him, and found a .44 Bulldog handgun on his person. The Son of Sam’s first words were, “You got me. What took you so long?”
That same day, Mayor Beame of New York City made a statement to the media and public saying, “The people of the City of New York can rest easy. The police have captured a man whom they believe to be the Son of Sam.”
Trial and Prison
The search of Berkowitz’s car was later justified as the officer had seen a rifle in the car. In the state of New York, that was justifiable reasoning to engage in a further search, which was a lucky break for the DA. Berkowitz said he would plead guilty on all charges and confess to being the Son of Sam killer provided that he would not get the death penalty. A plea was accepted.
For his murders, on June 12, 1978, Berkowitz was sentenced to a term of 365 years. Of course he became a born again Christian the following year in prison. Currently, Berkowitz lives in Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York. His official website is maintained on his behalf by a church group as he is not allowed access to a computer. If you are interested, here is a link to his website:
http://www.ariseandshine.org/index.html
John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo
The D.C. Snipers
Victims (24)
Background
Born as John Allen Williams on December 31, 1960, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Williams enlisted in the Louisiana Army National Guard in 1979 and, after seven years of service, volunteered for active duty in 1986.
In 1987, Williams joined the Nation of Islam. While in the Army, he was trained as a mechanic, truck driver, and specialist metalworker. He qualified with the Army's standard infantry rifle the M16, earning the Expert Rifleman's Badge. This rating is the Army's highest of three levels of marksmanship for a basic soldier. He was discharged from military service following the Gulf War, as a sergeant, in 1994.
As a member of the Nation of Islam, “Muhammad” helped provide security for the Million Man March in 1995 – Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has publicly distanced himself and his organization from Muhammad's crimes. Muhammad kidnapped his children and brought them to Antigua around 1999, apparently engaging in credit card and immigration document fraud activities. It was during this time that he became close with Lee Boyd Malvo, who later acted as his partner in the killings. Williams changed his name to John Allen Muhammad in October 2001.
Lee Boyd Malvo was born February 18, 1985, in Kingston, Jamaica to Leslie Malvo, a mason, and Una James, a seamstress. Lee's parents never married and separated when he was a toddler. Leslie Malvo rarely saw his son after that and subsequently his mother raised Lee by herself and was quite poor. Lee and his mother left Jamaica when he was about fourteen years old, moving to the island of Antigua.
Una James eventually left Antigua for Fort Myers, Florida, travelling on false documents she’d purchased after meeting Muhammad, where she lived illegally. She left Lee with Muhammad. Her son was supposed to join her a few months later.
In 2001, Muhammad, who claimed Malvo as being his stepson, moved to Bellingham, Washington, and tried to enroll him and his three children in a school. He was caught by the authorities, however, who returned the three children to their mother. Malvo was reunited briefly with his mother in Miami, but they were arrested by the Border Patrol. Malvo was released on a $1,500 bond the next year and met up with Muhammad again.
Murders
While the two of them lived at a homeless shelter in Bellingham, Malvo enrolled in high school but made no friends. On a trip to Tacoma, Washington, they tried to kill one of his ex-wife’s friends, but ended up killing her niece instead. After a trip to Muhammad’s relatives in Louisiana, the two bought a 1990 Chevy Caprice and began a series of robberies and shootings in Louisiana, Alabama, and Maryland.
The Chevy Caprice became a rolling sniper’s nest. During this time, they are believed to have committed another murder – and seven more by the end of October. Malvo shoplifted a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle from a firearms shop. Muhammad took up target practice at a gun range nearby.
The massive investigation into the sniper attacks was led by the Montgomery County Police Department, and headed by Chief Charles Moose, with the F.B.I. and many other law enforcement agencies playing a supporting role. Chief Moose had specifically requested the help of the F.B.I. to try to catch the sniper.
On October 2, 2002, the duo began what became a full-scale spree of random shootings across Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. Over the course of twenty-three days they shot and killed ten people and injured an additional three. They were actually pulled over at one point, but since Muhammad had no outstanding warrants, were let go.
At the peak of the rampage, people were afraid to leave their houses. The F.B.I. had nearly 400 Agents assigned to the investigation, including teams of new agents in training who were working the toll-free hotline.
The following is a timeline of murders committed during the shooting spree:
October 2: James Martin, fifty-five, killed while crossing a parking lot in Wheaton, Maryland
October 3: Five more murders: four in Maryland and one in D.C.: James Buchanan, thirty-nine; Premkumar Walekar, fifty-four; Sarah Ramos, thirty-four; Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, twenty-five; and Pascal Charlot, seventy- two.
October 4: Caroline Seawell, forty-three, wounded while loading her van at Spotsylvania Mall.
October 7: Iran Brown, thirteen, wounded at a school in Bowie, Maryland.
October 9: Dean Meyers, fifty-three, murdered near Manassas, Virginia, while pumping gas.
October 11: Kenneth Bridges, fifty-three, shot dead near Fredericksburg, Virginia, while pumping gas,
October 14: F.B.I. Analyst Linda Franklin, forty-seven, killed near Falls Church, Virginia.
October 19: Jeffrey Hopper, thirty-seven, wounded outside a steakhouse in Ashland, Virginia.
