What is *While the City Slept* about?

*While the City Slept* by Eli Sanders is a gripping true crime narrative that explores the 2009 murder of Teresa Butz and assault on her partner in Seattle. It interweaves the victims’ lives with their attacker’s psychological descent, critiquing systemic failures in mental health care and criminal justice. The book combines courtroom drama, survivor resilience, and a call for reform.

Who should read *While the City Slept*?

True crime enthusiasts, advocates for criminal justice reform, and readers interested in mental health policy will find this book impactful. It’s also recommended for those drawn to narratives about trauma, LGBTQ+ relationships, and societal accountability. Sanders’ Pulitzer-winning journalism makes it a standout for nonfiction fans.

Is *While the City Slept* worth reading?

Yes—the book earned acclaim as an Edgar Award and Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist for its meticulous reporting and emotional depth. *The Washington Post* praised it as an “expertly crafted nonfiction narrative” that balances true crime with systemic critique, offering both a haunting story and broader societal insights.

What is the main message of *While the City Slept*?

The book argues that failures in mental health care and criminal justice systems enabled preventable violence. Sanders highlights how underfunded services, bureaucratic neglect, and societal indifference allowed a mentally unstable man to escalate toward tragedy, urging readers to confront these gaps.

How does Eli Sanders approach storytelling in *While the City Slept*?

Sanders uses narrative journalism, blending courtroom transcripts, survivor interviews, and psychological analysis. His Pulitzer-winning background shines through in structurally ambitious prose that humanizes all three central figures—victims and perpetrator alike—while maintaining journalistic rigor.

What real-life case inspired *While the City Slept*?

The book centers on the 2009 murder of Teresa Butz and near-fatal attack on her partner by Isaiah Kalebu in Seattle. Sanders originally covered the crime for *The Stranger*, winning a 2012 Pulitzer for his feature on the survivors’ courtroom testimony.

What awards has *While the City Slept* received?

The book was a finalist for the 2017 Edgar Award (Best Fact Crime) and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Sanders’ original reporting on the case earned the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

How does *While the City Slept* critique the criminal justice system?

Sanders exposes Washington State’s failure to provide consistent mental health treatment to Isaiah Kalebu despite clear warning signs. The book reveals how legal loopholes and under-resourced social services allowed a volatile individual to fall through societal cracks.

While the city slept Summary

a love lost to violence and a young man's descent into madness

Eli Sanders

3.98(3621 Reviews)

While the city slept Summary Overview

A Pulitzer-winning examination of how one horrific crime reveals America's broken mental health system. Praised by Sister Helen Prejean as "inspiring," this haunting narrative asks: What if proper care could have prevented tragedy? Sanders humanizes both victims and perpetrator, challenging us to confront systemic failures.

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Chapter 1

When Tragedy Was Preventable: A City's Reckoning with Mental Health

On a sweltering July night in 2009, the quiet South Park neighborhood of Seattle was shattered by screams and breaking glass. Residents rushed from their homes to find two naked, bleeding women in the street-Teresa Butz dying from knife wounds while her fiancee Jennifer Hopper stood in "absolute terror." As neighbors provided first aid and called 911, a chilling suspicion spread through the community about who might be responsible: "Isaiah." This wasn't just a random act of violence, but the culmination of a systemic failure that allowed a severely mentally ill young man to spiral into violence despite numerous warning signs and opportunities for intervention. Eli Sanders' Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting, which Mother Jones called "a meticulous indictment of America's approach to mental illness," traces the tributaries that led three lives to converge in tragedy-and asks whether it had to happen at all. The book has become required reading in criminal justice programs nationwide, with Sister Helen Prejean praising its rare ability to "appeal to both conscience and heart" in revealing how tragedy becomes almost inevitable-yet doesn't have to be.

Chapter 2

Three Lives on Collision Course

Teresa Ann Butz was born October 19, 1969, the ninth of eleven children in a boisterous Irish-German-Catholic family in south St. Louis. Short and solidly built "like a bulldog," she kept her brown hair short with blond highlights that complemented her hazel eyes. Her laugh was unforgettable-starting as a chipmunk giggle before evolving into full-body convulsions, often ending with tears and clapping. This exterior toughness masked a tender heart; she collected Precious Moments figurines while excelling at sports and defending her shy brother from their father's strict discipline. Teresa's rebellious streak emerged early. She introduced her lifelong friends Rachel and Jean to cigarettes, hitchhiking, and sneaking out to watch sunrises from rooftops. When her family moved houses, she stole the address numbers from their old home as a keepsake. Though popular enough to be class president at Bishop DuBourg High School, Teresa never dated boys, maintaining what seemed like a performative crush on a neighbor boy who rejected her. Her brother Norbert's involvement in theater exposed her to LGBTQ+ people just as she was coming to terms with her own identity. After attending prom with her brother Tim, she cried that she'd "never have anybody." Her tension with her father culminated in a physical confrontation when she attempted to run away during her senior year. Jennifer Hopper was born in winter 1972 in Vallecitos, New Mexico, to parents in hiding. Her father Sam (an AWOL military man) had invented the surname Hopper, while her mother Marcia adopted it unofficially. When Jennifer was around two, Marcia took her back to Seattle to live with her parents in their middle-class split-level home. Jennifer, a naturally performative child who "loved to sing, loved to dance," would entertain her grandfather as he watched Lawrence Welk. Eventually, Marcia and Jennifer moved to a small yellow house nearby, but their situation deteriorated when Marcia suffered debilitating back injuries requiring multiple unsuccessful surgeries. They ended up on welfare, with Marcia becoming addicted to a "pain cocktail" of methadone and other medications. Jennifer often stayed at her grandparents' house while her mother cycled through boyfriends, some abusive. She developed an exceptional singing voice that teachers recognized as rare and beautiful-"a very clear, legitimate soprano voice" that was "pure" with perfect pitch. Theater became her refuge, where she found surrogate families in production casts. Despite her vocal talent, teachers worried her body type wouldn't match Broadway's expectations for ingenue roles. In high school, Jennifer struggled with anxiety and cut classes, though teachers rallied to help her graduate after learning of her home situation.

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Chapter 3

Paths Diverging and Converging

College proved difficult for Teresa. She first attended Truman State University at her father's insistence, where she endured humiliation at a fraternity party when the entire crowd pelted her with beer as she crouched defensively in a corner. After transferring twice more, she finally graduated with a business degree from the University of Missouri in St. Louis. Post-college, Teresa worked at Olive Garden and cleaned houses while maintaining her childhood Precious Moments collection. Through cousins, she discovered work on the Clipper Cruise Line sailing from Seattle to Alaska. The job offered escape and the crew's family-like closeness appealed to her. She sent long letters to friends about her adventures before eventually disappearing into her new life, cutting contact completely. Meanwhile, Jennifer was accepted to the Boston Conservatory to pursue musical theater. Despite the challenging environment, she met Kerri Sanford, who admired Jennifer's voice and beauty. The conservatory's intense approach involved breaking students down emotionally before building them back up. In movement classes, Jennifer discovered how much she'd been holding inside, learning to access authentic emotions rather than walling off pain. She struggled with the competitive atmosphere and felt her weight was an issue when a teacher assigned her only matronly roles. Feeling defeated, Jennifer returned to Seattle for the summer to work as a singing waitress on the Spirit of Seattle cruises. In June 1994, Teresa wrote to Jean after witnessing a tragedy in Alaska when a gangway collapsed, killing a passenger. Unable to escape the memory, Teresa bought drinks for crew members with a passenger's tip, violating company policy, and got fired. She returned to St. Louis and found work on the Mississippi River as a maid aboard the American Queen paddleboat. There she met John Schuler, and they became fast friends. John noticed Teresa's excessive coffee consumption-"twelve to fourteen cups a day"-and her energetic personality. During a break, Teresa visited Jean in London and revealed her homosexuality. Later, when docked in New Orleans, Teresa visited St. Louis Cathedral to pray that her homosexuality, which her church considered a sin, would be taken away-a revelation that broke Jean's heart.

Chapter 4

Finding Their Voices

After one summer on the Spirit of Seattle, Jennifer returned to the conservatory but left after a semester. Back in Seattle, she reconnected with her high school theater director Ruben, who encouraged her to return to the conservatory. The school welcomed her back with a scholarship, and she found friendships easier this time. Jennifer, a self-described empath skilled at reading emotional energy, began experiencing electric shocks of attraction to certain women. In summer 1995, while working for the conservatory, Jennifer developed feelings for the 35-year-old bursar, who kindly rebuffed her but offered support. Back in Seattle, Jennifer worked at a photo processing business where she developed a crush on a female coworker, confirming her attraction to women. After another failed Les Miserables audition and a difficult coming-out conversation with her grandmother, Jennifer moved to New York in 1997. There, she struggled with vocal cord issues requiring surgery, faced discouragement at auditions, and eventually met Ann Kansfield through an online dating site. Ann attended Jennifer's cabaret performance and was impressed, leading them to move in together in Park Slope. Teresa, meanwhile, joined her brother Norbert on his Cabaret tour as a nanny, growing close to his family while privately struggling with depression and drinking. Her religious conflict intensified during a church retreat where she recommitted to Christianity, praying with her sister Annie and sister-in-law Jenni. She returned to Seattle without telling her lesbian friends, tried dating men, but eventually entered a tumultuous relationship with a woman named Amy. Teresa bought a condo in Renton with savings from her hotel work, displaying her father's financial discipline. In 2005, she was arrested for drunk driving after leaving a gay club, which shook her self-image and led to community service. Jennifer and Ann attended a progressive Manhattan church together, with Jennifer joining the gospel choir despite her Jewish background. Jennifer appreciated Ann's intelligence and "heart quality," while Ann valued Jennifer's spiritual openness. Living in a small apartment with four cats, they built their first serious relationship. Jennifer worked placing creative temps while abandoning her theater dreams, worried about her voice, her weight, and financial insecurity. She eventually threw away her musical theater sheets, concerning Ann who recognized Jennifer's untapped talent.

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Chapter 5

Building a Life Together

Teresa rebuilt her life in Seattle, working first as a Starbucks barista before landing a job managing office buildings. With renewed confidence, she sold her Renton condo and used the $80,000 equity to buy a small red house in South Park for $286,000 during the 2007 housing bubble peak. Though modest with a tiny yard near a polluted river, Teresa took immense pride in homeownership, saying "I know it's not much, but it's mine." She displayed a George Bush magnet reflecting her Republican leanings inherited from her father, who helped clear her yard while tactfully avoiding discussion of Teresa's relationships with women. Jennifer remained in the gospel choir after splitting with Ann, finding satisfaction in singing on her own terms. She bought a studio apartment in their old Park Slope building with help from Ann and her grandmother, then pursued a disappointing one-sided relationship with an Orthodox Jewish man. By 2006, she sold her apartment for $265,000-more than double what she paid-and returned to Seattle. She lived with her aging grandmother, reconnected with her mother Marcia who accepted her sexuality, and eventually found work at Creative Circle placing temp workers. During training in Los Angeles, she made a fateful call to an office building manager in Seattle named Teresa. Jennifer first noticed Teresa when getting her ID badge, drawn to her crisp suits, positive energy and helpfulness. Their offices faced each other on the twenty-second floor of City Centre, allowing Jennifer to observe Teresa's professional confidence and later, at a birthday celebration, her goofy off-duty personality. They discovered shared musical tastes and after Teresa returned from her brother's wedding, she invited Jennifer to a concert. When they casually mentioned their exes-Teresa's "Amy" and Jennifer's "Ann"-surprise registered in Teresa's eyes. After a weekend of Jennifer thinking about Teresa constantly, they met for drinks on July 31, 2007-what became their anniversary. After hours of conversation about Teresa's difficult breakup, they ended up in a Capitol Hill coffee shop, where Teresa confessed to being a Republican Bush voter and having a DUI before saying, "I really want to kiss you." Their kiss in the car felt different than anything Jennifer had experienced: "I felt at home."

Chapter 6

A Troubled Mind Unravels

While Teresa and Jennifer were building their relationship, Isaiah Kalebu's life was unraveling. Born to a Ugandan immigrant father and American mother, Isaiah's childhood was marked by trauma, neglect, and domestic violence. A social worker who investigated his family when Isaiah was seventeen specifically noted he had "endured a great deal of the father's abusive behavior" and would "benefit from mental health counseling"-an opportunity that was never pursued in America's "patchwork relic" mental health system. Isaiah's inability to express feelings about his traumatic childhood manifested in a violent incident at school where he knocked out a classmate with one punch after a minor dispute. By age sixteen, the state had intervened in his life three ways: investigating a cigarette burn near his eye as an infant, unsuccessful intervention attempts by school teachers, and police responses to domestic violence incidents. None led to formal charges or effective help. After his parents' divorce, home foreclosure, failed college attempts, and the crushing discovery of his colorblindness that ended his pilot dreams, Isaiah remained without the intervention the social worker had recommended years earlier. In 2006, he was arrested for marijuana possession, telling family he used it to quiet negative voices in his head. He cycled through approximately twenty jobs in two years, displaying wildly inconsistent behavior-sometimes appearing smart and dedicated, other times disorganized, dishonest, and reckless. As Isaiah's mental state deteriorated, he began experiencing delusions, telling his mother he was God and referring to himself as "the king" and "president of the United States." He paced for hours in his room, speaking in pressured, incomprehensible bursts. Though he occasionally managed moments of clarity, these were increasingly interrupted by rage episodes and bizarre behavior.

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Chapter 7

A System Designed to Fail

In 1955, over half a million Americans were housed in mental hospitals, often for dubious reasons. Following reforms urged by psychiatrists, President Kennedy effectively closed these institutions through his 1963 Community Mental Health Act, promising community-based treatment with increased respect for individual rights. Mental hospital populations plummeted, further accelerated by a 1975 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting involuntary commitment except when individuals posed "danger to self or others." By 1994, approximately 92% of those who would have been institutionalized in the past were not. However, the promised federal funding for community treatment never materialized as wars, economic crises, and other priorities diverted resources. By 2008, when Isaiah needed help, the burden of handling psychological distress fell increasingly on unprepared families and eventually onto police, emergency rooms, courts, and prisons-which ironically had become the new mental institutions without therapeutic intent. The system particularly failed poor and African American patients like Isaiah, who were "unlikely to receive treatment" and often "incorrectly diagnosed." Isaiah's increasingly erratic behavior alarmed his family but left them with few options. After threatening to call CPS on his sister Deborah for no apparent reason and walking through Burien with a knife and "blank stare," his family tried to get help. "I kept trying to get him into mental hospitals, but he wouldn't go," his mother explained. "And he was bigger than me. I couldn't very well drag him to the hospital." Being over eighteen, Isaiah would legally need to seek help himself unless he posed an immediate threat. His mother's frustration was prophetic: "I told them, I said, 'Do you want him to hurt someone before you help him?' And that's exactly what happened."

Chapter 8

Warning Signs Ignored

When police brought Isaiah to Harborview Medical Center, he "actively tried to present himself as sane." Despite his family's pleas, the hospital psychiatrist diagnosed him with bipolar disorder rather than schizophrenia, though noted his behavior "strongly suggests he is not capable of being in behavioral control due to his mania." The Designated Mental Health Professional determined Isaiah didn't meet the state's criteria for involuntary commitment, which required imminent danger to self or others. He was released without medication, prescription, or follow-up care. After release, Isaiah's rejection of treatment escalated to violence. When his mother insisted he take medication, he threatened her ("You're dead to me" and "Enjoy your last day on earth"), brandished a knife, and later smashed her minivan windows. The situation culminated with Isaiah attacking his mother with a dog chain. "He had no idea who I was," she said. "And at that point, I knew he was in a psychotic break." Deborah and others restrained him until police arrived, and Isaiah was taken to jail rather than treatment. Fifteen days after his arrest, Isaiah appeared in King County Superior Court before Judge Brian Gain. Though his public defender claimed Isaiah had agreed to psychiatric evaluation, Isaiah immediately objected: "I did not agree to that. I'm not crazy. I don't feel like I need an evaluation." The hearing occurred just days after his parents' six-year divorce proceedings had finally concluded, with his mother now on disability and his father no longer required to make support payments. Despite a Family Court social worker recommending counseling for Isaiah six years earlier, no such help had ever materialized. At Western State Hospital, Isaiah became a "constant behavioral management problem" according to Dr. Gregory Kramer. Isaiah exhibited anger, made threats, paced constantly, jumped on furniture without explanation, and required restraints for two days. Western State diagnosed him as bipolar but deemed him incompetent to stand trial, recommending "competency restoration" and forced medication if necessary. After a suicide attempt in jail, Isaiah underwent competency restoration primarily through forced medications-first Zyprexa, then lithium. The treatment wasn't aimed at addressing his underlying psychological issues but merely at meeting the minimum legal standard of competency.

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Chapter 9

The Final Descent

After being released on August 21, 2008, Isaiah followed a typical route through a failing system: from family care to police to emergency room and back again in cycles. Though theoretically connected to community treatment, the reality was far different from what President Kennedy had envisioned. Isaiah established care at chronically underfunded Cascade Mental Health Care, where intake paperwork noted depression, social isolation, mood swings, irritability, anxiety, aggression, grief, and emotional trauma. Prescribed Zyprexa and lithium, Isaiah attended his first appointment on September 11, 2008, denying any mental disturbance and giving "testy, short, and curt answers." He missed his October appointment where blood tests were scheduled to verify medication compliance, and subsequent appointments in November and December. For over three months, Isaiah violated Judge Gain's order requiring attendance at all appointments. Neither his provider nor his aunt informed the court, nor did the court verify his compliance. During this same period, Washington State faced a $9 billion shortfall from the Great Recession. Despite contradictory public demands for better services without tax increases, legislators cut mental health funding by $24 million over the next two-year cycle, eliminating sixty beds at Western State Hospital. This pattern repeated nationwide, leading the National Alliance on Mental Illness to describe a system "in crisis" that created "a vicious cycle that destroys lives." Isaiah made one final appearance at Cascade on January 7, 2009, arguing with his provider about his medications. The clinician, hoping to prevent complete non-compliance, lowered his Zyprexa dose without checking blood levels, noting that Isaiah stopping medication "would be a disaster." Isaiah never returned. After his aunt Rachel sought a restraining order against him, describing being "a prisoner in my own home," Isaiah's last meaningful emotional attachment was severed. The next day, Rachel and her partner JJ were killed in an arson. When detectives questioned Isaiah, who had been sleeping in nearby woods since being kicked out, he appeared strangely calm while watching the burned house. With nowhere to go, Isaiah "wandered homeless for days, accompanied only by his dog and his delusions, until he encountered Teresa Butz and Jennifer Hopper."

Chapter 10

Justice and Its Limitations

On July 19, 2009, Jennifer woke suddenly to find a naked man standing over their bed with a knife at her throat, saying, "I don't want to hurt you. I just want pussy." When Teresa said she was on her period, he replied, "I don't care," and ordered them both to undress. The brutal attack that followed left Teresa dead and Jennifer severely traumatized but alive. Nearly two years later, Isaiah's trial began. During cross-examination, defense attorney Brandes attempted to humanize Isaiah by suggesting he wasn't "entirely callous" during the attack. Jennifer firmly rejected this characterization: "How is it not callous to stroke a rape victim who doesn't want to be stroked? That's not kindness. That was probably the worst part for me." As the prosecution prepared to rest its case, Isaiah unexpectedly announced he wished to testify. Wearing a yellow shirt and slacks (his request for a judge's robe denied), Isaiah testified: "I was there. And I was told by my God, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to attack my enemies. I did so. I followed the instructions by God." On July 1, 2011, after four weeks of trial and two days of deliberations, the jury found Isaiah Kalebu guilty on all counts: aggravated premeditated murder in the first degree for killing Teresa Butz, felony murder, attempted murder of Jennifer Hopper, first-degree rape, and first-degree burglary. At the sentencing hearing, Teresa's father Norbert spoke of his daughter as "the ninth gift from God" among their eleven children. Jennifer faced Isaiah and said, "I do wish you peace, and I do not hate you, and I'm so sorry for whatever it is in your life that brought you to this." She acknowledged being broken but promised to "fight every day of my life to be as whole as I can." Judge Hayden sentenced Isaiah to life without parole plus two additional life sentences.

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Chapter 11

The Cost of Prevention Ignored

The true cost of Isaiah's crimes extends far beyond the emotional devastation. Financially, his incarceration will cost Washington State over $1.85 million if he remains imprisoned until age seventy-three (his life expectancy). This doesn't include the $114,519 King County spent keeping him in jail awaiting trial, his psychiatric evaluations at Western State Hospital, his prosecution ($550,000), defense ($702,000), and appeal costs ($16,700). The total public bill will exceed $3 million. Mental health advocates argue this represents a tragic misallocation of resources. Isaiah could have received weekly counseling from childhood through adulthood for far less than this amount. Dr. Margaret Dean's mentor, Dr. Allen Frances, has lamented the "absurd misallocation of resources" in our mental health system, where "we are neglecting the severely ill who can be accurately diagnosed and effectively treated" while state mental health budgets are slashed. Laws like New York's Kendra's Law might have prevented Isaiah's crimes. This legislation allows court-ordered outpatient commitment for adults with mental illness who have histories of treatment noncompliance linked to hospitalization or violence. Brian Stettin of the Treatment Advocacy Center believes Isaiah's case would have been a "slam dunk" for triggering such intervention, calling him "a ticking time bomb" like many similar cases. Washington State has since passed Joel's Law (allowing families to appeal when loved ones are deemed not threatening enough for commitment) and amended its involuntary commitment statutes, but funding remains insufficient. Meanwhile, America now has ten times more mentally ill people in jails (350,000) than in psychiatric hospitals (35,000), with $4.35 billion cut from state mental health budgets between 2009-2012.

Chapter 12

Finding Meaning in Tragedy

Three years after the trial, Jennifer continued speaking about resilience, including at a Seattle Police Department retreat. When an officer questioned how she could refer to her attacker as "Mr. Kalebu" and show any forgiveness, Jennifer explained that seeing a photo of Isaiah with his mother after his arrest had changed her perspective: "He was somebody's child." Jennifer described forgiveness not as excusing Isaiah's actions but as "restoring what there was before"-in this case, returning to being strangers who would wish each other well. She explained that forgiveness "has nothing to do with him. It has everything to do with me. He can no longer diminish me, inside of forgiveness." Norbert Leo Butz, Teresa's brother, credits her as his "spiritual sponsor" who helped him find sobriety. He created a cabaret show called "Girls, Girls, Girls" as a tribute to the women in his life, including Teresa. Together with Teresa's friends, they established the Angel Band Project, a nonprofit using music therapy to help survivors of sexual violence. In St. Louis, Teresa's weeping cherry tree still grows in the Butz family backyard, though her father Norbert Sr. passed away in 2015. Her grave sits on a gently sloping hill near ball fields and where Clydesdale horses sometimes run. Her brother John Schuler eventually followed her example in coming out. Jennifer now lives with her mother Marcia, who has been sober for many years. Their relationship has strengthened, with Marcia trying to make up for times when she wasn't present enough in Jennifer's youth. Jennifer draws inspiration from her mother's transformation, saying, "I'm tremendously proud of her. And it is entirely possible that I would not have known that something else was possible, on the other side of what happened to me, if I hadn't seen her be dark in her life." Isaiah's sister Deborah continues to wonder about him and feels tremendous guilt, wishing she could apologize to Jennifer though knowing she "can't bring back nothing for her." She draws strength from Jennifer's courage in court: "If she can do this, and she can be strong enough to share it-and was actually in the moment, and seen all this, and seen her love die-I can do it." At dusk on the Duwamish River near South Park, the city lights glow in the distance. Despite pollution, nature persists-salmon jump, harbor seals surface, and herons wade along riverbanks. On old pilings, conservationists have hung gourd-shaped nests to attract purple martins that once roosted there, drawn by hollowed gourds discarded by the Duwamish people. Gradually, the purple martins are returning-a small sign of healing in a landscape of loss.

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Key Themes in the While the city slept Summary

mental health crisis
systemic institutional failure
criminal justice reform
preventable violence
trauma and recovery

Best Quotes from the While the city slept Summary

This wasn't just a random act of violence, but the culmination of a systemic failure.
Her laugh was unforgettable-starting as a chipmunk giggle before evolving into full-body convulsions.
Theater became her refuge, where she found surrogate families in production casts.
College proved difficult for Teresa.

Characters in the While the city slept Summary

Teresa ButzA victim of the attack and a central subject
Jennifer HopperA survivor of the attack and Teresa's fiancée
IsaiahThe mentally ill man responsible for the attack
Eli SandersThe author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter
Marcia HopperJennifer's mother who struggled with addiction

About the Author

Eli Sanders, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of While the City Slept, combines meticulous reporting with profound empathy in this gripping true crime narrative.

A former associate editor of Seattle’s The Stranger, Sanders earned the 2012 Pulitzer for Feature Writing for his original coverage of the horrific crime that forms the book’s core—a brutal attack that took one life and exposed systemic failures in mental health care and criminal justice. Blending investigative rigor and literary depth, Sanders explores themes of trauma, love, and institutional neglect through the intersecting lives of the victims, their families, and the perpetrator.

His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Salon, and he hosted The Stranger’s political podcast, further cementing his reputation for probing societal issues. A Gates Public Service Law Scholar at the University of Washington, Sanders’ reporting on campaign finance transparency led to a landmark lawsuit against Meta Platforms. While the City Slept, a Washington Post notable book and Edgar Award finalist, underscores his ability to transform true crime into a lens for examining broader social inequities.

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What I appreciate most is how much it's reduced my scrolling – I'm spending less time searching and more time absorbing information. The combination of full audiobooks, podcasts, the learning plans are brilliant.

@colonyofcreatorsNGO

I have been a PhotoReading Accelerated Learning Instructor for the past 24 years... books and reading and learning are my thing, and BeFreed has done a great job in providing an innovative approach to disseminating and delivering information in an easy to consume way.

@BeFreed user

It is not just a book summary app, I have used the 'fun reading' option and it's a much better summary and way to grasp ideas the traditional way, that alone is worth this deal.

@austinakon

I love this app. Used it for several days and I cannot stop listening. Such a great way to start.

@jcrules328

I really like the program; I have already tested it for around one month, and I feel that it's an amazing gem. It works so well because I can use BeFreed to create my own topics, and the voice is so good with unlimited choice of narrations.

@DanielCZ

I love the fact that I can get useful, condensed, information and ideas in a 8 - 15 minute podcast style audio. I'm not a general fan of podcasts because of all the fluff, but this cuts through all that.

@BeFreed user

I am finishing up my doctorate, and have to read a lot of unfamiliar material... With BeFreed, you simply enter a prompt, and the app finds source material for you and generates an audio podcast. I find the process in BeFreed to be more streamlined than NotebookLM.

@Brad

I often search YouTube for something to listen to whilst making breakfast, when I'm out walking, commuting, etc, and BeFreed has provided an even more targeted approach, without the adverts and the fluff!

@BeFreed user

The absolute best part about this platform is its versatility. There is literally no subject that is off-topic. It handles whatever you throw at it... It is rare to find an learning tool with zero limitations that actually delivers on its promises.

@jayallen

BeFreed is fantastic. The user-friendly design means I spend less time navigating and more time learning. The mix of audiobooks, podcasts, and learning plans is a genius combo that has completely changed my daily routine.

@BeFreed user

At the start I needed a while to understand how to create podcasts in italian language and boom! It is so great! I can ask to explain every argument and it does so well and so smartly!

@matteo77

BeFreed has become my daily app for audio books tools... What I like the most is the way you put your text and come with an audio that you can listen on the go.

@kotanzu1

I love the fact that I can get useful, condensed, information and ideas in a 8 - 15 minute podcast style audio. I'm not a general fan of podcasts because of all the fluff, but this cuts through all that.

@BeFreed user

I am finishing up my doctorate, and have to read a lot of unfamiliar material... With BeFreed, you simply enter a prompt, and the app finds source material for you and generates an audio podcast. I find the process in BeFreed to be more streamlined than NotebookLM.

@Brad

I often search YouTube for something to listen to whilst making breakfast, when I'm out walking, commuting, etc, and BeFreed has provided an even more targeted approach, without the adverts and the fluff!

@BeFreed user

The absolute best part about this platform is its versatility. There is literally no subject that is off-topic. It handles whatever you throw at it... It is rare to find an learning tool with zero limitations that actually delivers on its promises.

@jayallen

BeFreed is fantastic. The user-friendly design means I spend less time navigating and more time learning. The mix of audiobooks, podcasts, and learning plans is a genius combo that has completely changed my daily routine.

@BeFreed user

At the start I needed a while to understand how to create podcasts in italian language and boom! It is so great! I can ask to explain every argument and it does so well and so smartly!

@matteo77

BeFreed has become my daily app for audio books tools... What I like the most is the way you put your text and come with an audio that you can listen on the go.

@kotanzu1

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