Who was Douglas Gretzler? Details analyzed from the case in Oxygen’s Charmed by the Devil

While most true-crime documentaries concentrate on the violence itself, Oxygen's most recent special - Charmed by the Devil - adopts a more unnerving stance. It explores what happens when a journalist invests decades in attempting to comprehend a murderer, rather than merely narrating the murders. The documentary, which focuses on uncommon audio recordings, private letters, and long-buried talks, examines how closeness, time, and access may gradually erode moral and emotional boundaries.

Charmed by the Devil focuses on American serial killer Douglas Edward Gretzler. Together with accomplice Willie Steelman, Gretzler is to blame for a startling surge in murders in the early 1970s. The two killed 17 people in Arizona and California through robberies and attempts at killing witnesses over the course of a few weeks in 1973. They performed their crimes quickly, deliberately, and frequently without hesitation. After investigators used actual proof and confessions to piece together the trail, Gretzler was found guilty and given the death penalty in Arizona.

Charmed by the Devil: The Dangerous Line Between Journalism and Obsession

The documentary’s emotional weight comes from journalist Laura Greenberg’s decades-long correspondence with Gretzler. Hundreds of letters and more than 500 hours of recordings reveal how easily a killer can manipulate empathy and attention. The film raises difficult questions about true-crime ethics, showing how prolonged exposure can blur boundaries, humanize the inhuman, and leave lasting emotional damage on those seeking the truth.

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