David Berkowitz - Son of Sam
Early Life
David Berkowitz entered this world as an unwanted result of an
extramarital affair. Berkowitz's mother, Betty Broder, had
a daughter from her previous marriage to Tony Falco, who left her
for a younger woman. Struggling as a single parent Broder
began an affair with a married man named Joseph Kleinman.
When Kleinman learned of Betty's pregnancy he refused to pay
child support and claimed he would desert her if she kept the
baby. Broder arranged for Nat and Pearl Berkowitz to adopt
her son prior to his birth on June 1, 1953. Growing up in
the Bronx, David was a relatively normal child despite his loner
personality and what neighbors describe as a violent
streak. Pearl and Nat looked past their only son's
solitude, for they were not socially oriented people themselves
and showered David with love and attention. However,
Berkowitz's life came to a crashing halt when Pearl lost her
battle with breast cancer in 1967. Following his mother's
death David became more introverted, his grades dropped
dramatically, and he claimed her passing away was part of some
plan to destroy him. In 1971 Nat Berkowitz remarried and
moved to Florida, leaving David alone to delve deeper into a
fantasy life. A few months after his father moved south,
Berkowitz joined the army and acquired great skill with guns,
particularly rifles. At one point David found his birth
mother, but quickly drifted away her and his biological sister.
By 1974, at the age of 21, David Berkowitz was full of rage and
began his career as a violent criminal.
Crimes
After being discharged from the army in 1974 for disciplinary
problems, David set 1,488 fires in the city of New York and kept
a detailed account of each one in his diary. His mental
capacity deteriorated further in 1975 and around Christmas of
that year he turned to psychiatrists claiming that he was giving
into the demons that tormented him. Christmas David's
murder spree began and with a hunting knife in hand he cruised
the neighborhood for females. His first attempt at murder,
Berkowitz stabbed a woman in front of grocery store, but she
escaped. The same night he crept up on fifteen-year-old
Michelle Forman who also survived the attack, but had six serious
wounds. Supposedly the demons had told him these women
needed to be sacrificed and to Berkowitz tried to appease
them. Getting back to his normal day-to-day existence,
David ironically returned to his job as a security guard and
moved to a two-family home in Yonkers owned by Jack Cassara, who
owned a blaring German Shepard. In David's unbalanced head
the demons had taken residence with the neighborhood dogs and
they were demanding him to kill for the blood of pretty young
girls. Three months after moving in David packed up and
moved to an apartment on Pine Street next to Sam Carr. The
demons returned to haunt Berkowitz via Carr's black Labrador,
Harvey. After an unsuccessful attempt at poisoning Harvey,
David shot the dog. In Berkowitz's twisted fantasy world
Jack Cassara had taken on the identity of General Jack Cosmo,
commander of the devil dogs, and now Sam Carr was the host of a
demon named Sam who worked for Cosmo. He began to call
himself "Son of Sam," referring to the devil within Sam
Carr. David true quest for blood began on July 29, 1976,
when two girls, Jody Valenti, 19 and Donna Lauria, 18, were
sitting in a car parked in front of Donna's Bronx home. Berkowitz
emerged from his car and walked toward the girls carrying a brown
paper bag. As he approached the unsuspecting girls he pulled the
.44 from the bag and fired into the car, killing Donna and
wounding Jody. Through the fall of 1976 and early part of 1977
Berkowitz terrorized New York City killing six people and
injuring seven, bringing the total number of victims to 15
(including the two previous attempted murders).
Investigation/Outcome
By March of 1977
investigators were positive they were dealing with a serial
killer. Bullets from Berkowitz's 6th attack matched those
from the first killing in July of 1976. A main key to the
case of the Son of Sam killer was a note dropped at the scene of
a double killing, which closed with the phrase "I'll be
back, I'll be back," and was signed "Son Of
Sam." Berkowitz sent Sam Carr two letter complaining
about his dog's incessant barking and in the second letter he
threatened Carr's life, a week after that, the dog was
shot. Berkowitz also sent a letter to Craig Glassman, a
male nurse and part-time sheriff's deputy, who he described as
one of a group of demons along with the Cassaras and the Carr.
The breakthrough in the case, however, was a parking ticket
issued to a 24-year-old postal clerk named David Berkowitz for
parking near a fire hydrant close to the crime scene where he
killed 20-year-old Stacy Moskowitz and blinded her date Robert
Violante. When Police located Berkowitz's car at his Yonkers
apartment building they found a duffel bag full of guns behind
the front seat. On August 10, 1977, Berkowitz was apprehended
when he came out of his apartment carrying a . 44-caliber
revolver in a small paper bag. In April 1978, Berkowitz pleaded
guilty to six murders and was sentenced to 365 years in prison.
He told investigators that the name Son Of Sam was inspired by
Sam Carr's dog. Berkowitz claimed that the dog's barking told him
to kill. Currently serving in Sullivan Correctional
Facility in Fallsburg, New York, where he has be noted for good
behavior, his role as a chaplain's clerk, his completion of a
2-year degree from the state university, his completion of other
prison rehabilitation programs, but most importantly Berkowitz
expresses great remorse for his crimes. Despite his upright
activities, Berkowitz was denied parole at his first parole
hearing on July 9, 2002.
Last revised: October 03, 2002.
Questions or Comments email us @ berkowitzsos44@yahoo.com
Back to Period
3 Serial Killer Home Page
