FREE ESSAY ON THE SON OF SAM AND TERROR OF NEW YORK

THE SON OF SAM AND TERROR OF NEW YORK

The Son of Sam and Terror of New York
At one a.m. on July twenty-ninth a man was cruising in the Bronx when he spotted two
young women sitting in a parked blue Oldsmobile. He swung around a corner and abandoned
his car, pushing the bag-covered pistol into the waistband of his trousers. With his
characteristics gait he shuffled back toward the women, Donna Lauria, eighteen, a medical
technician, and Jody Valenti, nineteen, a student nurse. They were parked in front on
Lauria's home; her parents had just returned from a restaurant and had spoken to their
daughter before going into the house. Donna had promised to follow in a minute. At 1:10
a.m., the man walked up to the passenger side of the Oldsmobile Cutlass, pulled his
revolver from the paper bag, and assumed a semi-crouch. He pulled the trigger five times.
(True Crime 1992, 164)
As the car window shattered, Donna Lauria raised her hands to protect herself. One of the
.44 caliber bullets struck her in the right side of the neck, killing her quickly.
Another bullet hit Jody Valenti in the thigh. She screamed and fell forward, landing on
the car horn. The man dashed back to his car and drove away(True Crime 1992, 164)
This was the start of a terrifying year for New York. A demon was among the city. This
demon possessed the mind of a twenty-three-year-old pudgy Jewish man. The demon was a six
thousand-year-old spirit, which communicated to him through his neighbor, Sam Carr's
Labrador retriever. (Reicher 1996)
Born Richard David Falco but better known now as the Son of Sam or the .44 Caliber killer
had no real sense of identity from birth. The result of an affair between his mother and
her married lover he was unwanted even before birth. As soon as he was born adoption
papers had been filed. Unlike many
children stuck in the system for years, the baby was adopted. Pearl and Nat Berkowitz, a
Jewish couple, adopted him and changed his name to David Berkowitz. They loved and cared
for David more then he ever felt before; this according to psychologist should have
erased all former feelings of being unwanted. When David turned fourteen his adoptive
mother died. This tore David up inside. A little over a year after his mothers death his
father remarried, this left David with a feeling of being abandoned and betrayed. He
lived with them for a little while, but unhappy he moved on. He went to join the Army and
had a sense of wanting to die for a cause. He found out soon after enrollment that he
wasn't going to die for any cause
during combat because he was stationed in non-fighting zones. When he couldn't find a
patriotic cause to die for he clung to his new found religion. He became enthralled in
his faith going to services staying there sometimes all day. But this too grew old like
many things did for him. He went in search of his biological family. After a long search
he was successful in finding his mother and a half sister. By this time, his adoptive
father had moved to Florida leaving David with his new found relatives. David had put so
much
emphasis on finding his family that his life had deteriorated. He lived in filth and as
much darkness he could make in his tiny apartment. He had become even more of a quiet
loner, and constant outsider, but now he was turning into to a homicidal lunatic.(True
Crime 1992, 160)
Within a year, David Berkowitz's killed six people. David claimed to have an evil demon
spirit within him, which told him to kill. After he killed, the voices would stop for a
while. David left a number of notes at his killings, many of them saying he would never
be caught and he was an evil demon. Also
found in his apartment, they discovered writing all over the walls and floor saying of
him being a demon and being imprisoned in his own mind. Psychiatrists believed he was
paranoid schizophrenic. Another theory, which contributed to this, was an identity
crisis. This was due to his being put up for adoption at birth, his mother dying, father
leaving, and never having any real friends. The most common symptoms David had of being a
paranoid schizophrenic was the presence of an external force.(Hill 1999)
David once wrote his father a letter, which described being hated by all and being cold
and gloomy. David had lived signs of an identity crisis. As an adult and as a child,
David constantly lost interest in every activity that he tried. His crisis started as a
baby though, when his mother gave him away. Even after he was adopted and stable, he
never had any real friends. He had many associates but never any real playmates. He had
many jobs and never held one for long. Some even believe if he had not killed anyone he
would have passed through life without ever even being known. (True Crime 1992,
185)
Although psychiatrists believed Berkowitz was insane, legally he was found sane and
totally normal and had to answer for his crimes. The main reason they categorized David
as a paranoid schizophrenia was because he felt the need to make himself the instrument
of an outside force. This was a common symptom of this disease. (Apsche 1993, 142)
Unlike most serial killers, David had no real significant childhood traumas.Many have
severe falls or hits on their head, which is sometimes a common childhood experience of
killers. He was a solitary child though. As he got older, he would start little fires
around places. When he started school, he skipped often and would try and find ways to
stay home. (New York Times,May 9, 1978) The only real thing that made David odd from
others was his fascination with death all his life.(Abrahamsen 1999, 104)
David's victims were all meant to be women but the last was a man also. The reason of
this could have steamed from a detachment complex with his mother. He lost both of his
mothers before he was even fully matured. His birth mother just gave him away not wanting
him at all. His adoptive mother who
babied him and gave him everything he wanted died and left him with a father who didn't
show much affection. One thing that stemmed from this was not being able to communicate
with girls. He never had a girlfriend; he never even had contact with girls. Before he
went to the army, he stated he hated girls and wanted nothing to do with them. This is
what psychologists believe the reason most of David's victims were women.(Apshce 1993,
151)
David Berkowitz was found and convicted a little over one year after his first murder was
committed. There are no actual reasons psychologists give for a motive or a reason for
David's crimes. He is currently alive and in Atticca Prison in the state of New
York.(True Crime 1992, 182) He gives no reasons for his murders, but does ask for
forgiveness from all the victims' families. This, like many serial murders, has
psychological theories but no real proofs.
Bibliography
Abrahamsen, David. 1985. Confessions of Son of Sam. New York: Columbia University Press.
Apsche, Jack A. 1993. Probing the Mind of a Serial Killer. Morrisvile, Pa: International
Information Associates, Inc.
Hill, Ian. (1999). Modus Operandi. [Online]. Available:
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/streiber/273/berkowitz_cf.htm.
Reicher (1996). Pogo's killers page. [Online]. Available:
http://crass.com/killer/berkowitz.html.
"Merola Says Berkowitz's Diaries May Link Slayer to 2,000 Fires." (1978, May 9). The New
York Times, p. B3
Flaherty, Thomas H. (1992). True Crime. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books.