10 Times Pop Culture Solved Real Life Crimes

6. Strange Piece Of Paradise Helps A Victim Find Her Attempted Murderer

Terri Jentz began her writing career with a very unique form of memoir. Rather than simply recounting her misspent youth with some literary flourishes and half-baked philosophical reminisces, Jentz took it upon herself to investigate the aftermath of a cross-country bicycle and camping trip she took fifteen years prior in Oregon's Cline Falls State Park - which ended suddenly and violently when herself and a friend had their tent run over and were then assaulted with an axe.

At the time, nobody was convicted of the attempted murder. Despite the state's statute of limitations making it clear that her attacker could never be prosecuted, Jentz soldiered on.

The book is half a deeply affecting, moving and personal document of the author's journey in dealing with the attack - her friend Shayna Weiss suffered memory loss and partial blindness as a result, whilst Jentz bears scars both physically and mentally - and half true crime narrative. Returning to the scene of the crime after years of avoiding it, Jentz quickly put together a prime suspect, with the help of other victims of violent crime in the area.

Locals had always thought one man was the one responsible, and her interest in the case caused the police to look into the alleged perpetrator - who was eventually sentenced for charges related to a different crime, with Jentz watching from the stands.