Introduction
David Berkowitz, also known as the Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer that haunted New York City through 1976-1977.
Early Life
He was born as Richard David Falco in Brooklyn, New York on June 1, 1953 to his parents, Betty Broder and Joseph Kleinman. His mother had married Tony Falco, and they ran a fish market together but separated before David’s birth. Betty Broder had an affair with Joseph Kleinman, got pregnant, and Kleinman threatened to abandon her if she kept the baby. Therefor, she gave the baby up for adoption and listed Tony Falco as the father on his birth certificate. David was adopted shortly after his birth by Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, who were hardware store retailers. Together, they raised their only son, with a name change of David Richard Berkowitz. For the purpose of this paper, I will refer to the term parents to David’s adoptive parents, Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz.
Throughout David’s childhood, he would engage in petty larceny and pyromania. Pyromania is an impulse control disorder where an individual fails to resist impulses to start fires to relieve tension or for personal gratification. His behavior startled his parents, which resulted in contact with a psychotherapist, which did not lead to any immediate treatments because
…show more content…
Donna Lauria, 18, and Jody Valenti, 19, were the victims. David approached their car and removed a pistol from a paper bag and shot three times, not saying a single word. One bullet instantly took Donna’s life, Jody was shot in her thigh, and the third bullet missed the girls completely. This was now David Berkowitz’s third attempted murder, and first murder. Jody survived but could not identify the shooter. She gave a description to the police but no leads were found. The police were able to determine that the gun used was a .44 special cartridge, bulldog model, manufactured by Charter
The first shooting occurred on July 29, 1976 and the second months later; and the third one month after the second. At this point, Berkowitz had shot six people but the New York Police Department did not see any relation between the shootings. In January 1977, Berkowitz struck again by shooting a couple while sitting in a car. This event caused police to start a search for a .44 caliber killer. A .44 caliber gun is the type of gun that Berkowitz used in all of his murders. He continued to elude police, he even began taunting them. Berkowitz started leaving note addressed to the NYPD captain near all of his crime scenes. In the letters he spoke to police telling them of how he was recruited to commit the murders and addressed himself as the “Son of Sam”. This is how Berkowitz attained the name The Son of Sam Killer.
The motives and backgrounds of serial killers is a vexing topic. Not two people are the same, so therefore their motives differ. The different types of serial killers are: hedonistic, power seekers, gain, mission oriented, visionary, psychopathic, comfort, medical, organized, and disorganized. Motives of these murderers range from fear of being rejected, to “getting rid of what they deem bad,” or even to get sexual satisfaction from the suffering of their victims.
The serial killer that I have chosen to research is Mark goudeau, also known as the “Baseline Killer”. Mark was born on September 6th 1964, he was an american serial killer and rapist. He was involved in one of the two simultaneously occurring serial killer cases going on in South Phoenix, Arizona at that time. Mark’s was born in Phoenix, and was the second youngest of 13 siblings in which six were felons, and four have done prison time. Mark’s mother was a maid working at all different hours of the day, while his father Willie was a lot attendant for different car dealers. They were lower working class which didn’t help with thirteen children to take care of. His father had a drug and alcohol problem, which ran in the family. He later cheated
The traumatic effect of the physical, mental, and emotional abuse marked Pelzer’s life. Through a psychological point of view, it is visible that there are many ways the abuse affected David. David was mistreated in ways that made him wonder why. I was also left feeling perplexed and sometimes feeling frustrated, I wanted to know why David 's mother singled him out for her abuse. Then, I realized that this was the same frustration David has lived with most of his
A Child Called It depicts David Pelzer’s life and his incredible will of survival from an “It” to a man. David was emotionally and physically abused up until the age of 12, by his mother (Catherine) who was not only an alcoholic but a master of defamation. The cruelty David endured at the hands of his mother led him to believe he was nothing more than a worthless misfortune; he began to despise himself even more and started to believe that he was the cause of the abuse he suffered.
American serial killer, Richard Ramirez was born on February 29, 1960 in El Paso, Texas. Ramirez was known for being a satanic worshiper and for going on a two-year raped and torture rampage, harming more than 25 victims and murdering more than a dozen. Ramirez, also known as the "Night Stalker," turned to satanic worship at an early age by his cousin, a soldier who had recently returned from the war in Vietnam. Following a four-year trial, in 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 killings. Ramirez received the death penalty and was sent to San Quentin Prison in California. He later died on June 7, 2013, at the age 53.
“On May 5, 2004, I received a phone call from Ron Reimer, David’s father,” said John Colapinto. “Ron was a surprise, and the tone of his voice suggested that he was not calling with happy news.” “David took his own life yesterday… He shot himself in his car.” Ron said. David's suicide was “a horrible shock but not a complete surprise” (John Colapinto) to many people who knew of his life. His parents, Ron and Janet Reimer were raised as Mennonites in Winnipeg. Janet was an energetic girl who was convinced by her mom to quit school after ninth grade and work at a sewing factory to help provide. At Janet’s fifteenth birthday she was forced to move out , so she went gladly. She moved to a nearby city where she met Ron Reimer whom she fell in love
Serial murder is defined by the National Institute of Justice as a "series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually but not always, by one offender acting alone. The crimes may occur over a period of time ranging from hours to years. Quite often the motive is psychological, and the offender's behavior and the physical evidence observed at the crime scenes will reflect sadistic, sexual overtones." This definition perfectly describes serial killer Albert Fish.
They ended up a Dave Schultz house, where Dave was tinkering with his radio in his Toyota Tercel, he then stopped turned to his boss with a smile then duPont pulled his gun pointed in Goodales face before pointing it at dave and pulled the trigger. “ I said John what are you doing?” Goodale testified at the trial “David screamed after the first shot then fell.” Goodale then leapt from the car with his weapon and pointed it a duPont once their barrels met John threw his gun on the seat then backed the car
As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspiration memoir of one child's determination to survive.
Scott Scovell Hamilton was born on August 28, 1958, in Toledo Ohio. Six weeks later, he was adopted by a couple who had trouble having children; Ernest Hamilton – a professor at Bowling Green State University, and Dorothy Hamilton – a second grade school teacher. Scott grew up in the city of Bowling Green with his adoptive parents, his older sister, who was their biological daughter, and his younger brother, who was also adopted. At first it seemed as if he was a strong, healthy kid, but that was until his parents noticed that he wasn’t developing like the other children. At around two or three years, he mysteriously stopped growing. For a long time, the toddler was taken in and out of hospitals, being misdiagnosed many times. Scott recalled this period in his life as, “…a lot of time alone at a very early age, which was scary… I was surrounded by strangers in a ver...
Berkowitz’s shootings appear to be acts out of impulse. Not targeting specific people though his prey of choice were single, young women with long dark hair (Bardsley, 1981). Before one of the violent shootings, witness Cacillia Davis saw a man removing a parking ticket from his yellow Ford Galaxy (Bardsley, 1981). Davis relays this message to NYPD who later determined it was in fact David Berkowitz who she had seen. At the time no suspicion rose from NYPD that Berkowitz was the Son of Sam killer, only that he was an important witness. NYPD eventually contacted Yonkers Police Department in order to track down Berkowitz for questioning. Where surprisingly to New York, Yonkers claimed Berkowitz might be the notorious serial killer they had been
In the 1980s, Daniel built a house with his brother. He was very proud of the house because it was big enough for his family. On November 10, 1990, Daniel’s first grandson, Axle Russell, was born. Axle was Stacy’s son. Daniel was very proud to be a grandfather. On October 1, 1994 I was born. My parents surprised my grandad by naming me after him. He was very happy that I would carry on his name.
Most deaths are caused from a gunshot wound, either it be a homicide, taking one’s life, or just an accidental discharge. Knowing the type of weapon is really importa...
Land, Judith, and Martin Land. Adoption Detective: Memoir of an Adopted Child. Tucson: Wheatmark, 2011. Print.