Graduate?
- Graduated from Christopher Columbus High School
- Went to Bronx Community College
History of Deviant Behavior Prior
David Berkowitz
- Got involved in petty larceny and pyromania.
- Stole from businesses near his home, but never charged.
- Hit his friend Lory with a gun at age 5.
- Hit by a car at age 7 and suffered head injuries.
- At age 8, he was watched a girl get hit by a car and die, refused to help her.
- Mid tweens, watched a boy die after falling from a bus and head injury. Refused to help again.
- At age 13, he started torturing and killing animals.
- At age 17, he engaged in petty vandalism, breaking car windows, theft, setting fires, and started to torture more animals.
Bond With Families
Friends or Mental Conditions?
Alyssa Roberts
- Was adopted by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz.
- When he was 14, his adoptive mother died of breast cancer and the relationship with father became strained.
- At 18, he tracked down his birth mother.
- she told him about his illegitimate birth and recent death of birth father.
- he got very upset about this.
- Lost all contact and began working blue collar jobs.
- In 1974, the year he left the army, he contacted his mother and half sister, Roslyn, and began a relationship with them once again.
- They were very open and welcoming, but after a while, Berkowitz lost interest completely and stopped visiting.
- Did not have many friends since he did not know how to socialize well.
- Displayed early signs of Paranoia and Personality disorder.
- Pyromania was a factor.
David Berkowitz AKA. Son of Sam
Abuse
- Born June 1, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York City, NY
- Full name: Richard David Falco
- Nicknames: .44 caliber killer and Son of Sam
- Son of sam because he believed his neighbor was a demon and the neighbors dog and the neighbors name was Sam.
- Was never actually abused, but was slightly abused by his adoptive parents when in trouble.
Quotes:
- Hello from the gutters of New York City, which are filled with dog manure, vomit, stale wine, urine, and blood.
- Sudden death and bloodshed appealed to me.
David Berkowitz always chose victims randomly while they were isolated or alone in the dark. He killed and wounded 2 woman while they were sitting in ones driveway at night. He also chose women while they were jogging in the park, woods, or an isolated area or neighborhood.
Most of the killings or the choosing over victims were at night while it was dark.
I believe the rage inside of him was building up from all the times the women in his life kept leaving him. For instance, birth mother the very first time, when his adoptive mother died of breast cancer. When he tried to find her before the war, his birth mother, and she denied him. After the war, he created a relationship with his birth mother and half sister and he stopped talking to them instead of the other way around.
Pyromania as a child.
IQ of 118.
Crimes?
Pattern?
- killing spree began on July 29, 1976.
- Confessed to killing 6 people and wounding approximately seven others in the late 1970's.
- Reason: he believed the next door neighbors dog was a "demon dog" and was possessed and told him to start killing.
Warnings?
Caught?
- he sent a letter to the owner of the dog, Sam Carr, asking nicely to make the barking stop. when it did not, the killings began and then he sent another letter to Carr saying that him and his family will not have peace in their lives until Carr’s life is ended.
- He sent a letter to Jimmy Breslin who was an american journalist and author warning or taunting.
- He only killed young women with dark hair.
- The real reason he killed, he said, was because he hated women, due to his own sexual frustration and inadequacy.
- There was a parking ticket issued to David Berkowitz near the area of the killings and a woman named “Cacilia Davis” witnessed Berkowitz tearing up and throwing away the ticket.
- She reported this to the police and they said that no tickets were issued on that street that day.
- After a week of her nagging at the police, the cops looked into and saw that a ticket had been issued to one “David Berkowitz”.
- The police went to his address and caught him sitting in his car
- They asked “What’s your name?"
- He replied smiling maniacally, “I’m Sam”.
- In thirty minutes, he had confessed to everything.
Punishment?
- Six life sentences.
- He has refused payroll.
- Release date would be the year of 2342.
Why do you think?
- I believe he did not actually hate women, but because of the relationship with his birth mother. She had him but abandoned him and gave him up for adoption. When he got out of the army in 1974, 2 years before the killings started, he found his mother and his half sister, Roslyn, and developed a relationship with them. They were very open and welcoming, but for some unknown reason, after a while, Berkowitz lost interest completely in them and stopped visiting. So I believe it had something to do with these two woman and his adoptive mother who also used to slap him around. But in my opinion, I believe that the main and biggest reason was because of his birth mother giving him up and then suddenly when he found her, that is when she finally had interest in him and he realized that if he hadn’t of found her, then she probably would have never found him.