New York City, 1977. The streets were grimy, the economy was in shambles, and the police were spread dangerously thin. In 1975 alone, there were 1,800 murders. President Gerald Ford had vetoed federal aid to help the city stay afloat, and the *New York Daily News* summed it up with the headline, “Ford to City, Drop Dead.
” The city was already on edge. And then the killing started. David Berkowitz was born in Brooklyn in 1953, the product of an extramarital affair. His biological father wanted nothing to do with him, and within days of his birth, his mother gave him up for adoption to Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz.
As a child, he was bullied relentlessly for being overweight and Jewish. He suffered several head injuries—hit by a car at age seven, and struck with a pipe the following year, leaving a four-inch gash in his forehead. He drifted into petty crime, stealing and setting fires. His adoptive parents booked sessions with psychotherapists, but no legal or scholarly discipline was ever formally taken.
After a stint in the army, Berkowitz reconnected with his birth mother. When she told him the circumstances of his birth—that he was unwanted—something inside him broke. He was devastated by the array of parental figures who seemed not to want him. That meeting would later be called a primary crisis for the young man, a crisis that would soon have devastating consequences for him and the whole city of New York.
On Christmas Eve, 1975, Berkowitz stalked and stabbed two young women with a hunting knife in separate attacks in the Bronx’s Co-op City. The crimes went unreported. But it was the first time he had ever committed a violent crime, and it would be far from the last. On July 29th, 1976, Berkowitz parked his car near a New Rochelle nightclub called Peachtree and shot two medical professionals.
Donna Lauria, an 18-year-old emergency medical technician, was killed instantly. Jody Valenti, a 19-year-old nurse, survived but said she did not recognize the assailant. In October of the same year, Carl Denaro and Rosemary Keenan were sitting in their parked car next to Bowne Park when they were struck by gunfire. Both survived, but Denaro needed a metal plate to replace part of his skull.
The following month, high school students Donna DeMasi and Joanne Lomino were hanging out on Lomino’s porch in Floral Park when a young man in military fatigues approached, shot the two, and ran away. Both survived, but Lomino was left paraplegic. In January 1977, Christine Freund and her fiancé, John Diel, were sitting in their parked car near the Forest Hills Long Island Railroad Station when they were suddenly riddled with gunshots. Diel survived.
Freund died hours later in the hospital. It was after that attack that the police finally made a public statement asserting that all of the aforementioned crimes were likely committed by the same person. They believed the killer was targeting young brunette women, and they released a composite sketch. The city’s fear was growing.
In March of 1977, college student Virginia Voskerichian was walking home from Columbia University when Berkowitz appeared and shot her. She died instantly. New York City Mayor Abraham Beame gave a press conference. The public and the media were in an uproar.
Tabloids like the *New York Daily News* and *New York Post* were publishing graphic articles nearly every day. They dubbed him the . 44 caliber killer. Soon, he would give himself a new nickname.
On April 17th, 1977, tow truck operator Alexander Esau and college student Valentina Suriani were sitting in a car near the Hutchinson River Parkway when Berkowitz opened fire. Suriani died instantly. Esau succumbed to his injuries in the hospital hours later. Near the crime scene, police found a handwritten letter addressed to NYPD Captain Joseph Borelli.
The bizarre letter contained taunting and terrifying messages. It began, “I am deeply hurt by your calling me a woman hater. I am not, but I am a monster. I am the son of Sam.
”
The media picked up the nickname, and it stuck. The following month, *New York City Daily News* columnist Jimmy Breslin received a handwritten letter from someone claiming to be the Son of Sam. It read, in part, “I’m just dropping you a line to let you know that I appreciate your interest in those recent and horrendous . 44 killings.
I also want to tell you that I read your column daily, and I find it quite informative. Tell me, Jim, what will you have for July 29th? ”
It didn’t escape Breslin or the police that July 29th, 1977, would be exactly one year since the first . 44 caliber killing.
It seemed clear that the killer had something sinister in store for that macabre anniversary. Despite being called out for their sensationalism, the *Daily News* published the letter. The public, terrified and desperate for information, scooped it up. The issue sold more than one million copies.
The killings continued. On June 26th, 1977, Berkowitz shot Salvatore Lupo and Judy Placido as they were leaving a nightclub in Queens. Both survived, but neither saw the attacker’s face. Then, on July 31st, two days after the anniversary the Son of Sam had warned Breslin of, Secretary Stacy Moskowitz and salesman Robert Violante were sitting in a car near a park in Bath Beach when Berkowitz approached and opened fire.
Violante survived but lost his left eye. Moskowitz, the only blond-haired victim of the killer, lost her life. New York City did not continue to operate as normal. New Yorkers were terrified.
Because some victims had been killed while leaving nightclubs, many people simply stopped going out at night. This was no small sacrifice—it was the height of disco fever. Studio 54 had just opened. But nobody wanted to risk a bullet.
And because of police suspicions that the killer was targeting brunettes, women across the city started cutting and dyeing their hair, wearing hats, or resorting to wigs. Blond wigs were so in demand that beauty supply stores were constantly running out of inventory. The NYPD was under immense pressure. They undertook what has been described as the largest manhunt in the city’s history.
They poured resources and manpower into the hunt and released an unprecedented amount of information to the public in a desperate bid for tips. While the police were in a bustle of activity, the city itself was eerily quiet. Journalist Joan Boyd, who lived in Sunnyside Queens that summer, later recalled that her walks through the neighborhood were beset by emptiness and silence. “There was not one single person on the street,” she wrote.
“I was terrified. ”
It wasn’t the only chaos happening in New York that summer. A hotly contested mayoral election between Democrats Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo rocked the political sphere. Koch ran on a tough-on-crime platform, painting Cuomo as a softy who would let murderers roam free.
He won. There was also a massive heat wave, which culminated in a 25-hour blackout during July 1977. During that blackout, widespread looting took place, exacerbating the fears of those trying to avoid the chaotic reign of the Son of Sam. The city was also literally bankrupt, laying off massive numbers of government workers with no help from President Ford.
And the media magnate Rupert Murdoch had just bought the *New York Post*, turning it into a tabloid by fanning all the flames, especially the Son of Sam killings. In August of 1977, Cecilia Davis was walking her dog near the scene of the Moskowitz killing when she noticed a police officer ticketing a parked car. Moments later, she saw a suspicious-looking man holding a dark object approach that car before he noticed her with some interest. Wisely, she got the hell out of there.
She returned to the relative safety of her home, where she immediately heard gunshots being fired in the street outside. Four days later, she contacted the police and described the incident. Based on that tip, the NYPD checked the owners of every car that was ticketed that night. Among them was a yellow 1970 Ford Galaxy belonging to United States Postal Service mail carrier David Berkowitz.
When Detective James Justice called the Yonkers Police Department to schedule an interview with Berkowitz, the police dispatcher, Wheat Carr, recognized the name. It was one of the most amazing coincidences of all time. Wheat Carr was a neighbor of Berkowitz’s. He had shot her father’s dog.
And her father’s name was Sam Carr. The cop who identified the Son of Sam was talking to the daughter of Sam. It was the same Sam, the father figure who had irked Berkowitz enough to resort to violence. The very next day, police officers entered Berkowitz’s parked car, finding a gun, ammunition, maps of the crime scenes, and threatening letters to police.
It might as well have been a signed confession. Later that night, police officers watched Berkowitz leave his apartment building and enter his car. Detective Sergeant William Gardella approached the vehicle and pointed his weapon at Berkowitz. Berkowitz just beamed a big smile and said simply, “You got me.
”
And with that, the Summer of Sam was over. Berkowitz was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences, totaling 547 years. He’s been in prison ever since, where many attempts have been made on his life. The man himself, however, is considered a model prisoner.
He has converted to Christianity, helped fellow prisoners with their faith, and given statements that seem to reflect remorse. He’s eligible for parole every two years, though he often skips his hearings, stating that he deserves to stay in prison for the rest of his life.
