Notorious Criminals & Outlaws Codexery

David Berkowitz

American serial killer who terrorized New York City in the 1970s.

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David Berkowitz, also known as the Son of Sam, is an American serial killer who committed a stabbing and a series of shootings in New York City between 1975 and 1977, killing six people and wounding eleven others.[1] Through letters that ridiculed law enforcement and threatened additional attacks, Berkowitz created widespread fear across New York City, which resulted in what may have been the largest manhunt ever conducted in that metropolis.[1]

Key facts and history

After locating his birth mother, Berkowitz learned details of his birth that greatly disturbed him, which forensic anthropologist Elliott Leyton later described as the "primary crisis" of his life.[2] On June 1, 1953, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, the person who would become David Berkowitz was born with the name Richard David Falco, and his biological mother surrendered him for adoption only a few days after his birth.[3] The infant was adopted by Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, a middle-aged Jewish couple who had no other children and raised him as their sole offspring.[4] During his childhood, Berkowitz experienced frequent harassment from peers because of his Jewish identity and his "chubbiness".[5]

Berkowitz completed his education at Christopher Columbus High School in 1971, then enlisted in the United States Army, from which he was honorably discharged in June 1974.[6][7][8] Berkowitz promptly admitted to carrying out the shootings and indicated he wanted to enter a guilty plea.[9]

What the cited sources add

According to Hockenberry, Berkowitz said the Carr brothers took part in the killings and that Michael Carr was the gunman at the disco shooting in Queens.[10] The Biography.com account states that Berkowitz told police he was responsible for 1,500 fires set around the city.[11] Shayna Glassman stated that Berkowitz concentrated his anger on her father and grew to despise him, and that authorities discovered writings on Berkowitz's apartment walls that mentioned "Craig".[12] Jim Rothstein, a retired detective from the New York Police Department, told A&E True Crime that Berkowitz "didn't do all the killings" and was "just the guy who took the rap".[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Son of Sam: A Timeline of the Killings that Terrorized New York City", Biography.com, May 4, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leyton, pp. 187ff. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73; Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fishman, "The Devil in David Berkowitz", New York, 2006; "Crime File: David Berkowitz (Son of Sam)", Crime+Investigation, 2011; "Encore Presentation: Interview With David Berkowitz", Larry King Weekend, 2002; Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73; "David Berkowitz "Son of Sam"", Department of Psychology, Radford University; Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leyton.; "Dear David--: Letters to Inmate #78-A-1976, Son of Sam (David Berkowitz)", Benra Pub., 2005; "Dear David–: Letters to Inmate #78-A-1976, Son of Sam (David Berkowitz)", Benra Pub., 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73; Abrahamsen 1985, p. 73; Case File: David Berkowitz Retrieved June 17, 2009; "Son of Sam: Based on the Authorized Transcription of the Tapes, Official Documents, and Diaries of David Berkowitz", Simon and Schuster, July 31, 2017; Mahler, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City", Farrar, Straus and Giroux, March 21, 2006; "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City", Farrar, Straus a en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Son of Sam: Based on the Authorized Transcription of the Tapes, Official Documents, and Diaries of David Berkowitz", Simon and Schuster, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "David Berkowitz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sisak, "NYPD commander who took 'Son of Sam' confession dies at 99", Las Vegas Sun, September 20, 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Hockenberry, "Did 'Son of Sam' really act alone?", MSN, 2004. facts only, no text reused. nbcnews.com
  11. "The Son of Sam: A Timeline of the Killings that Terrorized New York City", Biography.com, May 4, 2021. facts only, no text reused. biography.com
  12. LaRosa, "Daughter of man terrorized by "Son of "Sam" now visits him in prison", CBS News, August 11, 2017. facts only, no text reused. cbsnews.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article David Berkowitz (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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