"schedule an interview with Berkowitz. The Yonkers police dispatcher who first took Justis' call was Wheat Carr, the daughter of Sam Carr and sister of Berkowitz's alleged cult confederates John and Michael Carr. Justis asked the Yonkers police for some help tracking down Berkowitz. According to Mike Novotny—a sergeant at the Yonkers Police Department—the Yonkers police had their own suspicions about Berkowitz in connection with other strange crimes in Yonkers, crimes that they saw referred to in one of the Son of Sam letters. To the shock of the NYPD, they told the New York City detective that Berkowitz might"
"were highly publicized by the press. The killing spree terrorized New Yorkers and achieved worldwide notoriety. On the night of August 10, 1977, Berkowitz was taken into custody by New York City police homicide detectives in front of his Yonkers apartment building, and he was subsequently indicted for eight shooting incidents. He confessed to all of them, and initially claimed to have been obeying the orders of a demon manifested in the form of a dog named ""Harvey"" which belonged to his neighbor ""Sam"". Despite his explanation, Berkowitz was found mentally competent to stand trial. He pleaded guilty to second-degree"
"his attacks while the women sat with boyfriends in parked cars. He exhibited an enduring enjoyment of his activities, often returning to the scenes of his crimes. Berkowitz claimed that he committed his first attack on Christmas Eve, 1975, when he used a hunting knife to stab two women. One alleged victim was never identified by police, but the other was teenager Michelle Forman, whose injuries were serious enough for her to be hospitalized. Berkowitz was not suspected of these crimes, and soon afterward he relocated to an apartment in Yonkers, New York, just north of the New York City"
"accommodated inside precinct houses. In 1969 a group of journalists, judges and police officers drew up guidelines for perp walks after a conference. ""Law enforcement and court personnel should not prevent the photographing of defendants when they are in public places outside the courtroom"", they read. ""They should neither encourage nor discourage pictures or televising, but they should not pose the accused."" A few years later they were formally adopted by the NYPD. Later that decade, in 1977, an amused-looking David Berkowitz, the ""Son of Sam"" serial killer, was paraded in front of a large group of media after his"
"was working as a letter sorter for the U.S. Postal Service. In June 1976, a friend from the Army purchased a .44 caliber Bulldog gun for Berkowitz. During the mid-1970s, Berkowitz started to commit violent crimes. He bungled the first attempt at murder using a knife, then switched to a handgun and began a lengthy crime spree throughout the New York boroughs of the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. He sought young female victims. He was purportedly most attracted to women with long, dark, wavy hair. All but one of the crime sites involved two victims; he infamously committed some of"
"Derrick Todd Lee Derrick Todd Lee (November 5, 1968 – January 21, 2016), also known as the Baton Rouge Serial Killer, was an American serial killer. His killing spree began in 1992 and ended in 2003, and claimed the lives of seven women. Prior to his murder charges, Lee had been arrested for stalking women and watching them in their homes. Despite this, he was initially overlooked by police, because they incorrectly believed the killer was white. Lee was linked by DNA tests to the deaths of seven women in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas in Louisiana, and in"
"was discovered that the social security number he had given them belonged to serial killer David Berkowitz. He was employed by Nikko Securities Ltd. as a sales manager of corporate bonds until he was fired. He briefly worked for Kidder, Peabody & Co., but quit his job and abandoned the Christopher Crowe persona when he discovered that police were looking for him in connection with the disappearance of John and Linda Sohus. In 1995, using the name ""James Frederick Mills Clark Rockefeller,"" Gerhartsreiter married Sandra Boss, a high-earning McKinsey senior executive. She had graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Business"
"restrained, he repeatedly chanted ""Stacy was a whore"" and shouted ""I'd kill her again. I'd kill them all again."" The court ordered another psychiatric examination before sentencing could proceed. During the evaluation, Berkowitz drew a sketch of a jailed man surrounded by numerous walls; at the bottom he wrote, ""I am not well. Not well at all"". Nonetheless, Berkowitz was again found competent to stand trial. On June 12, 1978, Berkowitz was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for each murder, to be served consecutively. He was ordered to serve time in Attica Correctional Facility, an Upstate New York supermax prison."
"York in spite of various legal challenges, and similar laws have been enacted in several other states. Berkowitz has been incarcerated since his arrest and is serving six consecutive life sentences. During the mid-1990s, he amended his confession to claim that he had been a member of a violent Satanic cult which orchestrated the incidents as ritual murder. He remains the only person ever charged with the shootings, although some law enforcement authorities have questioned whether his claims are credible. A new investigation of the murders began in 1996 but was suspended indefinitely after inconclusive findings. Berkowitz's mother, Elizabeth ""Betty"""
"Summer of Sam Summer of Sam is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 Son of Sam serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. Although the killer David Berkowitz, his murders, and the investigation are shown in the film, the main focus is on two young men from the neighborhood: Vinny (John Leguizamo), whose marriage is faltering due to his cheating, and Ritchie (Adrien Brody), Vinny's childhood friend who has embraced punk fashion and music. The murder investigation and other contemporary events, such"
"the door. The Baton Rouge Police were quick to deny that the information was coming from their office. Fueling the rumor were season 3 episodes of the television series ""Criminal Minds"" titled ""Children of the Dark"" and ""Tabula Rasa"". Lee and the ""crying baby"" rumor were mentioned in both episodes. Snopes reported on this urban legend. Derrick Todd Lee Derrick Todd Lee (November 5, 1968 – January 21, 2016), also known as the Baton Rouge Serial Killer, was an American serial killer. His killing spree began in 1992 and ended in 2003, and claimed the lives of seven women. Prior"
"Richard Kuklinski Richard Leonard Kuklinski (; April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006) was an American hitman and serial killer. He was convicted of murdering six people, but confessed to and is suspected of far more murders. He was associated with members of the American Mafia, namely the DeCavalcante crime family of Newark, New Jersey, and the Five Families of New York City. Kuklinski was given the nickname ""The Iceman"" for his method of freezing a victim to mask the time of death. During his criminal career, fellow mobsters called him ""the one-man army"" or ""the devil himself"" due to"
"Harry Horowitz Harry Horowitz ( – April 13, 1914), also known as ""Gyp the Blood"", was an American underworld figure and a leader of the Lenox Avenue Gang in New York City. Harry Horowitz was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan , to Orthodox Jewish parents. He was a slight figure, standing just under and weighing . but extraordinarily strong. He bragged that to win a $2 bet, he broke a man's back in three places. He served prison terms for burglary and robbery. New York City Judge Franklin C. Hoyt later recalled: On July 16, 1912, he"
"The attack was carried out by Irish mobster Jimmy Burke, who objected to an article Breslin had written involving another member of the Lucchese family, Paul Vario. Breslin suffered a major concussion and nosebleeding, but survived the ordeal without any permanent injury. In 1971, Breslin spoke at Harvard's Class Day. In 1977, at the height of the Son of Sam scare in New York City, the killer, later identified as David Berkowitz, addressed letters to Breslin. Excerpts from the letters were published and used later in Spike Lee's film ""Summer of Sam"", which Breslin, portraying himself, bookends. In 2008, the"
"blame someone who is different."" Summer of Sam Summer of Sam is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 Son of Sam serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. Although the killer David Berkowitz, his murders, and the investigation are shown in the film, the main focus is on two young men from the neighborhood: Vinny (John Leguizamo), whose marriage is faltering due to his cheating, and Ritchie (Adrien Brody), Vinny's childhood friend who has embraced punk fashion and music. The murder investigation"
"Charlie Chop-off Charlie Chop-off is the pseudonym given to an unidentified American serial killer known to have killed three black children and one Puerto Rican child in Manhattan between 1972 and 1973. This assailant is also known to have attempted to murder one other child. All the victims of this assailant were male, and the majority of murders committed by this individual involved the genital mutilation or attempted genital mutilation of the victims. While the case is still considered an open one, Erno Soto was held as a suspect and confessed to one of the murders, but was considered unfit"
"of the reasons that he killed, stating that the dog demanded the blood of pretty young girls. He said that the ""Sam"" mentioned in the first letter was his former neighbor Sam Carr. Berkowitz claimed that Carr's black labrador retriever Harvey was possessed by an ancient demon and that it issued irresistible commands that Berkowitz must kill people. A few weeks after his arrest and confession, Berkowitz was permitted to communicate with the press. In a letter to the ""New York Post"" dated September 19, 1977, Berkowitz alluded to his original story of demonic possession but closed with a warning"
"The highly fictionalized plot recounts the exploits of a Berkowitz-based character dubbed ""Bernard Rosenfeld"". Outside of North America, the book was renamed ""Son of Sam"". The 2016 young adult novel ""Burn Baby Burn"" by Meg Medina is set in New York during 1977, and depicts how fear of being one of the Son of Sam victims affected the daily lives of people. The Spike Lee drama ""Summer of Sam"" was released in 1999 with actor Michael Badalucco in the role of Son of Sam. The film depicts the tensions that develop in a Bronx neighborhood during the shootings, and Berkowitz's"
"about a parking ticket in the neighborhood where one of the murders had just taken place. It turns out, when calling through the switchboard, the operator knew David Berkowitz and mentioned that he had exhibited some strange behaviors. All this information and this random parking ticket lead helped to assist us in finally taking this killer off the streets. He co-authored, along with ""NYPD Blue"" co-creator and Executive Producer David Milch, ""True Blue: The Real Stories Behind"" NYPD Blue (1995.) Bill Clark Walter W. ""Bill"" Clark, Jr. (born May 20, 1944) is a former New York Police Department first grade"
"sentenced him to death and executing him in 1972. Alexander Berlizov Alexander Berlizov (born 1946 or 1952 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union - 1972) was a Soviet-Ukrainian serial killer who operated in his hometown. He was known as the ""Night Demon"". Berlizov attacked women only in the evening and at night, strangling them until they lost consciousness, and then raped them. He only killed them when they came to themselves during the rape and saw him. The maniac did not leave behind any traces, which put the best investigators in the city to a dead end. Unprecedented measures were"
"Despite prosecutors' objections, the terms of Berkowitz's guilty plea made him eligible for parole in 25 years. Berkowitz declared at a press conference during February 1979 that his previous claims of demonic possession were a hoax. Berkowitz stated in a series of meetings with his special court-appointed psychiatrist David Abrahamsen that he had long contemplated murder to get revenge at a world that he felt had rejected and hurt him. After his arrest, Berkowitz was initially confined to a psychiatric ward in Kings County Hospital where the staff reported that he seemed remarkably untroubled by his new environment. On the"
"on the Dillinger's wings."" Harry Horowitz Harry Horowitz ( – April 13, 1914), also known as ""Gyp the Blood"", was an American underworld figure and a leader of the Lenox Avenue Gang in New York City. Harry Horowitz was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan , to Orthodox Jewish parents. He was a slight figure, standing just under and weighing . but extraordinarily strong. He bragged that to win a $2 bet, he broke a man's back in three places. He served prison terms for burglary and robbery. New York City Judge Franklin C. Hoyt later recalled: On"
"authors, such as Peter Vronsky or Lane and Gregg, have erroneously cited the name as being that of the killer. Charlie Chop-off Charlie Chop-off is the pseudonym given to an unidentified American serial killer known to have killed three black children and one Puerto Rican child in Manhattan between 1972 and 1973. This assailant is also known to have attempted to murder one other child. All the victims of this assailant were male, and the majority of murders committed by this individual involved the genital mutilation or attempted genital mutilation of the victims. While the case is still considered an"
"newspapers in 1979 which challenged the official explanation of a lone gunman. Vigorously denied by police at the time, Terry's articles were widely read and discussed; they were later assembled in book form as ""The Ultimate Evil"" (1987; expanded second edition 1999). Largely impelled by these reports of accomplices and Satanic cult activity, the Son of Sam case was reopened by Yonkers police during 1996, but no new charges were filed. Due to a lack of findings, the investigation was eventually suspended but remains open. From prison Berkowitz continues to assert and expand upon his claims of demonic possession. He"
"garnered attention due to their legal battle to be allowed to marry while incarcerated, and due to Blast's efforts to obtain gender-reassignment surgery. Heriberto Seda Heriberto Seda (born July 31, 1967) is an American serial killer who struck New York City from 1990 to 1993. Before being caught on June 18, 1996, Seda killed three people and wounded five others (four critically). Seda is believed to have admired San Francisco's Zodiac Killer for avoiding capture. Police described Seda, a Brooklyn resident, as a recluse obsessed with astrology and death. Seda was formally charged in the case on June 21, 1996,"
"(1955). The first index to EC Comics, it has been reprinted several times with updates, and it served as a basis for ""Tales of Terror!"" For ""Mad"" publisher Bill Gaines, he compiled three volumes of ""The Complete Mad Checklist"" (1961, 1964, 1970). Fred von Bernewitz Fred von Bernewitz (born 1938, Washington, D.C.) is a film editor, currently with HBO. His work in film editing over four decades ranges from TV commercials to features, including several films by Robert Downey Sr. Interviewed in 2008 by the film critic Stuart Klawans for ""The New York Times"", Downey recalled obtaining a camera and"
"serial killer Dennis Rader murdered 10 victims in and around the Wichita area. Until his identity was finally discovered by police, he was known as the ""BTK killer"". Rader was particularly known for sending taunting letters to police and the media. In 2005 a letter that Rader sent on a floppy disc included meta-data that led police to identify and arrest him. In August 1976, Michael Soles, an unemployed welder from Sand Springs, Oklahoma, set up a sniper position on the roof of the Holiday Inn Plaza, then the tallest building in downtown Wichita. Over the course of an eleven-minute"
"not everyone bought the idea that Berkowitz acted alone."" John Santucci, Queens District Attorney at the time of the killings, and police investigator Mike Novotny both expressed their convictions that Berkowitz had accomplices. NYPD officer Richard Johnson, involved in the original investigations, has opined that unresolved discrepancies in statements from witnesses and surviving victims indicate Berkowitz did not act alone: ""Why are there three [suspect] cars, five different [suspect] descriptions, different heights, different shapes, different sizes of the perpetrator? Somebody else was there."" Other contemporaries have voiced their belief in the Satanic cult theory including Donna Lauria's father, and Carl"
"that has been interpreted by some investigators as an admission of criminal accomplices: ""There are other Sons out there, God help the world."" Three separate mental health examinations determined that Berkowitz was competent to stand trial. Despite this, defense lawyers advised Berkowitz to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but Berkowitz refused. He appeared calm in court on May 8, 1978, as he pleaded guilty to all of the shootings. At his sentencing two weeks later, Berkowitz caused an uproar when he attempted to jump out of a window of the seventh-floor courtroom. After he was"
"Richard Ramirez Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramírez, known as Richard Ramirez (; February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), was an American serial killer, rapist, and burglar. His highly publicized home invasion crime spree terrorized the residents of the greater Los Angeles area, and later the residents of the San Francisco area, from June 1984 until August 1985. Prior to his capture, Ramirez was dubbed the ""Night Stalker"" by the news media. He used a wide variety of weapons, including handguns, knives, a machete, a tire iron, and a hammer. Ramirez, who was an avowed Satanist, never expressed any remorse for"
"such as the Lenox Avenue Gang, led by ""Gyp the Blood"" (aka Harry Horowitz). During this period, Zelig was also known as ""The Big Yid"". After being arrested in 1911 for robbing a brothel, Sirocco and Tricker attempted to gain leadership of the gang by refusing to bail out Zelig. Zelig was later released due to his political connections and he was informed by a member that Sirocco and Tricker were planning on murdering him upon his release. The assassin, a gunman named Julie Morrell, was lured by Zelig to The Stuyvesant Casino (140 Second Avenue, now the Ukrainian National"
"Bernard Lefkowitz Bernard Lefkowitz, a native of New York City, was an author, sociologist, journalist, and investigative reporter. A reporter and assistant editor at the New York Post, Lefkowitz worked for the Peace Corps before becoming an author. Of Lefkowitz's books, which include ""The Victims"", ""Break-time: Living Without Work in a Nine-to-Five World"", and ""Tough Change:Growing Up on Your Own in America"", his most famous is probably ""Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb"". This book dealt with the Glen Ridge Rape of a mentally disabled girl by a group of popular high"
"Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, burglar, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. Shortly before his execution and after more than a decade of denials, he confessed to 30 homicides that he committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978. The true number of victims is unknown and possibly higher. Many of Bundy's young female victims regarded him as handsome and charismatic, which were traits that he exploited to win their trust."