0
Son of Sam
David Berkowitz (commonly known as Son of Sam) is an American serial killer and arsonist, best known for his crimes that terrorized New York City from 1976 to his arrest in 1977. He received a penalty of 365 years in prison for his crimes, which involved killing 6 people and wounding 7. All questions related to him can be found here.
57 Questions
F=mA
This is newton's first law: The force of an object is equal to the mass of that object times the acceleration.
Were there any precursors about David Berkowitz?
Among others, he was a fire starter and killed animals.
Was Son of Sam a serial or spree killer?
Although it is common to see murder catagories used interchangeably the crimes are very different, not just in MO but in the psychology of the offender's mind. The FBI defines the spree killer as a person that kills two or more victims without a 'cooling off' period between kills. This cooling off period is what sets it apart from serial murder.
Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz is a serial killer. His crimes were single episodes with weeks between attacks. With the passing of time it is common to see the cooling off period grow shorter. The cimes escalate, in some cases to a state of frenzy, and the killer may begin to make mistakes, leaving evidence that will eventially convict him.
On 29 July 1976, two young girls, 18-year-old Donna Lauria and 19-year-old Jody Valente were sitting in Jody's car at 1.am outside Donna's home. A few minutes later after they just finished talking, Donna said goodnight to Jody and was just about to open the door when David Berkowitz approached the car. He was holding a brown paper bag of which he reached into and pulled out a gun. He fired 5 shots. Donna was shot in the neck and arm, she fell out of the car and hit the pavement. Jody screamed as a bullet struck her thigh. She fell forward hitting the car horn.
This was David Berkowitz first kill with the .44 revolver but he stabbed some girls before that.
Was there a Son of Sam conspiracy?
Answer
There are a lot of people that believe Berkowitz did not and could not have pulled off all these murders by himself. And Berkowitz himself says that he did not act alone but was in fact part of a devil worship cult. But as far as I know he has never named names. If he was part of a conspiracy he has nothing to loose at this point by naming any co-conspirators and as a 'born again Christian' you would think he would feel some obligation to 'spill the beans' .
There has been talk that his neighbor's two sons (Sam Carr the owner of the infamous dog) were with Berkowitz in this Satanic cult and were part of the murders. I have no idea if there is any evidence to back that up and until there is it will remain just talk.
Answer
David Berkowitz would love that you believe in a conspiracy, anything to keep the spotlight on himself. Among other things, Berkowitz is a narcissist, you can see it in his letters. When he speaks of "the cult", he is too vague, too non-specific for someone who knew and worked with these "other people". But if you look at his life style, his personality and habits prior to and during his spree, you can clearly see what a loner he was and how minute the possibility that he could work with others, much less "coordinate an operation". He may have seen the teens that met at the site of the ruin where the satanic symbols were painted on the walls; he may have even had an occasion to speak with one or more of them, but no more than that. His personality did not allow him to interact with others to a greater degree than that.
On a recent network TV program, they said that the furniture in his room had been cleared out the day or day after he was arrested. This is not the case. Many years ago I saw police photos of the room taken right after his arrest. It's true that there was next to nothing in it, but there was the place on the floor where he slept, a table and a bunch of misc. other stuff. You could clearly see in these pictures that this room had not been "cleared out" but that this was how Berkowitz lived. You would be very hard put to find any person who had ever been in this room but Berkowitz before the police went into it. You have to see enough TV reports or read a number of books on a case before you get all the bits and pieces. I don't normally form an opinion from watching or reading just one.
How is the serial killer Son of Sam different from a normal homicide suspect?
The son of sam choosed his victims randomly. A normal homicide suspect has a reason for the crime and the victim can be linked to the suspect.
Did David Berkowitz have a brain dysfunction?
He did not. Nor did he actually hear his neighbor's dog telling him to kill. The whole point was to make himself look crazy. It worked for a while.
Where did Son of Sam kill people?
Most of his murders were confined to the Bronx and Queens, NYC. But the attact on Stacy Moskowitz and her date Robert Violante occured in Brooklyn.
How many years did Son of Sam get in prison?
On June 12, 1978, the son of Sam was sentenced to six life sentences in prison for the murders, making his maximum term 365 years.
Who were David Berkowitz's parents?
Antony Falco and Betty Broder
Berkowits was born Richard David Falco.
What branch of the military did David Berkowitz join?
He enlisted in the army from 1971 - 1974 and discharged honorably.
Were there a string of dog killings related to Son of Sam case?
I was amazed to find that there was in fact dozens of dogs found dead, dog graves, dogs taken from shelters that were later found dead and many that just disappeared. Most of these poor dogs where German Shepards and in one way or another were connected to David Berkowitz, John Carr, Michael Carr and several others that were known to be involved in the occult group in which the above mentioned were members.
Son of Sam David Berkowitz What Army Unit in Korea did he serve with?
Berkowitz joined the Army in 1971 and served as a sharpshooter in Korea. He was honorably discharged in the summer of 1974 after which he went back to New York to live with his father and new stepmother.
Nobody. Son Of Sam killer David Berkowitz was arrested after receiving a parking ticket that proved he was in the area.
He confessed to 8 crimes and he is serving a life sentence.
Where in Bronx did David Berkowitz live?
Berkowitz's New Rochelle address was 174 Coligni Ave., and from there he moved to Yonkers but I believe that address has been changed to keep the drive-by curiosity seekers at bay.
What religion is David Berkowitz?
Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz made a prison conversion to Seventh Day Adventist.
Did David Berkowitz know Manson II?
According to Maury Terry's New York Times bestseller The Ultimate Evil, it would have been virtually impossible for the two not to have been aquainted. They were part of the same nation-wide satanic cult known as the Process and have mutual friends and connections. Manson II, aka William Metzner, like Berkowitz before him, is spending time (in a California prison) for the cult related murder of Hollywood producer Roy Radin and a Hollywood prostitute named June Mincher.
Known as the Cotton Club murders, Mentzer and an accomplice named Alex Marti, were sentenced to death, meaning they will die by lethal injection in California's death chamber at San Quentin Prison, once the appeals process has run it's course. There were at least two others involved in the murder plot of Radin but only Mentzer and Marti recieved death sentences.
His car had been spotted at several of the murder scenes. Police ran a check and were able to identify Berkowitz from a parking ticket he had received. I guess he should have put more money in the meter.
At that point police staked out Berkowitz's home and kept him under surveillance until he was arrested.
