken from her bed in what authorities have described as a home invasion kidnapping.
The couple said they alerted both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department to the footage. It was not immediately clear whether the video would prove useful to investigators or whether any of the vehicles had traveled on Guthrie’s street.
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Pima County sheriff’s deputies speak with a man near a white canopy tent set up along the roadside outside Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home late Thursday night. (Fox News)
The Stratigouleas home sits on a back road that leads out of Guthrie’s neighborhood and avoids major intersections. The property is approximately 2½ miles — or about a seven-minute drive — from the crime scene, according to Google Maps.
One of the videos was recorded at approximately 2:36 a.m., roughly eight minutes after Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone, based on the sheriff’s timeline.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Olivia Palombo contributed to this report.
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