The Son of Sam: A Timeline of the Killings that Terrorized New York City
Throughout 13 months of 1976 and 1977, concern over the Son of Sam murders perpetrated by then-unknown serial killer David Berkowitz gripped the residents of New York Metropolis. Six ladies and men had been shot and killed in three of the town’s boroughs in additional than a dozen seemingly random assaults. The crimes spawned one…
Throughout 13 months of 1976 and 1977, concern over the Son of Sam murders perpetrated by then-unknown serial killer David Berkowitz gripped the residents of New York Metropolis. Six ladies and men had been shot and killed in three of the town’s boroughs in additional than a dozen seemingly random assaults. The crimes spawned one of many greatest manhunts of the town’s historical past.
Tabloid newspapers battled for the newest info as day by day gross sales soared. “It had completely all the pieces going for it as a tabloid good storm,” Sam Roberts, the Day by day Information metropolis editor in 1977 advised the New York Times of the media frenzy. “It was an ongoing, unfolding crime story that New Yorkers had been genuinely terrified about.”
Here is a timeline of some of the notorious killing sprees in fashionable historical past:
July 29, 1976: The killer assaults his first victims
The shootings first attributed to the killer who would develop into generally known as the Son of Sam occurred within the Pelham Bay space of the Bronx. Two ladies, Jody Valenti and Donna Lauria, 18, had been sitting in Valenti’s double-parked Oldsmobile when a person approached the automobile and fired three bullets. Lauria was killed immediately and Valenti was shot within the thigh earlier than the person walked rapidly away. Valenti described her attacker as a white male in his thirties, roughly 5-foot-8 and about 200 kilos, with brief, darkish, curly hair.
October 23, 1976: Two extra individuals are shot however survive
Carl Denaro, 20, and Rosemary Keenan, 18, had been shot at whereas sitting in a parked automobile in a residential space of Flushing, Queens. Each survived, however Denaro was struck within the head by one of many bullets. Police would later speculate Denaro could have been mistaken for a lady attributable to his shoulder-length hair.
November 27, 1976: A pair is attacked by a person in army fatigues
Following a late film, Donna DeMasi, 16, and Joanne Lomino, 18, had been headed to Lomino’s residence in Floral Park, Queens after they had been approached on the road by a person wearing army fatigues who produced a revolver and shot every girl as soon as. Their attacker fired a number of extra instances earlier than operating away. Although shot within the neck, DeMasi survived with out everlasting damage. Lomino was shot within the again and was paralyzed.
The areas of the Son of Sam murders
Photograph: Bettmann/Contributor
January 30, 1977: One other assault with seemingly no motive
Christine Freund, 26, and her fiancé, John Diel, 30, had been shot as they sat in Diel’s automobile in Flushing, Queens. Panicked, Diel sped away. He suffered minor accidents however Freund was shot twice and later died in hospital. Just like the earlier assaults there gave the impression to be no motive, however following this homicide the police made the primary public acknowledgment that the assault bore similarities to earlier incidents – all victims had been struck with .44 caliber bullets and the assailant gave the impression to be attacking younger ladies with lengthy, darkish hair. On the time, police stated they had been in search of a number of suspects.
March 8, 1977: A university scholar is attacked in a the identical space
Returning residence within the night after school courses, Virginia Voskerichian, 19 — who lived in the identical neighborhood the place Freund had been attacked — was shot within the head and died immediately. With native newspapers the Day by day Information and New York Publish now reporting on the shootings every day, it was revealed at a press convention two days after Voskerichian’s homicide that police strongly suspected the identical .44 Bulldog revolver had been used within the assaults.
April 17, 1977: The killer pronounces his identification for the primary time
Within the early hours of the morning, Valentina Suriani, 18, and her boyfriend, Alexander Esau, 20, had been sitting in Suriani’s automobile close to her residence within the Bronx after they had been every shot twice. Esau died on the scene and Suriani later in hospital. For the primary time, the killer introduced his identification through a handwritten be aware left for police on the crime scene through which he referred to himself as “Son of Sam” and promised the killings would proceed.
Might 30, 1977: A columnist receives a handwritten letter from somebody claiming to be the killer
Day by day Information columnist Jimmy Breslin acquired a handwritten letter from somebody claiming to be the shooter. Inside, the author namechecks one of many first victims, Lauria, warning Breslin to “not neglect [her] and you can not let the folks neglect her both. She was a really, very candy lady however Sam’s a thirsty lad and he received’t let me cease killing till he will get his fill of blood.” The letter was signed “Son of Sam.” The Day by day Information introduced the missive to police and 10 days later published a redacted model in what would develop into one of many paper’s greatest promoting points ever with multiple million copies offered.
With experiences now circulating that the victims all had lengthy, darkish hair, ladies in New York started slicing their hair brief or using shiny dyes to change their look.
June 26, 1977: A pair is attacked exterior a membership
After leaving a disco in Bayside, Queens, Judy Placido, 17, and Sal Lupo, 20, had been shot whereas sitting in Lupo’s parked automobile. Each survived their accidents with Lupo reportedly telling the police he and Placido had been discussing the Son of Sam killer solely minutes earlier than the assault.
A lady appears at a sketch of “Son of Sam” at a retailer in Brooklyn
Photograph: Charles Frattini/NY Day by day Information Archive through Getty Photos
July 31, 1977: The primary assault involving a sufferer with blonde hair
Robert Violante, 20, and Stacy Moskowitz, 19, had been shot in Violante’s automobile whereas on their first date. Volante would lose his left eye, Moskowitz would die 18 hours after the assault which was the primary to happen within the borough of Brooklyn and the primary involving a sufferer, Moskowitz, with blonde hair.
Days later an eyewitness would come ahead claiming to have seen a person with what seemed like a gun minutes earlier than the Brooklyn shootings, and that different law enforcement officials had been writing parking tickets in the identical space that night time. A search revealed one of many ticketed automobiles that night time belonged to Berkowitz, who was already being investigated over complaints of harassment to a neighbor.
August 10, 1977: Berkowitz is arrested and confessed the subsequent day
Berkowitz, 24, of Yonkers, N.Y. was arrested in entrance of his house constructing. Police had investigated Berkowitz’s automobile and found a rifle within the again seat, maps of the crime scenes and ammunition. Ready till Berkowitz left the house constructing, police arrested him as he sat behind the wheel of his automobile. A bag containing the .44 caliber revolver was recovered subsequent to him, and a smiling Berkowitz reportedly stated to the arresting officer, “Effectively, you bought me.”
The next day Berkowitz would confess to the shootings, claiming that Sam was a demonic spirit who spoke to him through his former neighbor’s black Labrador. Berkowitz additionally advised police he was liable for 1,500 fires set across the metropolis. He was 23 on the time of the primary homicide.
Might 8, 1978: Berkowitz pleads responsible to the murders
Berkowitz withdraws an madness protection and pleads responsible to the six murders, being given six 25-years-to-life sentences for the crimes, and for which he can be denied parole ever since. Following his arrest, Berkowitz made statements that he had been a part of a violent cult that aided him in finishing up the assaults and murders.
Although no onerous proof was uncovered to assist the declare, many nonetheless marvel if Berkowitz was appearing alone. In response to Jim Rothstein, a retired New York Police Division detective who was engaged on the vice squad through the Son of Sam killings and investigated suspicions a satanic cult was behind a lot of the violent felony exercise through the Seventies, Berkowitz “didn’t do all of the killings.”
“As soon as they locked up Berkowitz and blamed him for all the pieces, they stated it was performed,” Rothstein advised A&E Real Crime. “However Berkowitz was simply the man who took the rap. It was a a lot greater factor.”
“I see that individuals won’t ever perceive the place I come from, regardless of how a lot I attempt to clarify it,” Berkowitz advised CBS News in a uncommon 2017 tv interview. “They would not perceive what it was prefer to stroll in darkness.”
