Linda Deutsch, a respected journalist who worked for The Associated Press for nearly five decades, covering the most important criminal and civil cases of the latter half of the last century and beyond, died Sunday at age 80.
in 2022, Deutsch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent treatment successfully, but the cancer recently returned. Her nurse told AP that Deutsch died at her Los Angeles home, surrounded by family and friends.
Deutsch began her trial reporting career covering the 1969 case against Sirhan Sirhan, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin. Among the other notable defendants she covered were Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Patty Hearst, Phil Spector, the Menendez brothers, Richard Ramirez (aka, “The Night Stalker”), Ted Kaczynkski (aka, “The Unabomber”) and the Los Angeles police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King. She retired in 2015.
“When a big trial loomed, AP’s assignment editors didn’t have to ask who should get the assignment. No, the instant question was, `Is Linda available?”’ said Louis D. Boccardi, a former AP executive editor and CEO. “She mastered the art of celebrity trial coverage and, in the process, became something of a media celebrity herself.”
Julie Pace, AP’s executive editor and senior vice president, said, “Linda was a fearless reporter who loved being on a big story — and she indeed covered some of the biggest.”
“She was a true trailblazer whose command of her beat and tireless work ethic made her an inspiration to so many journalists at the AP and across our industry,” Pace said.
City News Service’s criminal courts reporter, Terri Vermeulen Keith, remarked, “Linda was a consummate professional and a legend in the news business. I treasured our friendship, which continued long into her retirement.”
“She will be greatly missed by me and everyone else whose lives she touched,” Keith said.
Of the courtroom, the venue in which Deutsch’s edge-of-your-seat dramas played out, she once told an interviewer, “It’s as old as Shakespeare and as old as Socrates. … It’s an extremely powerful theater that tells us about ourselves and about the people on trial. And I think it’s ever fascinating.”