survived. Joanne is now a paraplegic. Donna was not permanently severely injured. Besides the two girls, another witness described the man as close to six-foot tall, slim, about 160 pounds, with dirty blond straight hair wearing a long coat that looked to be military.
John Diel, thirty, and Christine Freund, twenty-six, were recently engaged. On January 30th, 1977, they went to see the new release of the movie, Rocky. When they got into their car, someone shot through the window, killing Christine. John, however, managed to drive away with minor injuries. He never even got a glimpse of the shooter. As ballistics verified that the bullets came from a .44 Bulldog caliber, police made the connection with earlier shootings and suspected they had a serial killer on their hands.
Just two months later in Virginia on March 8, 1977, Virginia Voskerichian, nineteen, was shot in the head on her own street. Just as she was shot, a resident came around the corner and almost collided with a young boy whom she described as about eighteen years old, short and tubby. The young boy said, “Oh, Jesus,” and ran off. However, another witness saw the chubby teenager, but also saw another man who resembled the description of the man the media accused of other killings. Berkowitz later said that he was there, but he designed the shooting to throw off the police by changing his MO.
On March 10, 1977, the Mayor of New York City, Abraham Beame, and the NYPD, announced that the same .44 was used to kill Virginia as was the previous murders, and added that a task force was now set up: Operation Omega, led by Deputy Inspector Tim Dowd and a force of over three hundred officers dedicated solely to the purpose of catching the suspect.
On the morning of April 17, 1977, Valentina Suriani, eighteen, and Alexander Esau, twenty, were killed in their home at about 3a.m. Police discovered a hand written letter at the crime scene addressed to Captain Joseph Borrelli of the NYPD. The letter below is the actual words with errors intact:
“I am deeply hurt by your calling me a women 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 wave length 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. Too many heart attacks. 'Ugh, me hoot it urts 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 z prettyist of all. I must be the water they drink. I live for the hunt — my life. Blood for papa. Mr. Borrelli, sir, I dont want to kill anymore no sir, 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 wa 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 interrpreted as — bang, bang, bang, bank, bang — ugh!! Yours in murder Mr. Monster”
On May 30th, 1977, Jimmy Breslin, a Columnist with the New York Daily News received a hand written letter from someone who claimed to be the .44 shooter. On the reverse of the envelope in a precise centered quatrain:
“Blood and Family/Darkness and Death/Absolute Depravity/.44”
The letter is as follows, with errors, as it was written:
“Hello from the gutters of N.Y.C. which are filled with dog manure, vomit, stale wine, urine and blood. Hello from the sewers of N.Y.C. which swallow up these delicacies when they are washed away by the sweeper trucks. Hello from the cracks in the sidewalks of N.Y.C. and from the ants that dwell in these cracks and feed in the dried blood of the dead that has settled into the cracks. J.B., I'm just dropping you a line to let you know that I appreciate your interest in those recent and horrendous .44 killings. I also want to tell you that I read your column daily and I find it quite informative. Tell me Jim, what will you have for July twenty-ninth? You can forget about me if you like because I don't care for publicity. However you must not forget Donna Lauria and you cannot let the people forget her either. She was a very, very sweet girl but Sam's a thirsty lad and he won't let me stop killing until he gets his fill of blood. Mr. Breslin, sir, don't think that because you haven't heard from me for a while that I went to sleep. No, rather, I am still here. Like a spirit roaming the night. Thirsty, hungry, seldom stopping to rest; anxious to please Sam. I love my work. Now, the void has been filled. Perhaps we shall meet face to face someday or perhaps I will be blown away by cops with smoking .38's. Whatever, if I shall be fortunate enough to meet you I will tell you all about Sam if you like and I will introduce you to him. His name is 'Sam the terrible.' Not knowing the what the future holds I shall say farewell and I will see you at the next job. Or should I say you will see my handiwork at the next job? Remember Ms. Lauria. Thank you. In their blood and from the gutter 'Sam's creation' .44 Here are some names to help you along. Forward them to the inspector for use by N.C.I.C. 'The Duke of Death' 'The Wicked King Wicker' 'The Twenty Two Disciples of Hell' 'John 'Wheaties' – Rapist and Suffocator of Young Girls. PS: Please inform all the detectives working the slaying to remain. P.S: JB, Please inform all the detectives working the case that I wish them the best of luck. 'Keep 'em digging, drive on, think positive, get off your butts, knock on coffins, etc.' Upon my capture I promise to buy all the guys working the case a new pair of shoes if I can get up the money. Son of Sam”
By this time, police were concentrating on the Bronx and Queens areas, looking for a suspect in the shootings, but the next victims were in Brooklyn. Robert Violante, twenty, and his girlfriend Stacy Moskowitz, twenty, were in his car, parked near a city park when a man approached and fired through the passenger side window, shooting both of them in the head. Stacy died instantly and Robert was seriously injured and left nearly blind. The shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. on July 31, 1977.
The police got a break after this shooting as there were several witnesses, each describing the man as previously described; however, they all said it looked like the man had been wearing a dark wig. But the big break came when one female witness got a glimpse of his partial license plate number, either 4 GUR or 4 GVR. Other witnesses saw a man driving off in a hurry with his lights off and described the car as a yellow Volkswagen. Another witness said she’d seen a man walking away from the shooting while others were walking towards it to assist the victims. She would later identify him in a lineup.
Arrest
After the last shooting, a woman by the name of Cacilia Davis, who happened to live close to the crime scene, saw a man removing a parking ticket from his yellow car, which had been parked to close to a fire hydrant. Two days later, she contacted the police who checked into the ticket, figuring the man who owned the car was a witness, not a suspect. It was not until seven days later that Detective James Justis of the NYPD called Yonkers police to ask them to set up an interview with Berkowitz, still thinking he was a witness.
On August 10, 1977, a police officer went to Berkowitz’s house to set up a meeting. While he was walking up the driveway, he happened to look inside the car, and noticed a rifle in the backseat. The officer opened the door (without a search warrant) and found a duffel bag with ammunition, a letter to the task force, and maps of the crime scenes. He called for backup and when Berkowitz came out of his apartment at about 10 a.m., police arrested
