[chris]

David Berkowitz 78A1976
Sullivan Corr. Fac.
Box AG
Fallsburg, NY 12733

Also covered here:
David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) Case Summary

[chris]

David Berkowitz, a serial killer known as the Son of Sam, complained that his killing activity was forced upon him by demon voices in his head. Berkowitz was born out of wedlock on June 1, 1953, to Betty Falco and her boyfriend Joseph Kleinman, but was adopted by Nat and Pearl Berkowitz soon after his birth. They gave him a somewhat normal upbringing in the Bronx, New York. It was noted that he was a loner and had a tendency to bully his peers. He became even more introverted after Pearl Berkowitz's death in 1967. Four years later his father remarried and moved to Florida. Berkowitz remained in New York, but within a few months joined the Army. He served for three years.

During the 1970s, it would later be discovered that Berkowitz had become an arsonist. He kept a record of more than 1,400 fires he had started. In 1975 he also began to hear voices. He believed them to be coming from demons, and he identified several of his neighbors and their German shepherd dogs as the locus of the demons. He first gave into the demonic voices on Christmas Day 1975. He claimed to have stabbed two women, though the police were later able to verify only one of the incidents. His victim, Michelle Forman, survived in spite of multiple stab wounds.

On January 29, 1976, he shot Donna Lauria, who was parked in a car with her boyfriend. The shooting of victims sitting in parked cars with his .44 pistol would become his trademark. Sometimes the boyfriend escaped with a bullet wound; sometimes he was killed. However, it was obvious Berkowitz was primarily targeting women. On several occasions he attacked women on the street. On April 17, 1977, he killed Valentina Suriani and Alexander Esau, and left a letter in their car signed Son of Sam. In the letter, he described his father Sam as a bloodthirsty blood drinker. He also said of himself, "I am the 'Monster'—'Beelzebub'—the chubby behemouth." When the letter was released to the press several weeks later, the Son of Sam became an instant celebrity.

Meanwhile Berkowitz started a correspondence with the people he thought of as demons. He complained to Jack Carr, a former neighbor, that his dog, a black Labrador, was barking too much. On April 19, 1977, he sent a second letter. On April 29 he shot the dog. In June he sent a letter to Jack Cassara but signed it with the names of Jack Carr and his wife. Carr and Cassara soon had a meeting, shared stories, and first tied the letters to David Berkowitz, who had lived in the Cassara house. They shared their speculations with the police, who initially ignored them; they were already overloaded on leads.

Berkowitz would strike twice more before police put the murdered women together with the attack on Carr's dog. Shortly thereafter, however, they arrested Berkowitz, who freely admitted his identity as the Son of Sam. Berkowitz was tried and sentenced to 365 years in prison.

There are three theories as to Berkowitz's motivation in the murders. One accepts his basic story of demon possession. One, put forth by writer Maury Terry, has built a picture of Berkowitz operating within the context of a Satanic group that had members in New York and at several locations across the country. Many of the police came to believe that he was a typical serial killer who had set up the demon possession idea as a defense should he ever be caught. This latter hypothesis now dominates serious thinking about Berkowitz.

In 1987, Berkowitz converted to Christianity.

[GeorgeM]

[chris]

Another cold blooded killer turned Evangelical, how nice lol..

[Eric Gein]

Originally Posted by GeorgeM ↗

another copyright and stolen scan from serialkillersink.net

[Dazed]

my favorite so far

[annmarie]

sick fuck

[gatagato]

Published: August 24, 2011
FoxNews Exclusive

Convicted serial killer David Berkowitz -- who terrorized New York in the late 1970s, killing six people and wounding seven -- will not seek parole during his next opportunity in May, Berkowitz told FoxNews.com exclusively.

In a two-page letter to FoxNews.com, Berkowitz, also known as "Son of Sam," said he has "no interest" in parole thanks to forgiveness by Jesus Christ. Berkowitz, 58, has previously been denied parole five times.


"I have no interest in parole and no plans to seek release," Berkowitz wrote FoxNews.com in an Aug. 6 letter. “If you could understand this, I am already a 'free man.' I am not saying this jokingly. I really am. Jesus Christ has already forgiven and pardoned me, and I believe this."


Berkowitz, who killed six people and wounded seven others in 1976-77, was dubbed the "Son of Sam" after a note left at a crime scene read: "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam." After intense manhunts and widespread public panic throughout New York, he was arrested in 1977.

New York legislators later passed the so-called "Son of Sam" law, which bars criminals from profiting from their crimes by selling their stories to publishers.

He is currently serving six sentences of 25 years to life at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, N.Y., where he has been incarcerated for 34 years.

Carole Weaver, a spokeswoman for the New York State Division of Parole, said Berkowitz has been a model inmate with just one minor infraction on his disciplinary record from 2004. Details of that incident were not immediately available.

Berkowitz's claim, however, that he never plans to seek freedom is "unusual" among inmates, she said.

"Not many people who are incarcerated don't want to get out," Weaver told FoxNews.com.

Berkowitz told FoxNews.com he has been housed in the prison's general population for roughly 23 years and he currently works as a "mobility guide" for legally blind inmates, as well as an "inmate program aid" [sic] for mentally challenged prisoners.

"I also help out in the facility's chapel, where I assist in overseeing our Sunday services plus other services and Bible studies," Berkowitz wrote FoxNews.com. "My main activities are sharing my story of redemption and hope with those on the outside, as well as writing a monthly journal which can be viewed at Ariseandshine.org."

Berkowitz said he reads the Bible daily and needs to devote more time to exercising regularly.

"I'm a hyperactive, always 'on the go' type person," the letter continues. "But I've often been told that I do not take enough time for myself."

Berkowitz -- who shot his victims with a .44-caliber handgun, usually as they sat in cars -- said he has no problems with other inmates and has "made the best" of his time behind bars, thanks in part to his devotion to Jesus Christ.

"He has given me a whole new life, which I do not deserve," he wrote. "And while society will never forgive me, God has. I am forever grateful for such forgiveness, too."

He also told FoxNews.com he has "deep regret and sorrow over my past criminal actions."

"I would do anything if I could go back and change things [to] have prevented the tragedy from happening. Of course this is not possible," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/24...arole-in-2012/

Related threads:

David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) Case Summary

David Richard Berkowitz (Son of Sam) - A&E Biography

David Berkowitz | The Son of Sam

Photograph of Son of Sam's Car (1977)

Son of Sam, the Detailed Story

So You're Interested in the Documentaries?

[Weatherly]

That's good. He should spend every moment of the rest of his life in prison. That's nice that god forgave him, but I doubt the families of his victims care.

[kellyhound]

i see his still a nutter about god forgave him and shit.
He just forgave himself in his mind.