In April of 1999, Tammy Leitner awoke to an active crime scene outside her Arizona apartment. Her neighbor had just been sexually assaulted and somehow a piece of evidence ended up in her apartment. A local crime reporter at the time, Leitner began an investigation that would eventually lead to a 20-year obsession, culminating in her speaking to the predator and forcing her to confront her own dark secret.
Do you think you would have become just as obsessed with this case if one of the survivors hadn’t been your neighbor? You presumably would have still covered it because of the nature of your job at the time.
This heinous crime happened on the other side of the wall of where I lived. I think this would rattle anyone. Coming home every day and walking by her apartment was a constant reminder that this depraved monster was still on the loose. For me, it became a call to action. I found it impossible not to become obsessed with the case.
You became skilled at forming relationships with people during the course of your career. How do you think this helped in discovering more information about various aspects of the case?
As a journalist, developing relationships and gaining the trust of others—whether it be sources or the person you are interviewing—is crucial. I think it helps that I love my profession and I care deeply about the stories I cover. I hope that comes through in my reporting and helps others open up and trust me.
How did you balance painting the horrific acts that Hull committed while also being sensitive to the survivors’ experiences?
It’s always precarious to find a balance between revealing enough to help readers understand the true weight of the horrific acts committed and not wanting to divulge so much that you re-traumatize the survivors. I am extremely sensitive to this, having lived through these crimes while reporting on them, and then again while writing the book. I tend to go case by case depending on the person and their recovery, their strength and their willingness to share, as the retelling of these events can not only re-traumatize them, but also exacerbate symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
How did you convince Hull to correspond with you?
I wrote to Hull many times over the last two decades while he was in prison, but he wanted nothing to do with me. The last letter I wrote to him was very personal and highly unorthodox for a journalist. I explained how one of the women he attacked lived next door to me and how I never really moved on, spending the last two decades wondering why he committed such a heinous act. I told him that I wanted to understand what had been going on in his mind, the compulsion that compelled him to do such things. That’s when he finally agreed to speak with me.
How has your relationship with the survivors evolved over the years? Are you still in touch with any of them?
I still keep in touch with all of the women who I interviewed for the book. The bonds we formed while writing this book are very unique and personal. One survivor in particular, Karen Sullivan, is quite special to me. We have been friends for more than two decades now. I consider her a sister.
You share many details of your own life for the very first time in this book. What compelled you to share them in this way?
Too many people have lived through some version of my story. They are stuck in abusive relationships, whether it be physical, blaming, humiliation, threats of harm or abandonment, controlling, intimidation, harassment, deprivation of contact or coercion. But they don’t talk about it. They are too afraid or filled with shame. I’m the perfect example. No one knew I was being gaslighted, manipulated, and controlled for so many years. And that’s why I finally decided to speak out. If abuse can happen to me, an investigative reporter, it can happen to anyone.
While writing this book and sharing my experiences, I found something I desperately needed. My own healing. After decades of running from my abusive past, I chose to stop. Stand still. Feel the ache. I learned to embrace my scars that had hardened over time.
What conversations do you hope Don’t Say a Thing will start surrounding the justice system and the way assault survivors are treated? Do you think conditions have improved at all in the last 20 years?
So much has changed within the justice system in the last 20 years. Law enforcement shares information more readily. The centralized, national database is widely used. A serial rapist like Hull is less apt to slip through the system now. But unfortunately, it does still happen.
Journalists seem to be under more scrutiny than ever. How do you feel the profession has changed, whether that’s for better or worse?
Journalists are criticized and physically attacked now more than ever. Journalists have been tear-gassed, tased, shot with rubber-bullets, and struck with batons while covering riots here in the United States. A press pass no longer protects journalists or provides the right to report. The landscape has changed even more so in recent years. There is a vitriol for journalists that I have never seen in my 20 plus year career. And as a society, we are more divided than ever. But this is why investigative journalists are needed now more than ever.
What good do you hope comes from telling the survivor’s stories? And your story?
My hope is that this book opens the door to more compassion surrounding sexual assault, better understanding of the mental health issues attached to recovery, and healing for those in need. I hope that my story shows others that they are not alone, that abuse comes in all shapes and sizes, and that it is possible to break free. It’s time to break free of the shame and have an open dialogue about these issues.
TAMARA LEITNER is a twelve-time Emmy Award–winning broadcast and print investigative journalist. She worked as a network correspondent, regularly reporting on the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and MSNBC. Before joining NBC News in 2016, Leitner worked for local news outlets in New York City, Chicago, and Phoenix. She is the recipient of a 2011 George Foster Peabody Award, a 2012 Edward R. Murrow Award, and a 2018 GLAAD Media Award and lives in Southern California. Visit her at www.tamaraleitner.com.
