In 1976, New York began suffering from a terrifying series of crimes that targeted young brunette women. The crimes were committed by David Berkowitz, a 24-year-old postal employee. Although he confessed to his crimes, some still believe that he was not working alone and that there was something much bigger lurking underneath.  

Beginning from his childhood, Berkowitz was an aggressive, sometimes violent child. This behavior began after the death of his adopted mother in 1967, and worsened after his adoptive father remarried and left him behind in 1971. He then joined the army and became a sharpshooter, later leaving the service in 1974. After leaving service he recorded in his diary that he set an estimate of 1,500 fires in the mid 1970’s which went unnoticed. In December 1975, he attempted the murder of his first reported victim Michelle Forman, his reasoning being that he was driven by demons, he also claimed to receive orders from his neighbors Sam Carr’s “demonic dog”. He took the life of Donna Lauria in 1976, making her his first successful murder, he also wounded young Julie Valente. He then proceeded to commit 5 other murders and wound 5 others. This caused him to become one of the most wanted serial killers in New York City. While the police went on the look for him, he proceeded to write letters to the police station the first of which stated:

“I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon 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’ command father sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young –(Assaulted) and slaughtered- their blood just 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! […] 

PPOLICE- let me haunt you with these words;  

I’ll be back! 

I’ll be back! 

To be interrpreted as- Bang, bang, bank, bang- Ugh!! 

Yours in murder 

Mr. Monster” 

                                                                                                                                                                      This letter was only the beginning—thanks to it, the police began calling Berkowitz “Son of Sam” as that was what he referred to himself as in the starting of the letter. Though now it is open to the public, this letter was not released right away, and when posted, newspapers sold out instantly. The record of copies sold was surpassed when Berkowitz was finally caught. The letters written after this one do not necessarily maintain the same childish handwriting, or poor grammar. In 1977, Berkowitz got taken into custody and plead guilty to all counts of murder. Not long after an American journalist under the name of Maury Terry fell in a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories about the son of Sam. These began with allegations that stated that Berkowitz had not committed these crimes alone and that he was part of a satanic cult called the children, along with Berkowitz neighbors Sam Carr’s sons John Carr and Micheal Carr, which had ties to the infamous Charles Manson. These allegations were caused by a letter to the police, which led to the discovery that Berkowitz, John Carr and Michael Carr used to spend some of their time together around Untermeyer Park in his hometown which was also home to an abandoned well pump under the name of “Devils cave” also known for its blood markings, symbols and the corpses of dead animals around it that were suspected to be a part of some rituals that took place there.  Due to the unsettling backstory of the park, and the uncanny similarity of John Carr to one of the witnesses’ sketches, Terry began to grow skeptical about their connection to one another and how far it went. Terry believed Berkowitz did not write all the letters to the police and that some of them were sent by the Carr brothers. After Berkowitz arrest both John Carr and Micheal Carr passed away in very tragic ways. Micheal Carr passed away in a one-car accident that occurred on the West side Highway a little after his brother John Carr who passed away by what was called a “questionable shooting suicide”. Although police denied the allegations to anyone else being involved in the crime, Terry opened a path to new conspiracy theories and investigations.  The Netflix Docuseries “The Son of Sam: A Decent into Darkness” explains Terry’s investigation furthermore.  

What happened to David Berkowitz after his arrest? 

After his arrest David Berkowitz was sentenced to life in prison during which he developed a relationship with God, prayed for forgiveness and began a new path to a better life. Later, a website called Ariseandshine.org was created which contains the testimony of Berkowitz life, along with his journey to satanism, and his beginning with Christianity. The website also contains an apology and a journal that dates to 2003. As of today, Berkowitz is still serving time in prison, where he created an outreach ministry which was allowed to work with the special unit men who had problems with coping and emotional baggage. He has also worked as Chaplain’s clerk and developed a letter writing ministry.  As for Terry, he passed away at the age of 69 on December 10th, 2015, leaving behind a legacy of books dedicated to the Son of Sam murders.