David Berkowitz
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.44-Caliber Killer Paralyzed Queens
By LIZ GOFF
FOREST HILLS- Aug. 10, 1977: The women of Forest Hills can breathe easier today knowing that the monster who terrorized Queens and the rest of the city for nearly a year is now in custody.
The same “demons” that drove David Berkowitz to kill made him place every weapon he owned in his car last night as he drove around his Yonkers neighborhood.
A short while later, two cops were sent to the street where Berkowitz lived, to investigate a ticket issued to his car on the night of the latest “Son Of Sam” murder. The cops spotted Berkowitz’ car and noticed a machine gun on the back seat. The cops alerted their bosses and waited. NYPD Det. John Falotico arrived a short while later, and led a team of detectives in an early morning stakeout of Berkowitz’ apartment at 33 Pine St. in Yonkers.
Six hours later, the detectives swarmed Berkowitz as he walked to the car – two cops pointing their guns at his head.
“Who are you?” Falotico asked.
“You know,” Berkowitz replied.
“No, I don’t. Tell me who you are,” the detective demanded. Berkowitz broke out in a smile and announced, “I am Son Of Sam.”
The Devil Made Him Do It
David Berkowitz began his reign of terror on July 29, 1976, when he shot and killed Donna Lauria, 18, and injured her 18-year-old boyfriend as the couple sat outside Lauria’s home.
Police noted the killer used a .44-caliber Bulldog revolver.
Four months later the madman struck again - this time in Queens, when a couple was ambushed as they sat along in a car in Flushing. Again, the weapon was identified as a .44-caliber Bulldog revolver.
On Nov. 27, 1976, the “44-Caliber Killer” shot and seriously wounded two women who sat talking on the porch of a Bellerose house. The weapon, again, was a .44-caliber Bulldog revolver.
Berkowitz achieved star status as a serial killer when he shot four women in two separate attacks in Forest Hills. The first, on Jan. 29, 1977, was followed by a more violent attack in March.
The next killing took place in the Bronx, where Berkowitz left a letter in the street – near the death car. The letter introduced the killer as the “Son Of Sam.”
In the letter, addressed to Det. Jospeh Borelli, lead investigator in the case, Berkowitz said he was “deeply hurt” by media references which described him as a “woman hater.”
“I am the Monster – Beelzebub, the Chubby Behemouth,” Berkowitz wrote. “I love to hunt. Prowling the streets for fair game – tasty meat.
“The wemon (sic) of Queens are prettyist of all.”
After his arrest, Berkowitz told detectives that a 6,000-year-old demon named Sam spoke to him through a neighbors’ dog, telling him to kill young women.
In Closing
Berkowitz pleaded guilty to six counts of murder, seven counts of attempted murder and dozens of lesser charges. He was sentenced to consecutive sentences totaling 547 years in prison.
Nine months after his sentencing, Berkowitz announced to the world that he had invented the demons – that it was all a “hoax, well planned and thought out.” He even wrote a book, “Confessions Of Son Of Sam,” which critics said depicts Berkowitz as a killer with “clear-headed cunning.”
While in prison, Berkowitz has found God – and has emerged in a spiritual Renaissance, broadcast on a local cable TV show seen throughout New Jersey.
No prayers are offered during Berkowitz’ televised sermons for Donna Lauria, Christine Freund, Virginia Voskerichina, Valentina Suriani, Alexander Esau, Stacy Moskowitz, or the other young victims of his monstrous shooting spree.
