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William Dear

1937 – 2024

American private investigator

Private investigator
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About William Dear

Lived 1937 – 2024 (aged 86). William Dear was a private investigator.

William C. Dear (August 1, 1937 – July 5, 2024) was an American private investigator.

Life and career Dear owned the firm William C. Dear & Associates. His notable cases included the original "steam tunnel incident" involving James Dallas Egbert III, the murder of millionaire businessman Dean Milo in 1980, the exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald in 1981 and the Glen Courson murder case in 1986.

Television work included being an investigator on Alien Autopsy, a 1995 Fox Television program about an autopsy supposedly carried out on an extraterrestrial being. Dear was later featured in the 2000 BBC Documentary OJ: The Untold Story.

Dear was a candidate for Governor of Texas in the 2010 Texas Democratic Primary. Dear died on July 5, 2024, at the age of 86.

Books 1984: The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III (Houghton Mifflin, Boston) 1989: "Please ... Don't Kill Me": The True Story of the Milo Murder (Houghton Mifflin, Boston) (with Carlton Stowers) 1992: Private Detective: From the Files of the World's Greatest Private Eye (Bloomsbury, London) 2001: O.J. Is Guilty But Not of Murder (Dear Overseas) 2012: O.J. is Innocent and I Can Prove It: The Shocking Truth about the Murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman (Skyhorse Publishing)

Dear's webpage lists three other books: a novel, Dead Men Don't Lie, and two instructional books, Adopted: How to Find Your Biological Parents and Other Family Members and Fingerprinting: How to Take Mistake-Proof Fingerprint Impressions.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Private investigator

People in William Dear's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

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Frequently asked questions

Who was William Dear?

American private investigator

When was William Dear born?

William Dear was born on 1 August 1937.

When did William Dear die?

William Dear died on 5 July 2024.

What was William Dear's occupation?

William Dear was a private investigator.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: William Dear

· Wikidata: Q16104647

· DBpedia: William Dear (detective)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). William Dear. https://biography.guide/william-dear-private-investigator/

MLA: "William Dear." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/william-dear-private-investigator/.

Chicago: "William Dear." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/william-dear-private-investigator/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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