David Berkowitz, born Richard David Falco, was the product of an illicit affair between his mother and a married real estate agent, Joseph Klineman, while his mother's husband, Tony Falco, was away. His mother, who had given up on his father, relinquished her parental rights, and David was adopted by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz, who named him David Berkowitz Chicago. This abandonment by his birth mother led to an inferiority complex, particularly with women, as he felt unappealing to them.
David Berkowitz's early life was marked by rejection, as he struggled to find his place in the world. He worked as a postman and security guard, but it was his experiences as a security guard that would later influence his modus operandi. He claimed to have "heard voices" in his head in 1974, ordering him to kill, which he attributed to the barking of his neighbor Sam Carr's black Labrador.
Berkowitz's fixation on his neighbor and his dog led him to send hate letters to Carr, culminating in the shooting and wounding of the dog in April 1977. His first official victim was killed on July 29, 1976, and his modus operandi was to approach unsuspecting couples late at night, pull out a gun from a brown paper bag, and shoot them at point-blank range.
Most of his victims were couples, often with the woman being a brunette with long hair, which sparked widespread fear and panic in parts of New York. The authorities advised couples to avoid staying out late at night, as the serial killings escalated. The press dubbed him the ".44 Caliber Killer" due to his use of a.44 caliber Bulldog gun.
The police task force, "Operation Omega," was formed to catch the killer, and it was a letter found in the car of one of the victims that provided the breakthrough. The letter, addressed to Cpt. Joseph Borelli and NY columnist Jimmy Breslin, was signed "Sam's" and introduced the new moniker "Son of Sam."
The last "S.o.S" killing took place on July 31, 1977, and a witness had seen a young man, later identified as David Berkowitz, near the crime scene. The police traced the car to Berkowitz's address in Yonkers and found a loaded.44 caliber gun inside. Berkowitz was arrested without a fight and confessed to being "Son of Sam." Despite being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, he was found sane enough to stand trial and was sentenced to six life sentences on August 23, 1977.
