Shanna Hogan (October 21, 1982 – September 1, 2020) was an American non-fiction author and journalist. She was best known for writing the book ''Picture Perfect'' about convicted murderer

Jodi Arias Jodi is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Jodi Albert (born 1983), English actress * Jodi Anasta (born 1985), Australian actress and model * Jodi Anderson (born 1957), American heptathlete * Jodi Appelbaum-Steinbauer (born 1956), ...

Early life

Born in

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 population of 141,290. History 19th century Olathe was ...

, Hogan grew up in Phoenix. In 2005, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Career

She was a reporter at the ''

East Valley Tribune The ''East Valley Tribune'' is a newspaper concentrated on cities within the East Valley region of metropolitan Phoenix, including Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek. Formerly a daily newspaper, the ''Tribune'' resulted from the ...

'' from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, she went to work for the

Times Media Group Arena Holdings, formerly known as Tiso Blackstar Group, Johnnic Communications, Avusa and Times Media Group, is a media company in South Africa. Avusa means "to rouse feelings, to revive and evoke action". The name was changed in 2007 in order to ...

as a features editor, where in 2012 she was promoted to executive editor. Hogan wrote four

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

books, with her first, ''Dancing with Death'', about Phoenix housewife Marjorie Orbin and the death of her husband Jay, an art dealer, released by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

in 2011. It was followed by ''Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story'', released in September 2013 by St. Martin's True Crime Library about the Travis Alexander murder in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...

. A third book, ''The Stranger She Loved'', was released by St. Martin's in March 2015, about the murder of Utah doctor Martin MacNeil's wife, Michele, and his 2013 conviction. Her fourth book, ''Secrets of a Marine's Wife'', released by St. Martin's in February 2019, is about the 2014 murder of 19-year-old pregnant Marine wife Erin Corwin. Hogan appeared on ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...

'', ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'', ''

Anderson Cooper 360° ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'') is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. Since May 20, 2019, ''360°'' has been br ...

'', ''

Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is n ...

'', and

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

's ''

Snapped ''Snapped'' is an American true crime television series produced by Jupiter Entertainment. The series depicts high profile or bizarre cases of women accused of murder. Each episode outlines the motivation for murder, whether it be revenge agains ...

'' to discuss high-profile crime cases. She also appeared on ''

Jane Velez-Mitchell Jane Velez-Mitchell is a television and social media journalist and author, with specialities in vegan lifestyles, animal rights, addiction and social justice. Early life and career Born to a Puerto Rican mother and an Irish American father, Ve ...

'' ''

Dr. Drew On Call ''Dr. Drew On Call'', previously titled ''Dr. Drew'', was an American current affairs program hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky that aired Monday through Thursday nights on HLN. The program premiered on Monday, April 4, 2011, and aired Monday through Th ...

'', and multiple crime shows on the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

channel. On January 10, 2014, she was on '' The View'' with attorney and correspondent

Darren Kavinoky Darren Kavinoky is an American Criminal defense lawyer, criminal lawyer and television journalist who is the creator of the television show ''Deadly Sins'' on Investigation Discovery. He is also the featured Criminal Interventionist on the Inv ...

in a panel discussion of the Jodi Arias case. In 2017, Hogan co-authored '' The Crime Book'' volume with American crime writers

Lee Mellor Lee Mellor, Ph.D. (born August 4, 1982 in Chester, England) is an Anglo-Canadian author, scholar, criminologist and alternative country musician distinguished by his intricate lyrics and growly vocal stylings. Education Mellor attended Bowmanvill ...

, Rebecca Morris,

Cathy Scott Cathleen "Cathy" Scott (born c. 1950) is a ''Los Angeles Times'' bestselling American true crime writer and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books ''The Killing of Tupac Shakur'' and ''The Murder of Biggie Small ...

, and British author Michael Kerrigan, with a foreword for the U.S. edition by Scott and the U.K. edition by author Peter James. It was released in April 2017 in the UK and May 2017 in the US by

Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...

(

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

). In March 2019, Hogan co-hosted with editor Charlie Spicer the first series of the true-crime podcast ''Case Closed'' from

Macmillan Books Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, featuring the case of murder victim Erin Corwin.

Awards

Hogan was awarded the 2009 Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year. She was also awarded "Journalist of the Year 2011" by the Arizona Newspaper Association. Hogan's book, ''Picture Perfect'', debuted the week of September 22, 2013, at number 16 on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller list for e-book nonfiction and combined print and e-book nonfiction the same week at number 23.

Personal life

Hogan lived in Phoenix with her husband, Matt LaRussa, and son Zander. She was an adjunct professor at the

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculty), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and is named in honor of veteran broadcast jo ...

Death

She died on September 1, 2020, after a five-day hospital stay. She had fallen in her swimming pool while playing with her son on August 27, and hit her head. Her husband found her unconscious, though their son, wearing a

flotation device A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suite that is worn by a ...

, was fine.

Books

* ''Dancing with Death'' (2011) () * ''Picture Perfect'' (2013) () * ''The Stranger She Loved'' (2015) () * '' The Crime Book'' (co-author) (2017) () * ''Secrets of a Marine's Wife'' (2019) ()

References

External links

Author's official site

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Times Publications, "Fatal Exposure," article by Shanna Hogan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogan, Shanna 1982 births 2020 deaths American newspaper journalists American non-fiction crime writers American women journalists Journalists from Arizona Journalists from Kansas 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American biographers American women biographers Women crime writers Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni 21st-century American journalists People from Olathe, Kansas Writers from Phoenix, Arizona Writers from Kansas Arizona State University faculty Deaths by drowning in the United States Accidental deaths in Arizona