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World's Most Evil Killers S04E02
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CreativityTranscript
00:1029th of July 1976, New York, USA.
00:1618-year-old Donna Lauria and her 19-year-old friend Jody Valenti had returned home after a night out.
00:23As they sat talking outside Donna's apartment, a man approached and fired five times into their car.
00:32They represented everything that he hated, everything he resented.
00:36They were people with their lives ahead of them. They were out having fun.
00:41Donna died instantly and Jody was seriously wounded.
00:45The gunman was 23-year-old David Berkowitz, a delusional loner who christened himself the Son of Sam.
00:53He took five more young lives in just a year.
00:58Some people called it the Summer of Sam. It captivated everyone. It created fear.
01:04The frenzy of activity was like nothing I'd ever seen.
01:08People genuinely were afraid to go out.
01:12You cannot overestimate or exaggerate just how much that fear gripped the city.
01:17The killings prompted the largest police manhunt that the city had ever seen.
01:24What he did to those families, they've been devastated and never got over what happened to their children.
01:31Bad times. It was bad times.
01:33Berkowitz was a serial killer who had an obsession with the occult.
01:38He murdered and maimed 13 young people in just over a year, spreading panic across the city that never sleeps.
01:47That makes David Berkowitz one of the world's most evil killers.
02:1317th of April, 1977. New York.
02:19When courting couple Valentina Suriani and Alexander Esau were shot dead, a letter to the chief of police from their
02:27killer, Son of Sam, was left at the crime scene.
02:31With five young people now murdered, detectives knew they had a serial killer on the loose.
02:37A wave of fear descended on the city, as former reporter Brian Cates remembers.
02:43These series of shootings really did grip the city.
02:46People avoided going out late.
02:48This was a time of sex, drugs and disco, and many of these shootings were involved in Lover's Lanes and
02:54around discos.
02:55So you began to sense this growing fear, particularly among young women.
03:01People could talk about nothing else.
03:03The fear of Son of Sam was fuelled by a battling press, hungry for the latest scoop on one of
03:11the biggest ever stories to hit the city.
03:13I was in New York in the 1970s, and the crimes literally hypnotised the city.
03:20They were everyday tabloid headlines.
03:23Son of Sam terrorises people afraid in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
03:28It was as though the city was afraid to take a breath.
03:32It literally grabbed the imagination of New York.
03:37At the height of the killings, New York City Police Department had 75 detectives and 225 patrolmen working to hunt
03:46down the killer.
03:47A former detective on the case, Bill Gardella, remembers how the hysteria even led to women changing how they looked.
03:56Once it was determined that he was targeting young females, and maybe by coincidence they had long brown hair,
04:05women were going to the beauty salons buying wigs, blonde wigs, or dyeing their hair.
04:12No case can match the frenzy and the fear of the Son of Sam killings.
04:20At a time when New York was the murder capital of the U.S., even Berkowitz's killings left an indelible
04:27mark on the place known as Fear City.
04:30If you think at the time that this happened, women's liberation, rights for women, but all of that freedom, all
04:37of those liberties were suddenly curtailed because there was this monster on the loose.
04:44This killer story begins on the 1st of June 1953, New York.
04:49David Berkowitz arrived into the world under the name of Richard David Falco.
04:54He was born out of an affair between his biological mother, Betty, and a married Long Island businessman called Joseph.
05:03She became pregnant.
05:04He essentially said that he would not adopt a child, he would have nothing to do with the child, and
05:09David was given up for adoption.
05:13He was adopted by Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz.
05:17They renamed him David.
05:19They were a middle-aged couple, Jewish, working class, and they had no children, so I think this was a
05:26family which was set up for happiness, really.
05:29You have this childless couple, you have this baby that needs a home.
05:32At the age of seven, David learned the hidden truth through a slip of the tongue.
05:38He heard the word adopted from his adoptive father, and they had to explain to him what that term meant.
05:45I think that probably made David very, very uncomfortable.
05:49I don't think he could grasp it.
05:54Soon, the happy-go-lucky child became disruptive and difficult.
05:58At one point, I understand, they enlisted the help of a therapist or a psychologist to deal with his disciplinary
06:06problems, both at home and at school.
06:08Berkowitz never really gets along with his peers.
06:11He doesn't form particularly healthy relationships with them.
06:15He's a kid who always flies off the handle.
06:18He has poor behavioral control, so he becomes increasingly isolated.
06:23But at the age of 14, Berkowitz's world fell apart.
06:28His adoptive mother dies from cancer, and he's facing a loss here.
06:34But I think the culture at that time was still very much, we don't talk about our feelings, so this
06:38would not have been a helpful thing for him.
06:41A few years later, his father remarried.
06:45David was not happy about that.
06:46It made him angry, and this is where we begin to see the growth and real rage in his personality.
06:53On the 23rd of June, 1971, at the age of 18, Berkowitz joined the army to escape the strains of
07:01home.
07:02Here, he learned to use weapons, including the M16 rifle, and trained as a sharpshooter.
07:08Whilst he was serving, he chillingly wrote in a letter home to a friend,
07:13all of these courses will come in handy one day.
07:16He cryptically ended his letter by writing,
07:19one day there will be a better world.
07:23Berkowitz wrote, saying, I've learned things in the army and I'm going to use them.
07:27Well, it may be a bit of bluster, but maybe also a horrifying first note
07:34in what would become a desperately criminal career.
07:38After three years, Berkowitz decided the army wasn't for him,
07:43so in June 1974, at the age of 21, he returned home.
07:48But his father soon left New York when his hardware store was robbed,
07:53leaving his son alone in the city.
07:56Berkowitz had dreams of becoming a firefighter,
07:58but instead had to settle for low-paid security work.
08:03The night shifts provided endless hours for him to ruminate.
08:10Berkowitz already sees himself as an outsider.
08:14He's not settled.
08:16He feels hurt.
08:17He knows he's a loner.
08:19He knows he can't relate very well to other people.
08:22So this is when he starts to become quite dangerous.
08:27Feeling increasingly isolated,
08:30Berkowitz decided to track down his biological mother, Betty.
08:34He found her and sent her a poem on May 11, 1975, Mother's Day.
08:41Betty was over the moon to hear from her long-lost son,
08:45and they arranged to meet.
08:47She's delighted to see him,
08:49and they have this wonderful reunion, apparently.
08:52And they continue to meet,
08:54and they have this kind of loving relationship.
08:58But soon, the love for his newfound mother would sour.
09:01He meets his half-sister.
09:05This was the child that his mother didn't give away.
09:08And he realizes that he was a throwaway child,
09:12and this other child has been loved all this time by his mother.
09:17And he becomes furious.
09:19It's believed this rejection by his mother as a child
09:22was the genesis of Berkowitz's hatred for women.
09:26Once again, isolated and alone with his paranoid thoughts,
09:30he wrote to his father.
09:31Dad, the world is getting dark now, he said.
09:35The people, they are developing a hatred for me.
09:40So what he's doing in this letter
09:42is presenting himself as the victim, saying,
09:44poor me, I have this horrible life now.
09:46And he's essentially saying to his adoptive father,
09:49it's your fault because you left me.
09:53I'm sure at that point he is building yet more fantasies
09:57that he's been rejected,
10:00not just by the world but by women.
10:03That November in 1975,
10:06Berkowitz spent a month in isolation in his apartment.
10:10He nailed blankets over the windows
10:12and scrawled dark ramblings on the walls.
10:15In this hole lives the wicked king, he wrote.
10:18Kill for my master was another.
10:21I think this was attention-seeking behavior
10:24and he gets very frustrated
10:25that nobody comes to check up on him.
10:27I think there's a kind of sense of entitlement there
10:30that other people should be looking after me.
10:33On December the 24th, Christmas Eve,
10:36a delusional David Berkowitz decided
10:38to make his scrawlings about killing a reality.
10:42He left his self-imposed exile armed with a hunting knife.
10:46He wanted to seek out revenge
10:48for the rejection by his birth mother.
10:51Now the ex-soldier was on a mission to kill.
10:56He was in the area of Yonkers and he had a knife with him.
11:00And he walked up to a young lady,
11:02started stabbing her, she screamed,
11:04left on a couple blocks away
11:06and started stabbing another little lady.
11:09She screamed and he left.
11:11Only one of those two ladies reported.
11:14I think the timing is really significant here
11:16because Christmas, it's a family time
11:18and I think it's when Berkowitz is feeling the most resentful
11:21towards people who have things that he doesn't.
11:26I think the thing that he would have come away with
11:28is I enjoyed that, I liked harming them,
11:31but I didn't achieve the outcome that I wanted
11:33and that was to kill them.
11:35That evening, Berkowitz reflected on his failure.
11:39In the coming months, he would try a change of tack.
11:43David Berkowitz, to the people who knew him,
11:47was this kind of puzzle of many pieces
11:49and many of the pieces didn't fit.
11:52So that there were some who saw this happy-go-lucky,
11:56slightly shy, helpful young man
11:59and others who saw this angry edge.
12:03Berkowitz developed an angst-ridden obsession
12:06with one of his neighbours, retiree Sam Carr.
12:10His neighbour's dog, Harvey, barks during the night
12:13and he finds this really annoying
12:15and he will ruminate about this, he dwells on it.
12:20On May the 13th, things came to a head
12:22when Berkowitz threw a petrol bomb into Sam's backyard.
12:27Scared for his life, Sam reported it to the police,
12:30but they couldn't find the attacker.
12:32Meanwhile, Berkowitz continued his reign of terror,
12:36setting fires in nearby apartment buildings.
12:40When we look at young people who engage in this kind of behaviour,
12:43fire setting is a way of them maintaining control.
12:46It's an externalisation.
12:48They have these feelings,
12:50they want to do something with those feelings
12:52and rather than turning it in on themselves,
12:54they turn it outward
12:55to start harming other people and other things.
12:58Soon the world would know of David Berkowitz.
13:02After his knife attacks failed,
13:04Berkowitz decided on a different weapon of attack.
13:07He illegally brought a gun
13:09that he could use with cold, calculating precision,
13:13a Bulldog .44-caliber revolver.
13:16On Thursday, July the 29th,
13:19Berkowitz was stalking the streets of the Bronx.
13:22David Berkowitz was driving in the street
13:26looking for his next victims.
13:2918-year-old Donna Lauria and her 19-year-old friend Jodie
13:33had been out playing backgammon at a local bar.
13:36They'd returned home and were sitting in their car
13:39outside Donna's apartment.
13:41They were chatting to one another
13:43when all of a sudden,
13:44out of the blue,
13:46out of nowhere,
13:46the passenger side window explodes.
13:50And what's happened
13:51is that Berkowitz
13:52has gone into a firing position,
13:56extended the gun with both hands
13:58and fired five times
14:00into the car.
14:03Donna was fatally wounded in the neck.
14:06Her friend Jodie was shot in the thigh.
14:09Berkowitz fled
14:10as Donna's father,
14:12having heard gunfire,
14:14rushed down from his apartment to the scene.
14:16But nothing could be done
14:18to save his daughter.
14:21It turned out that the bullet recovered
14:22was a .44 bullet
14:25from a bulldog revolver,
14:28which was a rare gun.
14:31David Berkowitz said
14:32that when he left that scene,
14:34he sang a song on the way home
14:36because the demons had told him
14:39to go out and kill,
14:40and he killed.
14:44I think he quite enjoyed
14:46that high,
14:47that kind of elevated sense of status
14:49of taking someone else's life.
14:51He's targeting young people
14:53who are happy,
14:54people who have their whole lives
14:55ahead of them,
14:55and he feels,
14:57actually,
14:57I'm entitled to take that away from them
14:59because they don't deserve it,
15:00and I do.
15:01The police were puzzled
15:03the motive for the shooting
15:05and wrote it off as a botched mafia hit.
15:08Berkowitz was disappointed
15:09that his first killing
15:11didn't create headlines in the press,
15:13as he later revealed to the police.
15:16After that first murder,
15:18in August of 1976,
15:21David Berkowitz was at
15:22the Westchester County Mall,
15:24and he said,
15:25nobody recognizes him
15:26as if somebody should know who he is.
15:29And he says,
15:30I wish I had a machine gun.
15:32In an attempt to gain
15:34the recognition
15:35he so desperately craved,
15:37three months later,
15:38on the 23rd of October, 1976,
15:41David Berkowitz struck again.
15:43This time,
15:44he targeted a couple
15:45on a date
15:46in the nearby borough of Queens,
15:48in a so-called
15:49Lover's Lane.
15:52An individual by the name
15:53of Carl De Niro
15:54is parked
15:55with his girlfriend,
15:57sitting in a car
15:58at night,
15:58and he's sitting
15:59in the passenger side,
16:01and Carl De Niro
16:02has long hair.
16:04It's believed
16:05that Berkowitz
16:06thought De Niro
16:07was a girl.
16:10Berkowitz shot
16:11into their car,
16:12hitting 20-year-old Carl
16:13in the head.
16:15To Berkowitz's
16:16disappointment,
16:17Carl survived,
16:18and his date,
16:19Rosemary,
16:19was unscathed.
16:21A month later,
16:23he stalked the streets
16:24of Queens
16:25looking for more victims.
16:27In the early hours
16:29of the 27th of November,
16:30he found 16-year-old
16:32Donna De Massey
16:33and 18-year-old
16:34Joanne Lomino
16:35sitting on a step.
16:38He then walks over,
16:39says a few words,
16:41and shoots,
16:42and flees the scene.
16:44Miss De Massey
16:45survived.
16:47Miss Lomino
16:48is confined
16:50to a wheelchair
16:50for the rest
16:51of her life.
16:52Devastating injury.
16:54Berkowitz
16:55had once more
16:56failed in his quest
16:57to kill again.
16:58But his time
16:59would come
17:00in the new year
17:00of 1977
17:02on January the 30th.
17:0426-year-old Christine
17:06Freund was on a date
17:07with her fiancé,
17:0830-year-old John Deal,
17:10when Berkowitz
17:11spotted them.
17:12He parks
17:14not far from
17:15where that couple
17:16was,
17:16and he observes
17:17a Christine Freund
17:17sitting in a car
17:18with her fiancé,
17:20runs up to the car
17:21and shoots
17:23Christine Freund,
17:24killing her.
17:25Instantly.
17:26Christine was shot
17:28in the temple
17:28and in the neck.
17:30Her fiancé,
17:31John,
17:31ran to get help,
17:33but Christine
17:33was later pronounced
17:34dead in the hospital.
17:36The young lovers
17:37were about to tell
17:38their parents
17:39about their engagement
17:40before Berkowitz
17:42took Christine's life
17:43in his second
17:44fatal shooting.
17:46None of the
17:47Berkowitz shootings
17:48were seen
17:49as particularly unusual
17:50until the murder
17:52of Christine Freund.
17:53And here,
17:55for the first time,
17:56police said
17:57that they saw
17:57some connection
17:59between this shooting
18:00and previous shootings.
18:03Now we begin to see
18:05that there might be
18:06something more
18:07than a series
18:08of isolated shootings.
18:10Three days
18:11after Christine's killing,
18:12a 16-man homicide
18:14task force
18:15was established
18:16by the New York City
18:17Police Department.
18:19A pattern was emerging
18:20of a killer
18:21who had a hatred
18:23for women.
18:24Just like his
18:25stabbing victims,
18:26Berkowitz was targeting
18:27females
18:28with long,
18:29dark hair.
18:31They were in
18:31lovers' lanes,
18:32around discos.
18:34Berkowitz clearly
18:34had problems
18:35with women.
18:36He said later
18:38that he saw
18:39his mother sitting
18:40in those cars
18:40when he shot
18:41the girls.
18:42A pattern
18:43was also emerging
18:45of the killer's
18:45fascination
18:46for a particular
18:47location,
18:48lovers' lanes.
18:49It is believed
18:50that Berkowitz
18:51was a virgin.
18:53There could be
18:54a voyeuristic element.
18:55I've never had sex
18:56myself,
18:56and I bet they're
18:57about to have sex,
18:58and I want to see
18:58what it's like.
18:59I do believe
19:00that there may have
19:01been an element
19:01of trying to destroy
19:03his mother.
19:03What is clear
19:04is he's completely
19:06off the wall.
19:08Berkowitz had now
19:10shot six people
19:11and killed two women.
19:13Barely a month later,
19:14on March 8th,
19:15he was back out
19:16on the streets
19:17of Forest Hills,
19:18Queens.
19:19The brazen killer
19:20was now gaining
19:21in confidence.
19:22This time,
19:23he chose early evening
19:25and a lone victim.
19:27College student
19:28Virginia Vaskarichian
19:30is walking down
19:31the street.
19:32The time of 7.30
19:33is much earlier
19:35than the previous
19:37incidents.
19:38She's walking
19:38down the street,
19:39and the assailant
19:41is approaching her.
19:42She sees him
19:43pull out a gun,
19:44and she puts her books
19:46in front of her head,
19:47and he shoots
19:48through the books
19:49and kills her instantly.
19:52Once again,
19:53Berkowitz fled the scene,
19:55even saying hello
19:56to a passerby.
19:58So when we look
19:59at Virginia,
20:00his third murder victim,
20:02he's starting
20:02to increase
20:03in confidence now.
20:05He feels quite invincible.
20:06He feels kind of elated.
20:08He attacks her
20:09in the middle
20:09of the street
20:10because he feels
20:11untouchable.
20:11He feels like
20:12he can get away with it.
20:13What was it
20:14that made him
20:14change his modus operandi?
20:17I think he just
20:18felt like experimenting.
20:20He's been in this
20:21state of collapse,
20:23if you like,
20:24this fugue of horror,
20:26this terror reign,
20:28for 15 months.
20:30A single bullet
20:32from Berkowitz's
20:33.44 Bulldog revolver
20:35had penetrated
20:3620-year-old Virginia's skull.
20:38When pathologists
20:39removed it,
20:40it confirmed
20:41the police's suspicions
20:42that they had
20:43a serial killer
20:44on their hands.
20:46They did a forensic
20:48comparison
20:48and found
20:49that the same gun
20:50used on the Freud
20:52shooting
20:52was used
20:53in a Vascarichian
20:54shooting.
20:55Two days after
20:56Virginia's murder,
20:57New York City
20:58Police Commissioner
20:59Michael Codd
21:00held a press conference.
21:01He told reporters
21:03that they were
21:04on the hunt
21:04for a serial shooter.
21:06He announced
21:07that the bullet
21:08was a .44 caliber bullet,
21:10that it was fired
21:11from a Charter Arms
21:12Bulldog revolver,
21:14and that it was linked
21:15to at least
21:16three killings.
21:17And for the first time
21:18now,
21:19we see officially
21:20that all these
21:22shootings are linked.
21:24For serial killer
21:25David Berkowitz,
21:27his murders
21:28now made the headlines
21:29that he so craved.
21:32For the first time,
21:33we had a name
21:34for the killer,
21:35the .44 caliber killer.
21:36It was a perfect
21:37tabloid headline,
21:40and any time
21:40there was a shooting
21:41of young people involved,
21:43reporters went scrambling
21:45to find the story.
21:47Now,
21:47the city is
21:48in Berkowitz's palm.
21:50He's got the city
21:51now where he wants it.
21:52He's accomplished
21:53what he wants to do,
21:54which is to have the city
21:56in total fear of him.
21:59Even though
21:59he'd taken
22:00three innocent lives,
22:02the killing
22:03wouldn't stop.
22:05Berkowitz enjoyed
22:06the drama
22:07that was unfolding.
22:08He watched the news
22:09and took clippings
22:10about his killings
22:11as trophies.
22:12New York's
22:13number one news story
22:14was now spreading
22:15fear in the city.
22:17People read the story.
22:19Girls begin
22:20to worry parents
22:22wouldn't let their kids
22:23out for late night dates.
22:25People began
22:25to see a pattern
22:26in these shootings
22:27that the victims
22:29were pretty young women
22:31with long brown hair.
22:33girls began
22:34cutting their hair,
22:35dyeing it blonde.
22:36There was an overall
22:38growing sense of fear.
22:41The NYPD's
22:42Omega Task Force
22:44now investigating
22:45the shootings
22:46was boosted
22:47from 16
22:47to a 30-strong team.
22:49But Berkowitz
22:50wanted to make
22:51an even bigger splash
22:52across the newspapers.
22:54Barely a month
22:55after being christened
22:56the .44-caliber killer,
22:58he would strike again.
23:00But this time,
23:01his hunting ground
23:02was the Bronx.
23:03On April 17, 1977,
23:06Valentina Suriani
23:07and Alexander Esor
23:09at 3 a.m. in the morning
23:11were parked in a car
23:12when the assailant
23:13came up to the car,
23:15put his hand on the hood,
23:17and fired through
23:18the front windows.
23:2218-year-old aspiring actress
23:24Valentina died
23:26within a minute
23:26of the attack.
23:27Her 20-year-old boyfriend,
23:30Alexander,
23:31died two hours later
23:32in the hospital.
23:34Berkowitz had successfully
23:35fled once again,
23:37but this time
23:38he had a surprise in store.
23:40They found a letter
23:41that had been left
23:42by the killer
23:43for Detective Joseph Borelli,
23:46the Omega Task Force leader.
23:48And the killer complained
23:50that he had been referred
23:51to as a woman-hater,
23:53and he was angry about that.
23:56Despite this,
23:57Berkowitz stated
23:58in the letter,
23:59I love to hunt,
24:01prowling the streets
24:02looking for fair game,
24:04tasty meat,
24:05the women of Queens
24:06are prettiest of all.
24:08For the police's
24:09psychological profilers,
24:11they were convinced
24:12this message revealed
24:13his motive
24:14was a hatred of women.
24:16What was interesting
24:17about the note,
24:18the spelling was good,
24:20but he always spelled
24:21the word women
24:23incorrectly.
24:24He would spell it
24:25W-E-M-O-N.
24:29If you change the W
24:30to a D,
24:32he would have demon.
24:33Now,
24:34whether in his mind
24:35women were demons
24:35or what have you,
24:37but he was threatening
24:38to commit more murders
24:41as a result of that note.
24:43He's wanting recognition,
24:45he's wanting attention
24:46now for the things
24:48that he's done,
24:48but he's also saying
24:50things like,
24:51I don't belong on
24:52on this earth.
24:52In other words,
24:53I am better
24:54than everybody else.
24:57Chillingly,
24:57one of Berkowitz's
24:58last lines of his letter
25:00to Captain Borelli
25:01warned,
25:02I don't want to kill
25:03any more.
25:04No, sir,
25:05no more,
25:06but I must honour
25:07thy father.
25:08Most disturbing of all
25:10was the name
25:10he signed off as,
25:12Son of Sam.
25:13It was the first time
25:15we had any mention
25:15of this name,
25:17the Son of Sam.
25:17And immediately
25:19his moniker changed
25:20from the .44 calibre killer
25:22to the Son of Sam.
25:24And no one at that time
25:25really had any clue
25:26of exactly what that meant.
25:28He wants that brand,
25:30that identity.
25:31You can see that this is
25:32someone who thinks
25:32very highly of himself
25:34and he's quite disappointed,
25:35I think,
25:36that he hasn't had
25:37that recognition
25:38that he feels he deserves.
25:40What the press and public
25:42didn't know
25:42is that the Sam Berkowitz
25:44was referring to
25:45was in fact
25:46his neighbour,
25:47Sam Carr.
25:48Berkowitz was also
25:49sending this same neighbour
25:51threatening anonymous letters
25:53about his Labrador,
25:54Harvey.
25:56He's disintegrating
25:57in front of his own eyes,
25:58let alone anybody else's.
25:59He's living alone,
26:01he's obsessed
26:02by the fact
26:03that his neighbour's dog
26:05is barking all night.
26:08Berkowitz's torment
26:09came to a head
26:10on the foggy morning
26:11of April the 27th
26:13when the ex-soldier
26:14shot Harvey the dog
26:15from his apartment block
26:17with a .22 calibre rifle.
26:20This is a man
26:21falling apart, literally.
26:22He's convinced
26:23that he's hearing voices,
26:25that his neighbour, Sam,
26:26is influencing him
26:27and that the dog
26:28is sending him messages
26:30that he must commit
26:31demonic acts.
26:33Luckily, Harvey
26:34was not seriously injured
26:36and with no clear view
26:37of the shooter,
26:38the police had little to go on.
26:40A month later,
26:42at the end of May,
26:43Berkowitz crafted
26:44another taunting cryptic letter,
26:46this time to Daily News columnist
26:49Jimmy Breslin.
26:50Jimmy Breslin
26:51was the top columnist
26:53in New York.
26:54So, if Berkowitz
26:56wanted publicity
26:57and wanted to find someone
26:58who could take his story
27:00to the people
27:00and whose story
27:01would then be read,
27:03Jimmy Breslin
27:03was the man to do it.
27:05In the letter,
27:06Berkowitz told Jimmy,
27:07Sam's a thirsty lad
27:09and he won't let me
27:10stop killing
27:11until he gets
27:12his fill of blood.
27:14The city room
27:15was flooded
27:15with police officers
27:17and then,
27:18for the first time,
27:19the Daily News
27:20wasn't simply
27:21reporting the story,
27:22the Daily News
27:23was the story.
27:24Son of Sam's letter
27:26confessed to the murder
27:27of his first victim,
27:2918-year-old Donna Lauria,
27:30and he asked Jimmy Breslin
27:32to celebrate
27:33the anniversary
27:34of her killing.
27:35This prompted outrage
27:37among everyone.
27:38So, we had in that story
27:40not only the infuriating letter
27:43that Berkowitz had written
27:45saying that Donna Lauria
27:47was a wonderful girl
27:48and she should be memorialized,
27:49but also her family's reaction
27:51to that,
27:53their anger,
27:54their deep, deep sadness
27:56and grief,
27:57all came out
27:58in a single column
27:59by Breslin.
28:01A lot of people
28:02have interpreted this
28:03as some kind of affection,
28:04some kind of love,
28:05but what it is,
28:06it's about ownership
28:07and possession
28:08and control.
28:09And for many serial killers,
28:11the first victim
28:12is a very significant one,
28:13the first time
28:14that they start to feel
28:15like they're in control.
28:16So, that's why
28:17there's an importance
28:18attached to her.
28:19There was no feelings
28:20of affection whatsoever.
28:22As newspapers battle
28:23for the latest scoops
28:25on Son of Sam,
28:26Jimmy Breslin's letter
28:27was published
28:28in the weekend edition
28:29of the Daily News
28:31to achieve maximum impact.
28:33The letter wasn't published
28:34until Sunday
28:36when the larger circulation
28:38would be available.
28:40The public release
28:41of Berkowitz's letter
28:43to Jimmy Breslin
28:44did create a frenzy
28:45and a fear in the public
28:46and among journalists.
28:49The media spotlight
28:50on the case
28:51resulted in 250 calls a day
28:53to the police hotline,
28:55with people reporting suspicions
28:57about neighbors,
28:58boyfriends,
28:58even their husbands.
29:00With the pressure
29:01of having to catch
29:02a serial shooter
29:03on the loose
29:04before he struck again,
29:05the NYPD even planted
29:07decoy female mannequins
29:09in parked cars
29:10to try and entrap
29:11the killer.
29:13I think the biggest challenge
29:14was to get him
29:16as quickly as possible
29:17because you knew
29:18this wasn't going to be
29:19the last time
29:19he was going to kill.
29:22That was the pressure
29:23that was put upon,
29:23I think,
29:24all the investigators
29:25at the time
29:26and the fact that you knew
29:28that it wasn't going to end.
29:31Sure enough,
29:32on June the 26th,
29:33Berkowitz struck again,
29:35shooting another man
29:36and woman in Queens.
29:38Luckily,
29:38they escaped
29:39with minor injuries,
29:41but his next attack
29:42just over a month later
29:43in Brooklyn
29:44would whip up
29:45a wave of hysteria
29:46that New York City
29:48had never seen.
29:49On the 31st of July,
29:5120-year-old Stacey Moskovitz
29:53went out on a date
29:55with 20-year-old
29:56Robert Violante.
29:57That was their first date
29:59and both Robert Violante's parents
30:03and Stacey Moskovitz's parents
30:05were concerned
30:06and Stacey and Robert
30:08both said
30:09to their respective mothers,
30:11he doesn't go after blondes.
30:13He doesn't go after blondes.
30:15They felt that was going
30:17to be the case that night.
30:18After dinner and a movie,
30:21Stacey and Robert
30:21headed to a park
30:22in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
30:25Berkowitz was also cruising
30:26in the area
30:27looking for his next victim.
30:29He pulled up close by.
30:31Berkowitz fired
30:33four times into the car
30:34and fled back into the park.
30:38Stacey remained in the car,
30:40seriously injured.
30:42Robert Violante
30:43plastered the horn,
30:44got out,
30:45staggered,
30:46and was leaning
30:47against the light pole.
30:50Robert was shot twice
30:52in the face.
30:53His left eye
30:54was shattered
30:55and he was left
30:56permanently blind.
30:57Stacey was pronounced
30:59dead in the hospital
31:0038 hours later.
31:03When he struck
31:04in Brooklyn,
31:06I mean,
31:07there was hysteria
31:08within the city.
31:10The New York Post
31:11had on the front page
31:13no one is safe
31:14from the son of Sam.
31:16The number of calls
31:18that came in
31:19to the hotline
31:20was overwhelming.
31:21people now felt
31:24he could go
31:25any place
31:26and he did.
31:29So the people
31:30who thought
31:31that they were safe
31:32before
31:32no longer
31:33had that assurance.
31:34Suddenly,
31:35he was all over the city
31:36and his victims
31:38and his victims
31:38were changing.
31:39So clearly,
31:40that created
31:41a whole new element
31:42of fear
31:42that hadn't existed
31:43before.
31:44It is the most
31:47horrifying crime.
31:49People genuinely
31:50were afraid
31:52to go out.
31:53You cannot
31:54overestimate
31:55or exaggerate
31:55just how much
31:57that fear
31:58gripped the city.
31:58He'd taken
32:00six young lives
32:01within a year
32:02and the serial killer
32:03was the talk
32:04of the town.
32:05Berkowitz
32:06was relishing
32:07in his rising notoriety.
32:09The New York
32:10Police Department
32:11now had
32:12225 patrolmen
32:14and 75 detectives
32:16working full-time
32:17on the case.
32:19Former Detective Sergeant
32:20Bill Gardella
32:21was brought in
32:22to investigate
32:23the latest killing
32:24of 20-year-old
32:25Stacey Moskovitz
32:27next to a park
32:28in Bensonhurst.
32:29I was awakened
32:30in the middle
32:31of the night.
32:32They said,
32:32Sarge,
32:33it looks like
32:33we got a shooting
32:34in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
32:36Maybe the son of Sam.
32:38I jumped out of bed,
32:39got dressed
32:40and drove over
32:41to the scene
32:42at Bay 17th Street
32:43in the park.
32:45We were then given
32:46other detective units
32:48in Brooklyn
32:48to assist in
32:49questioning
32:49as many people
32:50as we could.
32:51No one was safe.
32:53He could strike
32:54anywhere.
32:56Whilst Detective Gardella
32:57and his colleagues
32:58were hot on the trail
32:59for any leads,
33:01New York's rival
33:02newspapers
33:02were also on the hunt
33:04for a scoop
33:05on the latest killing.
33:07Former news reporter
33:08Brian Cates
33:09was sent to the home
33:10of Son of Sam's
33:12sixth victim,
33:12Stacey,
33:13where he met
33:14her mother,
33:14Nesha.
33:16Nesha Moskovitz
33:17was stunned,
33:18really,
33:19by her daughter's death.
33:20We talk about
33:21what a beautiful girl
33:22her daughter had been.
33:23and how could this
33:24have happened to us?
33:25And then she'd fall silent.
33:27She'd look down
33:28at the floor
33:28and then look
33:29at the picture
33:30she had of Stacey
33:31and start to cry.
33:34Sitting through
33:35this experience
33:36of grief
33:36was very difficult
33:37as a reporter.
33:38You have this great sympathy
33:40for this family,
33:42for this horrible death.
33:45Meanwhile,
33:46Detective Bill Gardella
33:48and his team
33:48were on the hunt
33:49for witnesses
33:50who may have seen
33:51her killer.
33:53Three days after
33:54her murder,
33:54on the 3rd of August,
33:56they had a breakthrough.
33:57They found a 49-year-old woman
33:59who'd been out
34:00walking her dog
34:02just minutes
34:03before Stacey's shooting.
34:05She observed
34:05the male coming
34:06in her direction
34:08and he was carrying
34:09something in his hand.
34:11I don't know
34:11what it is,
34:12but I was upset.
34:14I was afraid.
34:15I pulled my dog,
34:17went back,
34:18made a U-turn,
34:19went back
34:19into my apartment
34:20and a few minutes
34:22later I heard shots.
34:24I heard shots.
34:26This new witness
34:27had seen a car
34:28being booked
34:29by a patrolling
34:30police officer
34:31for parking
34:32next to a fire hydrant.
34:33When detectives checked,
34:35there was no record
34:36of any tickets
34:37being issued.
34:39She insisted.
34:40I saw a summons
34:42being given out.
34:44We checked
34:45a second time.
34:48No summons.
34:49We went back.
34:51She insisted.
34:52So much.
34:53We'll give it
34:53one more try.
34:55Fellow NYPD
34:57detective James Justice
34:58was sent to meet
34:59the patrolling officer
35:00on duty that evening
35:02to see if he knew
35:03anything about
35:03this elusive
35:04parking ticket.
35:06When I was able
35:07to speak to the
35:08uniformed officer,
35:09he informed me
35:10what had happened,
35:11that he had
35:11left it in his locker.
35:13And sure enough,
35:14there were four summons
35:15that was given out.
35:16One of them
35:17to a David Berkowitz
35:18that lived in the Yonkers.
35:20That third attempt
35:22to pick up
35:23that summons,
35:23if we didn't
35:24make three efforts,
35:28we would have
35:29not got Berkowitz then.
35:31Finally,
35:32David Berkowitz
35:33came onto
35:33the police radar.
35:35When Detective
35:36James Justice
35:37called Yonkers PD,
35:38another stroke of luck
35:40meant the dispatcher
35:41who picked up
35:41the phone
35:42was the daughter
35:43of Berkowitz's
35:44nemesis and neighbour,
35:46Sam Carr.
35:47Weed Carr happened
35:48to live with her dead
35:50in an apartment house
35:51right behind
35:52the apartment house
35:53that David Berkowitz
35:54lived in.
35:55And she related to me
35:56various stories
35:57about Berkowitz
35:58and their association
36:00with him
36:01and the problems
36:02that they had with him
36:03and the fact
36:04that Berkowitz
36:05shut their black lab.
36:08He was also told
36:10about another neighbour
36:11who'd been receiving
36:12strange letters
36:13and had recently found
36:14a fire burning
36:15outside his door.
36:17The neighbour
36:18suspected Berkowitz
36:19was to blame.
36:21The strangeness
36:22of what this guy
36:23was doing
36:24and the fact
36:25that he wasn't related
36:26to Sam Carr
36:27but the name Sam
36:29was there
36:30and I put this all
36:31in a report.
36:32My inspector
36:33asked me
36:33how everything went
36:34and I said to him,
36:36I got a good feeling
36:37we have the guy.
36:40Two detectives
36:42from the Son
36:42of Sam investigation
36:44were sent
36:45to Berkowitz's apartment
36:46on Pine Street,
36:47Yonkers.
36:48They found his Ford Galaxy
36:50parked outside
36:51and cautiously
36:52peered in
36:53through the window
36:54to see if there was
36:55any incriminating evidence.
36:58They look into the car
37:00and on the floor
37:02of the rear of the car
37:03there is an army duffel bag
37:06protruding
37:06from the duffel bag.
37:07We thought
37:08it was a submachine gun,
37:10it was a semi-automatic rifle.
37:12The detectives found
37:14that Berkowitz's car
37:15was unlocked.
37:17They enter the vehicle
37:18and they come up
37:19with a letter
37:20addressed to the Suffolk County
37:22police chief.
37:23The letter stated,
37:25you can't stop me,
37:26I'm coming out
37:28and this was
37:29the straw
37:31that broke the camel's back
37:32to split the case
37:32wide open.
37:33This was the son of Sam.
37:35Detective Sergeant Bill Gardella
37:38was called
37:38with news
37:39of this exciting find.
37:41With five of his NYPD team
37:43they rushed over
37:44to stake out
37:45Berkowitz's apartment block.
37:47Four hours later
37:48at 10pm
37:49their patience
37:50finally paid off
37:51when the killer
37:52approached his car.
37:54I took my gun out,
37:56ran down the sidewalk
37:57as fast as I could
37:58to confront Berkowitz
37:59before he had an opportunity
38:00to go for his gun
38:01and I screamed at him,
38:03police,
38:04don't you go for a gun.
38:06He slowly turns his head
38:08like this and smiles.
38:09He said,
38:09well, he said,
38:10you got me.
38:11What took you so long?
38:12I think he knew
38:14that this was coming.
38:15He knew he wouldn't
38:16be able to get away
38:17with it forever
38:17but this is someone
38:19who is very used
38:20to being in control
38:22and he remains in control.
38:24He smiles
38:25which I think the police
38:26find quite unnerving.
38:29Once handcuffed
38:30and arrested
38:30on the journey
38:31in the police car
38:32from Yonkers
38:33back to New York City
38:34police headquarters,
38:36serial killer
38:37David Berkowitz
38:38was ready to indulge
38:40in his newfound fame.
38:43Berkowitz says,
38:44hey guys,
38:44I guess the press
38:45is waiting for me
38:46at New York City
38:47police headquarters
38:47with their cameras.
38:49Can you do me a favor?
38:50Can you comb my hair?
38:52He's going to serve
38:53a life sentence in jail.
38:54He's concerned
38:55about his hair.
38:57And then when we pulled
38:58up to police headquarters,
38:59there were a few people
39:00on the street
39:01screaming
39:02and I told the captain
39:03that was with me,
39:04Cap, I says,
39:04I want to go in the garage.
39:06He said,
39:06Bill, no,
39:07let's get our pictures taken.
39:10The mayor was
39:11at police headquarters
39:11that was the end.
39:13That was it.
39:15New York Daily News
39:17reporter Brian Cates
39:19was on a night shift
39:20when he got the news
39:21that son of Sam
39:23had finally been arrested.
39:25Everybody was
39:26abuzz with this.
39:28It was jubilation
39:29in the city.
39:31And in fact,
39:32there were parties
39:33at bars and clubs
39:35celebrating the fact
39:36that he'd been captured.
39:38There was a collective
39:39sigh of relief
39:40that the police
39:41had got their man
39:42and that hopefully
39:43the killings were over.
39:46There's no question
39:47that Berkowitz
39:48would have gone on.
39:50He would have killed
39:51again and again
39:51and again
39:52until he was
39:53eventually stopped.
39:54The classic serial killer.
39:56They don't stop
39:57until they're caught.
39:59The police
40:00had captured Berkowitz
40:01just in the nick of time.
40:03Using the semi-automatic
40:05rifle found in his car
40:07that weekend,
40:08the son of Sam
40:09was planning a mass shooting.
40:11Detective Sergeant Bill Gardella
40:13was one of the first
40:14police officers
40:15to search his apartment.
40:17Any time I speak
40:18about his apartment,
40:19my body starts to chill
40:20because it's something
40:22I had never seen before.
40:23He had photographs
40:24of all the girls
40:25he killed on the floor.
40:26He had cut them out
40:27of the newspapers
40:28and he had holes in the wall.
40:31Voices used to come
40:32out of those holes
40:32to tell him
40:33to go out and kill.
40:34And he used to try
40:35to stop the voices
40:36by hitting the wall.
40:39And then he would write
40:40a note next to
40:41each of the holes.
40:43One of the notes
40:44I pretty much committed
40:44to memory had said,
40:45Hi, my name is Mr. Williams.
40:48I live in this hole.
40:49I'm raising little children
40:50to be killers.
40:51Can't wait until they grow up.
40:53It just was this sight
40:54I never forgot.
40:55And it's the only thing
40:56in my lifetime
40:57that if I talk about it
40:59I get the chills.
41:03Strange satanic symbols
41:04were also scrawled
41:05across Berkowitz's walls.
41:07During the police interviews
41:09that followed
41:09he confessed to carrying
41:11out the shootings
41:12and claimed that the devil
41:14was talking to him
41:15through neighbour Sam Carr's dog
41:17instructing him to kill.
41:19When it came to his trial
41:21psychiatrists were split
41:22on whether he was mentally
41:23fit to stand.
41:26These claims
41:27that he was hearing voices
41:29that his neighbour's dog Harvey
41:31was essentially talking to him
41:33and this was the voice
41:34of a demon.
41:35I think this is nonsense
41:36to be honest.
41:37I think this is just
41:38part of his performance
41:40of trying to appear
41:41to be insane.
41:42Because he's been caught now
41:43and he wants to secure
41:44the best possible outcome
41:45for himself.
41:46and that outcome
41:47would always be better
41:48if you claim
41:49you're not responsible
41:50for what you've done.
41:51In the end
41:53Berkowitz was deemed
41:54fit to stand trial.
41:56As it was ruled
41:57he understood
41:58the charges against him.
42:00But after consulting
42:01a priest
42:01son of Sam
42:02had an unexpected
42:04surprise
42:04up his sleeve.
42:06His lawyers
42:07wanted him to mount
42:08an insanity defence
42:09and go to trial.
42:11Berkowitz determined
42:12that he would not do that
42:13that he would plead guilty
42:15which he did.
42:16Meaning that there
42:17would be no trial.
42:19On the 12th of June 1978
42:2125 year old
42:23David Berkowitz
42:24was finally sentenced
42:26to a total of
42:27365 years
42:29in prison.
42:31This is someone
42:31who's never ever
42:33going to be released
42:33from prison.
42:34And I think
42:35he would have gone on
42:36to kill more people
42:37had he not been arrested.
42:39This man is
42:39incredibly dangerous.
42:41But the name
42:43son of Sam
42:44is indelibly marked
42:45on the city
42:46he terrorised.
42:48That fear
42:48was fuelled
42:49of course
42:50by the media.
42:51At the time
42:51of his last murders
42:52the entire world
42:53reported on the
42:53capture of David
42:54Berkowitz.
42:55That's how far
42:56his reach
42:57extended.
42:58He didn't do it
42:59for money.
43:00He didn't do it
43:01for sex.
43:04He did it
43:05because he felt
43:06like it.
43:06Because he wanted to.
43:08And that makes him
43:09a very evil man
43:10indeed.
43:12Berkowitz mercilessly
43:14gunned down
43:14and killed
43:15six young people
43:16who were merely
43:17out enjoying themselves.
43:19He brutally wounded
43:20seven others
43:21leaving them
43:22with life-changing
43:23injuries.
43:24He terrorised
43:25a city that's still
43:26living with trauma
43:27of his crimes.
43:29That's what makes
43:30David Berkowitz
43:31one of the world's
43:32most evil killers.