Sinister Son Of Sam

The Sinister Son of Sam “The demons wanted girls. Sugar and spice and everything nice” (Berkowitz, 2017). The 1970’s were a chaotic time period packed full of glitz and glam, disco and afros, affirmative action and civic movement. Along with this surge of uncertainty, many killers roamed the streets in a quest for blood. None more prolific than the notorious Son of Sam, aka David Berkowitz. During his brief criminal career, this madman tracked and terrorized unsuspecting women in the “Empire State.”

The Crimes The Son of Sam’s reign of terror was activated in the summer of 1976, America’s bicentennial birthday (the crimes, 2014). Just as the good men and women should have been in the streets celebrating the nation’s 200-years of liberty,

One of the clues used to develop a profile of the fugitive included letters that Berkowitz had sent to local precincts. From these notes, investigators developed a theory that the Son of Sam was neurotic, schizophrenic, delusional, and that he may even believe that he is possessed by demons (crime museum, 2017). Witness accounts of the unknown suspect would also prove to be invaluable resources in the eventual apprehension. Despite the fact that there were so many cooperating citizens and devoted law enforcement resources, it still took several months before he was captured. Surprisingly, the thing that would put be the undoing to his devilish debauchery would be a parking ticket. When one concerned citizen notified authorities of a suspicious person she had encountered on the streets. Moments after the man had walked passed her concealing an object under his clothing, the lady heard shots ring out (Rothman, 2015). This informant was later able to give an adequate description of a vehicle she had observed being ticketed, the vehicle later turned out to be the property of David Berkowitz (Rothman,

While in custody, the killer made several outlandish accusations. The most notable of which being that a neighbor’s dog had commanded him to kill, stating that. “He told me to kill. Sam is the devil,” (biography, 2014). Along those same lines, he alleged that he was a Satanist and a member of an occult group at the time of the offenses (Blanco, 2017). Like many other criminals that came before and Berkowitz, the accused attempted to take the focus off of themselves by alluding to collusion. It remains unclear whether there was any legitimacy in these deluded