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Exclusive | Hollywood star’s ex, William Hasley, found dead on LA’s Runyon Canyon hiking trail

Nypost · · 547 words · By Jeremy Louwerse; Ross O'Keefe
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What to know about Exclusive

Metro exclusive Hollywood star’s ex, William Hasley, found dead on LA’s Runyon Canyon hiking trail See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Metro exclusive Hollywood star’s ex, William Hasley, found dead on LA’s Runyon Canyon hiking trail See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The California Post on GoogleCaitlyn Jenner’s friend and ghostwriter William Hasley has been identified as the Runyon Canyon hiker found dead last Saturday.

Common ground

The 78-year-old, who was also a screenwriter and former husband of actress Robin Riker, penned Jenner’s book “Finding the Champion Within” for Simon & Schuster.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/06/09/us-news/caitlyn-jenners-biographer-william-hasley-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 2
verified Verified 1
schedule Pending 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “The 1996 self-help book described Jenner’s athletic accomplishments and aimed to use a 10-step program to “reboot” the readers’ life.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly identify 'Finding the Champion Within' as a 1996 motivational/self-help book ghostwritten by Hasley for Jenner.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1996th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 996th year of the 2nd millennium, the 96th …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greate…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner, October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlyn_Jenner
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 2: “Hasley was also an instructor in screenwriting at UCLA.”
VERIFIED
The UCLA Extension website explicitly lists William Hasley as an instructor in screenwriting.
schedule
Claim 3: “The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released a cause of death, deferring any official determination.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 4: “Temperatures in the Los Angeles area were cool, in the mid-to-low 60s, around the time of Hasley’s death.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific detail about temperatures being in the mid-to-low 60s is mentioned in one specific web search result but not corroborated by other independent sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Fahrenheit is the sixth studio album by American rock band Toto, released on August 20, 1986, by Columbia Records. It was the first album to feature Joseph Williams on lead vocals, after Fergie Freder…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_(Toto_album)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The novel follows …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ray Douglas Bradbury (US: BRAD-berr-ee; 22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 5: “The writer was found in an area near Runyon Canyon at about 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the death and location are corroborated, the specific time of 7:05 p.m. and the attribution to the LAFD is not explicitly repeated across multiple independent sources in the provided evidence, though it is consistent with the general reporting of the event.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The government of the City of Los Angeles operates as a charter city (as opposed to a general law city) under the charter of the City of Los Angeles. The elected government is composed of the Los Ange…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Los_Angeles
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting and emergency medical services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, California, as well as 59 cities through contra…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_County_Fire_Depart…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) is the full-service fire department of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States, and of the city of San Fernando, California, United St…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Fire_Department
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “Caitlyn Jenner’s friend and ghostwriter William Hasley has been identified as the Runyon Canyon hiker found dead last Saturday.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources and a Wikipedia entry confirm that William Hasley, a ghostwriter for Caitlyn Jenner, was found dead on the Runyon Canyon hiking trail.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — William Hasley (1947 or 1948 – June 6, 2026) was an American biographer and television writer. He was best known for co-writing the motivational book Finding the Champion Within along with Caitlyn Jen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hasley
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following notable deaths in the United States occurred in 2026. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_deaths_in_the_United_Stat…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robin Riker (born October 2, 1952) is an American actress and author. She made her big screen debut in the 1980 horror film Alligator and later went to star in the Showtime comedy series Brothers (198…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Riker
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 7: “His actress ex-wife, Riker, became a star on the Showtime sitcom “Brothers” as Kelly Hall in the 1980s.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
IMDb and Wikipedia confirm Robin Riker played the character Kelly Hall on the Showtime sitcom 'Brothers' from 1984-1989.
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web search NEUTRAL — Brothers is an American sitcom that originally aired on the cable network Showtime from July 13, 1984, to May 5, 1989, totaling 115 episodes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_(1984_TV_series)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Donald Maltby. 115 eps 115 episodes • 1984–1989. Robin Riker · Kelly Hall ... When the Waters brothers, Joe and Lou, of 1980s Philadelphia ...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086677/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Nov 3, 2024 ... Cast:❤️ Kadeem Hardison as Charles Winston Dondré T. Whitfield as James Winston Kelly Perine as Dustin "Dusty" Canyon Tommy Davidson as Mitchell ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/455791353756750/posts/533384…
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Claim 8: “He also wrote screenplays for Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox, among others.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including the UCLA Extension biography and news reports, confirm he sold screenplays to Universal, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... Hasley also wrote screenplays for Universal ...
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/caitl…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 9, 2026 ... His screenplays have been sold to 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., and Laurence Marks Productions. Collaborating with ...
https://ew.com/caitlyn-jenner-biographer-hollywood-screenwri…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Instructor Biography: Screenwriter and WGA member who has sold feature scripts to 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., and Laurence Marks ...
https://www.uclaextension.edu/instructors/william-hasley
help
Claim 9: “She became a television regular for the next decade, and saw her most recent notable credit on the long-running “The Bold and the Beautiful” show as Beth Logan.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results regarding Robin Riker's role as Beth Logan on 'The Bold and the Beautiful'.
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Claim 10: “The 78-year-old, who was also a screenwriter and former husband of actress Robin Riker, penned Jenner’s book “Finding the Champion Within” for Simon & Schuster.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Hasley was 78, a screenwriter, former husband of Robin Riker, and the author of 'Finding the Champion Within' for Simon & Schuster.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of Murder, She Wrote episodes in the order that they originally aired on CBS. Most of the episodes took place either in Jessica Fletcher's fictional hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine, or in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Murder,_She_Wrote_epis…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — William Hasley (1947 or 1948 – June 6, 2026) was an American biographer and television writer. He was best known for co-writing the motivational book Finding the Champion Within along with Caitlyn Jen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hasley
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — William Hasley (1947 or 1948 – June 6, 2026) was an American biographer and television writer. He was best known for co-writing the motivational book ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hasley
+ 2 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “The Hollywood screenwriter’s television credits include “Swift Justice;” “Ghost Stories;” “Murder, She Wrote;” “Kung Fu; Young Riders;” and “Highway to Heaven.””
CORROBORATED
The specific list of TV credits (Swift Justice, Ghost Stories, Murder, She Wrote, Kung Fu, Young Riders, and Highway to Heaven) is confirmed by both a general news report and the UCLA Extension instructor biography.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Key Points. William Hasley, a screenwriter and author who wrote about Caitlyn Jenner, has died. The writer's credits include films sold to Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, along with television sho…
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/caitl…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Writer William Hasley, a friend of Caitlyn Jenner, was found dead at age 78 near Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles on Saturday evening. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet revealed…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/caitlyn-jenners-biographer-wil…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mr. Hasley's television credits include Swift Justice ; Ghost Stories ; Murder, She Wrote ; Kung Fu ; Young Riders ; and Highway to Heaven . He also has written pilots for Castle Rock, Columbia, Unive…
https://www.uclaextension.edu/instructors/william-hasley
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.