Dhoistable since yesterday on Netflix, Conversations with a killer: the Berkowitz case It is a 3-episode docu-series That investigates the criminal mind of David Berkowitz. Among the Mostly infamous serial killers (and mysterious) of the United States, Berkowitz has become Famous all over the world with the nickname “Sam’s son”.
Conversations with a killer: the Berkowitz case. On Netflix the documentary on David Berkowitz
Directed by Joe Berlinger, Conversations with a killer: the Berkowitz case tells – In three episodes for about an hour – David Berkowitz’s criminal parable. Through Unpublished audio recordings In Attica prison, made in 1980 by the journalist Jack Jones, the documentary retraces The events of one of the most distressing black news cases of the seventies.
The protagonist David Berkowitz, serial killer known as “Sam’s son” or “Killer of the Caliber 44”, which in New York, between 1976 and 1977, He killed 6 people apparently for no reason. In the series, in addition to audio recordings, Interviews with some childhood friendsto the policemen who hunting him and the journalists who dealt with the case.
Who is the serial killer David Berkowitz, the true story
Born in Brooklyn in 1953, Richard David Falco (This is his real name) is the illegitimate son of the Jew Betty Broder and the Italian American Tony Falco. Abandoned three days After his birth, he is adopted a few months later by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz.
Very intelligent and sensitive child, he discovers he was adopted when he is 7 years old and is traumatized by the news. Soon manifests anti-social behaviors, Like small thefts and fights. In 1967 the mother Pearl died. The father remarried after a few years: He moved to Florida and leaves David to his destiny. From 1971 to 1974 the boy works for the army. Then He returns to New York and discovers the identity of his real mother: he knows her But after a few visits it disappears.
The first murders of Sam’s son
Employed at the post office, Berkowitz is a lonely and frustrated guy that, after a series of attacks on sun women, In the summer of 1976 he began to kill. The victims are unknown to the killer And Berkowitz chooses them Based on similarity with the biological mother.
On the evening of 29 July 1976, Jody Valenti and Donna Lauria they chat off in a parking lot in the Bronx when both They are reached by dozens of gunshots. Donna dies instantly but Jody miraculously survives. In November, Berkowtiz still shoots two teenagers, Woman Demasi and Joanne Lomino, who fortunately survive.
In January 1977 the killer killed Christine Freund And the police begin to suspect a connection between the shootings. Investigators note not only that All victims are young women with long and dark hair But also that the weapon is the same: A 44 caliber pistol. After the death, in March 1977, by Virginia Voskerichian, New York police announce a Task force To capture the killer who, shortly after, begins to Send letters to the police chief Joseph Borrelli.
David Berkowitz. (Getty Images)
The letter to the police and the arrest of Sam’s son
In April 1977, Berkowitz killed the boyfriends Alexander Esau and Valentina Suriani in the Bronx. On the road, near the victims, the investigators find A letter addressed to the New York Police Captain Joseph Borrelli. Written in an ungrammatical way, The letter is signed “Sam’s son” and Berkowitz writes that he will soon return to kill. Which, punctually, happens in late July when, in Yonkers, the killer Cold with two pistol shots the 20 -year -old Stacy Moskowitz.
That evening though, A woman in the neighborhood sees a man by removing a contravention of a Ford Galaxy A few minutes after the shooting and warns the police. A district detectivetwo miles north of Manhattan, Call Borrelli and trusts having suspicions on a certain David Berkowitzwho, according to him, had committed strange crimes to Yonkers.
The police are forgiven the carparked in the face of the man’s apartment, Find the gun, the maps of the places of the shootings And a direct letter to Sergeant Dowd. The arrest takes place in Yonkers on 10 August 1977 And Berkowitz does not oppose resistance. In the police station He confesses all his crimes in just thirty minutes of interrogation.
David Berkowitz today
During the interrogation, Berkowitz tries to play the mental infirmity card. The killer declares that The Sam mentioned in the first letter was Sam Carr, one of his neighborand his dog Harvey was owned by An old demon who ordered him to kill. In June 1978, the Six life sentence for multiple murders And, after a few years in prison, Berkowitz he converts to Christianity.
In an interview with Maury Terry, he declares that they played a role in the crimes both LIn his obsession for pornography both the film Taxi driver by Martin Scorsese. In recent years, the killer has sent various letters of apologies and clarifications, declaring himself repentant of his criminal acts. Locked up in Attica prison, Berkowitz has an official websitemaintained by a religious group, which reports various poems of the serial killer and the latest updates on his prison life.