Episode 1465
David Berkowitz
Fri, 2021-May-07 01:56 UTC
Length - 3:30
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 172,587 views on Thursday, 6 May 2021 our article of the day is David Berkowitz.
David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco, June 1, 1953), also self-proclaimed with the name Son of Sam and christened by the media as the .44 Caliber Killer due to the weapon he used, is an American serial killer who pleaded guilty to eight separate shooting attacks that began in New York City during the summer of 1976.
Berkowitz grew up in New York City and served in the United States Army before committing his crimes. Using a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver, he killed six people and wounded seven others by July 1977. The killing spree terrorized New Yorkers and gained worldwide notoriety. As the number of victims increased, Berkowitz eluded the biggest police manhunt in the history of New York City while leaving letters that mocked the police and promised further crimes, which were highly publicized by the press.
On the night of August 10, 1977, Berkowitz was taken into custody by New York City Police Department homicide detectives in front of his Yonkers apartment building.
He was subsequently indicted for eight shooting incidents. He confessed to all of them, and initially claimed to have been obeying the orders of a demon manifested in the form of a dog belonging to his neighbor "Sam." Despite his explanation, Berkowitz was found mentally competent to stand trial. He pled guilty to second-degree murder and was incarcerated in state prison. He subsequently admitted that the dog-and-devil story was a hoax. In the course of further police investigations, Berkowitz was also implicated in many unsolved arsons in the city.
Intense coverage of the case by the media lent a kind of celebrity status to Berkowitz, which he seemed to enjoy, as noted by some observers. In response, the New York State Legislature enacted new statutes, known popularly as "Son of Sam laws", designed to keep criminals from financially profiting from the publicity created by their crimes. The statutes have remained law in New York despite various legal challenges, and similar laws have been enacted in several other states.
Berkowitz has been incarcerated since his arrest and is serving six consecutive life sentences. During the mid-1990s, he amended his confession to claim that he had been a member of a violent Satanic cult that orchestrated the incidents as ritual murder. A few law enforcement authorities have said that his claims might be credible, but he remains the only person ever charged with the shootings. A new investigation of the murders began in 1996, but was suspended indefinitely after inconclusive findings.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:56 UTC on Friday, 7 May 2021.
For the full current version of the article, see David Berkowitz on Wikipedia.
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This has been Matthew Neural. Thank you for listening to popular Wiki of the Day.
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