34856893457934

Acknowledgments
I’d like to start with a giant thanks to you, the reader, for taking the time to read this book. Seriously,
thank you.
I also want to acknowledge Ross’s parents, Lyn and Kirk. While they didn’t speak to me for this
book, I did talk with them a number of times during Ross’s trial, and I felt incredibly sad for what
they had been through.
The following names might mean nothing to most people reading this story, but I can assure you
that without them, this book wouldn’t exist.
Thank you to my editor, Niki Papadopoulos, for being the greatest book editor who has ever
roamed the halls of publishing (and thanks for having a last name that I still need to Google to ensure
I’m spelling it correctly). Also, a giant thank-you to the entire team at Portfolio / Penguin, including
Adrian, Will, Leah, Vivian, Stefanie, Tara, Bruce, and Hilary.
Thanks to my book agents, Katinka Matson and the rest of the amazing team at Brockman, Inc.; to
Brian Siberell and Bryan Lourd at CAA; and to Eric Sherman at Ziffren Brittenham. You’re all truly
amazing and I feel so lucky to work with you all.
Thanks to my researcher, Nicole Blank, for being so patient, eager, and helpful in ways that can’t
be counted in this book. A cherry-on-top thank-you to Joshua Davis, Joshuah Bearman—two of the
finest storytellers around today—and the team at Epic magazine for contributing such amazing
reporting to this book.
I know people say this all the time, that something wouldn’t have been possible without the help
of this person or that, but this book really wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of
Jared Der-Yeghiayan, his wife, Kim, and their kids; Chris Tarbell, his wife, Sabrina, and their kids;
Gary Alford; Julia Vie; Thomas Kiernan; Ilhwan Yum; the family of Preston Bridges; the dozens of
people from law enforcement who cannot be named here; and many former friends, acquaintances,
and coworkers of Ross’s, all of whom spent endless hours answering my painfully monotonous and
tedious questions. Thank you a thousand times over.
An enormous thank-you to my editors at Vanity Fair, Jon Kelly and Graydon Carter, and my
insanely talented coworkers, for your truly unbelievable support and friendships. (A shout-out to my
former editors and coworkers at the New York Times, especially Stuart Emmerich, Damon Darlin,
Dean Baquet, Jill Abramson, and anyone who has the last name Sulzberger.) And most of all, thank
you, thank you to Larry Ingrassia, who took a chance on me all those years ago when, over Chinese
food, I randomly blurted out that I’d like to try my hand at being a reporter.