David Berkowitz

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David Berkowitz (* 1. June 1953 in Brooklyn , New York City as Richard David Falco ) is an American serial killer . He is also known as the "Son of Sam".

Life

David Berkowitz was born Richard David Falco in Brooklyn. His mother put him up for adoption . Within the first week of his life he was adopted by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz. The adoptive mother died when he was 13. When he found out that his mother had not died giving birth, he was initially relieved. However, the relief quickly turned to anger. However, he assured his biological sister that he would not harm her or her children.

Instead, he attacked two women in the Bronx with a knife on Christmas Eve 1975 . One of the victims was never identified, the other had to be hospitalized. The first gun attack was made on July 29, 1976 at 1:10 a.m. when he shot three times at two women, aged 18 and 19, who were sitting in a parked car in the Bronx. A bullet struck one of them fatally in the chest. The other woman was hit in the hip. Between July 1976 and August 1977 Berkowitz shot dead five other people and seriously injured seven. Berkowitz stated that his actions were related to occult and satanic practices that he carried out.

Berkowitz was caught on August 10, 1977 after parking his Ford Galaxie too close to a fire hydrant . Berkowitz paid the fine, and when the authorities traced the license plate number of his car and linked a few threatening letters to his name, the police began investigating him. His comment on this: “ You got me .” ( You got me ). The policeman asked who they had. Berkowitz replied: "The Son of Sam" . He claimed that the dog "Harvey" owned by Sam Carr, one of his neighbors in Yonkers , was a demon and ordered him to kill.

David Berkowitz was sentenced to 365 years in prison. His defense lawyer last applied for a pardon in June 2006 , which - like the others before - was rejected. On August 6, 2011, Berkowitz wrote in a letter to FoxNews.com that he was renouncing any calling because he was already free in Jesus Christ .

Berkowitz says he began to believe in God from a Bible he read in prison and has led a Christian life ever since . He is active in pastoral care in prison.

Political aftermath

In New York State , following the series of murders, the first so-called "Son of Sam Law" was enacted, which was supposed to prevent criminals from making a profit from the sale of their story. Other states in the USA followed, even if, in the opinion of many critics, these laws violate the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (including freedom of expression and freedom of the press). Corresponding law was passed in the state of California in 2002 after an attempt was made to use it against the 1963 kidnapper of Frank Sinatra Jr. , Barry Keenan , who sold the film rights to the kidnapping story to Columbia Pictures .

filming

The 1999 thriller Summer of Sam is based on the events of 1977.

The plot of the US film Copykill from 1995 also makes references to the David Berkowitz cases.

The 1985 television film "Night when the killer comes" (original title Out of the Darkness ) with Martin Sheen in the role of detective Eddie Zigo deals with Berkowitz's deeds and his capture.

In the series Mindhunter Berkowitz is illuminated in the 2nd episode of the 2nd season as a person.

See also

literature

  • Peter Murakami, Julia Murakami: Lexicon of serial killers . 9th edition. Ullstein, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-548-35935-3 .
  • John Douglas, Mark Olshaker: The Murderer's Soul. 25 years in the FBI's special unit for serial criminals. Orbis, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-572-01316-X .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Berkowitz, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Falco, Richard David (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American serial killer
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City