Post by K on Dec 7, 2007 18:38:56 GMT -5
David Richard Berkowitz (born June 1, 1953), also known as the .44 Caliber Killer and the Son of Sam, is an American serial killer. His name was also Richard David Falco.
David Berkowitz was born Richard David Falco on 1 June 1953. His birth mother, Betty Falco, became pregnant as the result of an affair with a married man, Joseph Klineman. When informed of the pregnancy, Klineman refused to admit paternity and demanded that the child be given up. Richard David was adopted only a few days after birth by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz, who reversed the order of his given names.
A variety of frustrations, including several failed relationships with women, resulted in him enlisting in the US Army in 1971. Although the Vietnam War was still under way, he was sent to posts in South Korea and the United States.
After his discharge in 1974, Berkowitz flirted with Christianity and also began a search that resulted in meetings with his birth mother, Betty, and his half-sister, Roslyn. He began lighting fires again, and claimed to hear “voices” around this time. Although he would later confess to assaulting a woman with a knife on Christmas Eve 1975, police have no record of the crime he described.
Shortly after his arrest in 1977, Berkowitz confessed to killing six people and wounding seven others during eight shootings in New York City between 1976 and 1977. He has been imprisoned for the crimes since 1977. The crimes had terrorized New York for a year, and earned publicity due to Berkowitz's claim that a neighbor's dog was possessed by a demon that commanded Berkowitz to kill.
Berkowitz later amended his confession to claim he was the shooter in only two incidents, personally killing three people and wounding a fourth. The other victims were killed, Berkowitz claimed, by members of a violent Satanic cult of which he was a member. Though he remains the only person charged with or convicted of the shootings, some law enforcement authorities argue that Berkowitz's claims are credible: according to John Hockenberry [1] of MSNBC, many officials involved in the original "Son of Sam" case suspected that more than one person was perpetrating the murders. Hockenberry also reports that the Son of Sam case was reopened in 1996, and as of 2004, it was still considered open.
Riddled with spelling errors, the letter gave the shooter a new name: the Son of Sam.
In full, it read:
I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon [woman] hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the "Son of Sam." I am a little brat. When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "Go out and kill," commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young — raped and slaughtered — their blood drained — just bones now. Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic too. I can't get out but I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wavelength then everybody else — programmed too kill. However, to stop me you must kill me. Attention all police: Shoot me first — shoot to kill or else keep out of my way or you will die! Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. "Ugh, me hoot, it hurts, sonny boy." I miss my pretty princess most of all. She's resting in our ladies house. But I'll see her soon. I am the "Monster" — "Beelzebub" — the chubby behemouth. I love to hunt. Prowling the streets looking for fair game — tasty meat. The wemon of Queens are prettyist of all. It must be the water they drink. I live for the hunt — my life. Blood for papa. Mr. Borrelli, sir, I don't want to kill anymore. No sur, no more but I must, 'honour thy father.' I want to make love to the world. I love people. I don't belong on earth. Return me to yahoos. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I want to wish all of you a happy Easter. May God bless you in this life and in the next. And for now I say goodbye and goodnight. Police: Let me haunt you with these words: I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interpreted as — bang bang bang, bank, bang — ugh!! Yours in murder, Mr. Monster[25]
Though discovery of the letter was an open secret, the contents were not made public. Only a few hints were leaked: police speculated that the letter-writer might be familiar with Scottish English — the phrase "me hoot, it hurts, sonny boy" was taken as a Scots-accented version of "my heart, it hurts, sonny boy"; and the police also hypothesized that the shooter blamed a dark-haired nurse for his father's death — due to the "too many heart attacks" phrase, and the facts that Lauria was a medical technician and Valenti was studying to be a nurse.[26] On July 28th, New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin alluded to the "wemon" quirk and referred to the shooter watching the world from "his attic window."[27]
from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz
David Berkowitz was born Richard David Falco on 1 June 1953. His birth mother, Betty Falco, became pregnant as the result of an affair with a married man, Joseph Klineman. When informed of the pregnancy, Klineman refused to admit paternity and demanded that the child be given up. Richard David was adopted only a few days after birth by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz, who reversed the order of his given names.
A variety of frustrations, including several failed relationships with women, resulted in him enlisting in the US Army in 1971. Although the Vietnam War was still under way, he was sent to posts in South Korea and the United States.
After his discharge in 1974, Berkowitz flirted with Christianity and also began a search that resulted in meetings with his birth mother, Betty, and his half-sister, Roslyn. He began lighting fires again, and claimed to hear “voices” around this time. Although he would later confess to assaulting a woman with a knife on Christmas Eve 1975, police have no record of the crime he described.
Shortly after his arrest in 1977, Berkowitz confessed to killing six people and wounding seven others during eight shootings in New York City between 1976 and 1977. He has been imprisoned for the crimes since 1977. The crimes had terrorized New York for a year, and earned publicity due to Berkowitz's claim that a neighbor's dog was possessed by a demon that commanded Berkowitz to kill.
Berkowitz later amended his confession to claim he was the shooter in only two incidents, personally killing three people and wounding a fourth. The other victims were killed, Berkowitz claimed, by members of a violent Satanic cult of which he was a member. Though he remains the only person charged with or convicted of the shootings, some law enforcement authorities argue that Berkowitz's claims are credible: according to John Hockenberry [1] of MSNBC, many officials involved in the original "Son of Sam" case suspected that more than one person was perpetrating the murders. Hockenberry also reports that the Son of Sam case was reopened in 1996, and as of 2004, it was still considered open.
Riddled with spelling errors, the letter gave the shooter a new name: the Son of Sam.
In full, it read:
I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon [woman] hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the "Son of Sam." I am a little brat. When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "Go out and kill," commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young — raped and slaughtered — their blood drained — just bones now. Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic too. I can't get out but I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wavelength then everybody else — programmed too kill. However, to stop me you must kill me. Attention all police: Shoot me first — shoot to kill or else keep out of my way or you will die! Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. "Ugh, me hoot, it hurts, sonny boy." I miss my pretty princess most of all. She's resting in our ladies house. But I'll see her soon. I am the "Monster" — "Beelzebub" — the chubby behemouth. I love to hunt. Prowling the streets looking for fair game — tasty meat. The wemon of Queens are prettyist of all. It must be the water they drink. I live for the hunt — my life. Blood for papa. Mr. Borrelli, sir, I don't want to kill anymore. No sur, no more but I must, 'honour thy father.' I want to make love to the world. I love people. I don't belong on earth. Return me to yahoos. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I want to wish all of you a happy Easter. May God bless you in this life and in the next. And for now I say goodbye and goodnight. Police: Let me haunt you with these words: I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interpreted as — bang bang bang, bank, bang — ugh!! Yours in murder, Mr. Monster[25]
Though discovery of the letter was an open secret, the contents were not made public. Only a few hints were leaked: police speculated that the letter-writer might be familiar with Scottish English — the phrase "me hoot, it hurts, sonny boy" was taken as a Scots-accented version of "my heart, it hurts, sonny boy"; and the police also hypothesized that the shooter blamed a dark-haired nurse for his father's death — due to the "too many heart attacks" phrase, and the facts that Lauria was a medical technician and Valenti was studying to be a nurse.[26] On July 28th, New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin alluded to the "wemon" quirk and referred to the shooter watching the world from "his attic window."[27]
from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz