Sometimes described as "George Burns without the twinkle"or " Truman Capote without the talent',he was famous for covering the trials of the famous and those in high society that did wrong-now writer Dominick Dunne has died of cancer. Dunne's daily coverage of trials for Vanity Fair became required reader as he presented the behind the scenes shenanigans of lawyers and prosecutors giving an unique insight often missed in main stream news reports. 
Dunne who described himself as "a high-class Zelig," was 83. Some of the trials he covered:the Claus von Bulow, William Kennedy Smith, the Menendez brothers, O.J. Simpson and Phil Spector murder trials became fascinating reading with the Dunne treatment.
Dunne turned to covering murder trials after becoming outraged by the murder of his own daughter 22-year-old Dominique Dunne, in 1982 by her ex-boyfriend John Sweeney who spent 30 months in prison.
Dunne could be a controversial figure-popular with New York high society but loathed by some of the most powerful families like the Kennedys. He was accused at times of pedalling gossip without the full facts and had a falling out with Vanity Fair during the later years over a tale about US politician Gary Condit and the missing intern Chandra Levy, believed murdered. Amongst Dunne's best selling books- "People Like Us". He is survived by his son, film director and actor Dominick Dunne Jnr.
