Son of Sam: The Killer Speaks | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] We ready? >> That's a question New Yorkers have been asking themselves a lot lately.
Are we ready for another blackout? For a bus hijacking or a bombing, for another murder by the 44 caliber killer?
I know that I'm not usually known for any public exhibitions of Tampa, but I want you to
know I'm damned angry. >> The city is preoccupied with the killer who in one note signed himself the son
of Sam. >> He is compelled to kill. I think people are really shook up. >> People wouldn't come out at night.
They're really scared. >> The whole city was kind of like in lockdown. No one stayed out past 10:00.
>> People were terrified. >> And the girl was covered with blood. >> Oh my god. Oh my god, we've been shot.
We've been shot. I should have been dead. >> I guess on one hand, I was happy to be
alive. A lot of people died from the same gun. >> He struck again over the weekend,
shooting a young couple in a Brooklyn lover's lane. And today, the girl died, the killer's sixth victim. He's wounded
seven others. >> It's just scary. It's frightening. >> When you're walking, people just look
over their shoulder. >> That's all they do is talk about the killer. walks up to strangers, usually
couples in parked cars, and shoots them with a large bore revolver. >> Police say they are nowhere near solving
the case. >> If you're asking whether we have any indication of who he is or where he
might be, the answer is no. >> To do this to a young girl and a young boy, he's not human.
>> He was writing about a dog that talked to him, gave him orders to kill. >> I mean, he just was going out 30 nights
a month looking for someone to kill. >> He terrified the city. I mean, I've never seen people like that.
[Music] >> Yeah. I see that people never understand where I came from. No matter how much I
I try to explain it, they they wouldn't understand what it what it what it it was to to walk in darkness.
I remember we were an hour away from the city and everybody was afraid. After all
that, to find out that this was a sort of a, you know, where people describe him as this chubby, shy, lonely guy who
had the whole city buckling at its knees, afraid. It's a strange sensation. Serial killer about to walk in here and
talk with us. I think there he goes right there. [Applause] That look like him, right?
>> Hello. Hey, God bless you. >> Maurice Dwa. >> It's an honor to meet you, sir. Glad to
meet you. >> Thank you for talking with us. >> Sure. Okay. It's a It's a big step. You
know, I have my mis Yeah. mis misgivings and nervousness and all these other things, but
>> understood. Is this a special place for you? >> Yeah, it is. Yeah. It's a place of
refuge, you know. refuge from the storms of life. And you know, if you know anything about prison, there's a lot of
storms. You know, it's not exactly a happy place. In prison, men are walking around carrying a lot of pain. I know I
have a lot of pain inside me over, you know, things that happened. And uh this is a place where you can come and pour
your heart out to to God. My name is David Burkowitz and I've been locked up since the time of my arrest of just
under 40 years. >> You just turned 64. Yeah, I just turned 64. Yeah. >> How do the guys look at you? How do they
see you? How do they perceive you? >> Um, some guys um really again because of the passing of time, they're not even
familiar with the the case or anything. They may have heard about it, but it doesn't just another face in the crowd,
you know, no special attention, no special anything. That's the way I want it to be.
>> In the summer of 1977, New York lost its mind. Well, this was a a city that looked like
Berlin after the war. >> Uh, it was devastated. There were abandoned buildings. There were waves of
arson in which uh people were afraid to go to bed at night. We had a blackout in
which 3,000 people were arrested. >> It make you really want to throw up when you look at what's happened. And we got
to live here. There's no place for us to go. >> We had the FALN, the Puerto Rican
terrorist group, planting bombs in department stores. We had a record heat wave. George Willig, a mountain climber
from Queens, climbing up the outside of the World Trade Center. You know, it was
a very, very different time and people were afraid to walk around. [Music] You know, 1977, among other things, was
the year that Studio 54 opened. Uh, it was a time of sexual liberation. Perhaps the last gasps of the Anything Goes
sexual revolution. >> I like to disco. [Music] I feel safe here. >> This was uh the era of Saturday Night
Fever. And it was that throbbing music that became the backdrop for all the wacky behavior that was going on in the
city at the time, including a murder spree by a serial killer. In New York early this morning, a
mystery deepened and a manhunt intensified. A young couple was shot and wounded while sitting in a parked car.
Most of the victims have been young women with shoulderlength dark brown hair who were gunned down as they set in
part cars or walk the sidewalks of the Bronx and Queens. And you know, you're dealing with a crazy guy. You know, uh,
you know, you go up to two innocent girls sitting in a car and shoot them or a guy and a girl in a car and you shoot
them for no reason. I wanted to know why he did what he did. That's the one thing about all of these
girls in these cases and guys, they did nothing to contribute to their own demise. and they were sitting talking to
each other and this guy killed them. >> I mean I I grew up in the Bronx. Uh I had good good day good times and bad
times. I had some struggles over certain issues that happened and but I also had
times of adventure but I ran played ball with my friends. Really was a in many ways a normal childhood but that also
wrestled with self-destructive behavior. >> Why? Well, when I was about four or five, I I
learned that I was adopted. And when I asked about, you know, who my parents were at at birth, you know, my dad and
mom, you know, well-meaning, told me that my mother died while while giving birth to me. Later on, I found out that
of course, she was alive and well. We had a wonderful reunion. >> It didn't even it wasn't even true what
they told You know, they meant well because they were told by the experts that's what you tell an adopted child
when they because they're going to naturally ask questions. I look at you retrospect that
characterized much of my life. I struggled with a lot of depression as a child and obsessions with death cuz I
thought I deserved to die. >> So take me to when you're 14, your mom dies. >> Yeah, that was a difficult time. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, just when you lose someone that you love is there's a sense of mourning. You know, I try to put it out
of my mind. I was carrying around a lot of guilt. I was carrying around a lot of
shame that I deserve to be punished. I I can't explain those things. You >> for your mom's death.
>> Yeah. I maybe I was angry at God and and then well my birth mother and then of
course my uh adoptive mother too. You know, I found it, you know, very difficult.
>> The victim that's selected usually satisfies something on a fantasy level. A punishing mother. uh could be a wife.
And so every time he uh commits a crime against a person that has this thing, he's satisfying this basic need of
getting back at the original uh individual that he had difficulty with. >> You know, it was it was just a
challenge. It was a challenge, but I mean, I ended up doing okay. It was my dad really kept on me to finish school.
I graduated from Christopher Columbus High School and uh in 1971 and I joined the army.
>> He went into the service and a drastic change took place and a different man came out that went in.
>> What do you mean a different man went out? How did he change? >> I went to Korea and I'll never forget
that. You know, you see the advertisements on TV of the guys jumping out of planes and all these exciting
things and you know and you find out army life is kind of mundane and routine. You just turned 18. I'm trying
to find my way in life. I wanted to see the world. >> A man that went in relatively mellow,
relatively peaceful, turned around and became a man that was more interested in the fantasy in the
world than the reality. >> Uh after I got out of the surface, I uh went to look up a lot of old friends,
guys I used to hang out with and things and found everybody pretty much moved on
in the three years of my absence. So I came back finally I was on my own kind of you know and wanted to eventually get
my own apartment you know wanted to find a a girl maybe get married and raise a family and I had all kinds of normal
perfectly normal hopes and dreams. >> What would you tell 23-year-old David Burkowitz today?
>> Uh turn around before it's too late because destruction is coming. You know, Burkowitz lived in Yoners, north of New
York. Police described him as a loner. His neighbors discussed their impressions with CBS News correspondent
Bill McLaclin. He seemed strange to you. >> Not strange when he came in, you know,
he spoke what's happening and everything, but uh >> he was friendly then. >> Yeah, he didn't seem strange. I never
suspect him in this building out of every building in Yoners. He's in 35 Pine Street. You know, that shocks me.
>> So, you're living in Yoners. You move up to Yoners. >> You have an apartment up on the 7th
floor. >> Yeah. >> 7E. It's a nice spot. You're looking out over the Hudson River.
>> Yeah. The building was not anyway. >> Not that way. What was it like? It was just chaotic. It was just a strange
place. There was a strange spirit there. He lived right here in this building. 2 3 4 used to be number 35. Change the
number in hopes of maybe made people feel a little better. >> If they don't recognize where the
building is, then I say, "Do you remember Sonos Sam?" "Oh, I know where the building is."
>> Really? >> So they know. >> People are familiar with it. Yeah, a lot of people know what happened.
>> It's still hard to believe that even something like that exists in this world. I mean, who
goes around killing people? I don't know anybody like that. >> No, you try not to think of things like
that. There's people in the neighborhood that knew him. Say, you know, he was very, you know, cool with the kids. You
to give them ice cream, things like that. And like he was a functional man. Just another guy. Yeah.
>> What about the idea that he shot Sam Carr's dog right behind here? This dog, his master is a 6,000y old being talking
to him through this dog and he's begging for blood. [Music] The dog got on Burkowitz's nerves.
Apparently, the dog barked too much. Burkowitz could hear him from his window. He tried to kill the dog. The
dog didn't die. And then he said in his own twisted way that the dog told him to
kill. So Burkowitz lived on the top floor. He had a clear view right into the backyard here where the dog lived.
Owned by a guy named Sam Carr, hence the name Son of Sam. >> I wasn't comfortable there. I felt very
isolated. You I didn't really have much of a social life. I started to get into a lot of satanic stuff. So, I really was
opening myself up to some very dark forces. It's not like he had a friend or anything. There was nobody. He had a
hole in the wall in his apartment. It said that Mrs. something or other and her kids live in the wall. You know,
he's he's bon certifiably nuts. >> Well, there was just a battle going on a side be
>> in your head. Uh well, wherever, you know, there's a battle going on. Yeah. >> Right.
>> Yeah. >> I guess here's the thing. >> Here's a Christian man, man who knows right from wrong,
>> who's had loving parents, right? Who's >> very thoughtful. Um yet at some point
there, you killed two people to start this whole thing. She was 18-year-old Donna Lauria who was
sitting in a parked car with a friend late at night when her parents heard the shots. I ran down. By the time I got
down, she was done in the street. >> My daughter was 18 years old and that's what he took out of my heart. 18 years.
It >> was very troubled time, you know, right? But then he did it again. >> It started out as a typical Friday
night. Drove to 159th Street and 32nd Avenue. Basically, we started making out and like two minutes later.
Yeah. It was shot in the back of the head, but you know, on the top, the windows just shattered. So, I had pieces
of glass all over my arms. I didn't know I was shot, but I knew something terrible had happened. The skull was
blown away. The only thing protecting my brain from the outside world was a flap
of skin. >> Well, things happened. Yeah. But that's that's that's it, you know. And then
again, then we get to November. We have Dam Massie and Lemino. They're shot. >> Yeah. They're standing on a stoop and he
walks up and he fires at them. >> So, at this point, you have nothing. What are you thinking?
>> We're thinking we got a tough case here. >> Police have been engaged in intensive
hunt for a man known as the 44 caliber killer. There's widespread apprehension that his crime spree is not over.
>> I mean, it just it just kept going for more than a year. The hardest cases in the world for
homicide detectives are strangers. Stranger on stranger. You have very little to go with because you don't have
a motive. You may not have any witnesses, right? So you you're at a dead standill.
>> Was there any common thread with all of these families victims of Son of Sam?
Well, the common thread was these were their, you know, 20 year olds, their young, you know, their children.
>> We've got Christine front again, this shooting, >> right? >> Is there any suspicion?
>> Yes. >> At least two witnesses say the gunman walked up to the car, crouched, then
fired four shots. >> One of the detectives come over to me and he says, "You know, that's a big
bullet." He says, "And we had a shooting in the 105 with a big bullet. And then they also had one in Queens." So that
stirred me up a little bit. >> The 44 bullet is big, nearly twice as big as the conventional 38 caliber
police handgun ammunition. The 44 is designed, they say, to kill. >> Then we get to March. Virginia, the
student, >> shoots her right in the face. starts to get a little curious now because that shooting is only a block
away from where Christine Forn was murdered. We don't really get into the serial killer until the incident in the
Bronx, >> April 17th, 1977. >> That will go down in infamy. >> Until then, you just had a series of of
shootings without any >> again. We were having, you know, at that time probably uh I don't know, 1500
homicides a year. The big thing about this one was the 44 caliber bullets. Now it's not just a bullet. He left a letter
to me. >> I was home in bed and I got a call. Looks like a boy. Why? Big bullet. Big
bullet. So now I got dressed and I went to the Bronx. >> You get to the scene, you get this
letter, you read the letter. What do you think? >> To me it looked like uh some kind of a
psychopath wrote this letter. Mr. Belli, sir, I don't want to kill anymore. No, sir. No more. But I must honor thy
father. I am deeply hurt by your calling me a woman hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the son of Sam.
>> As far as I'm concerned, that that was not me. That was not me. This even the
that name I I hate that name. I despise that name. That >> which name? >> That moniker son of Sam. That's that
that that was not that was a demon. That that was that was the a demonic entity that I was serving in in my ignorance,
my shame. >> This is no longer a city case. This is now going to get nationwide attention.
>> No one in the city of 8 million knows who is next. >> In New York early this morning, the 44
caliber killer tried to kill again. >> That was just a a break from reality and thought I was doing something to uh
appease the devil. I'm sorry for it, but I I really don't want to talk about it anymore because
>> No, I was uh at this time I had uh was serving him. You know, I was serving him. I feel that he had taken over my
mind and body and I I just surrendered to those very dark forces. I regret that with all my heart, but you know, that
was like 40 years ago. >> Effectively, it was him winning over us each time he got away with it.
The only substantial clues so far have been two letters, including one mailed to the New York Daily News.
>> The killer chose Jimmy Brereslin as his conduit to a larger public. >> Jimmy Brereslin was a great columnist
for the New York Daily News. He was uh sort of the voice of the people, related to people on a very visceral level. Uh
and it was no accident that uh the son of Sam Killer started writing to him. Hello from the gutters of NYC, which are
filled with dog manure, vomit, stale wine, urine, and blood. Hello from the sewers of NYC, which swallow up these
delicacies when they are washed away by the sweeper trucks. JB, I'm just dropping you a line to let
you know that I appreciate your interest in those recent and horrendous 44 caliber killings. In 77 is when the
newspapers, you know, started to cover this >> 44 caliber killer, >> whatever, >> the son of Sam. You would see this
stuff. It was on a newspaper, on the TV, on the radio. It was everywhere. >> I I I don't want to discuss that, you
know. Yeah. >> Well, when we realized that this was an authentic letter that he had sent to the
Daily News, on one level, we were thrilled because it gave us access to the killer. what I thought was one of
the most disgusting episodes I've seen in journalism. >> You're suggesting that murder isn't a
big story. >> I think murder as the story became in the papers, it was blown ludicrously out
of proportion and with very unhealthy social results. >> Jimmy Brereslin wrote one uh to him,
figuring that would trigger Burkowitz to respond again. And I didn't mind that because I said the more he responds, the
more the opportunity for us to solve the case. Jimmy was engaging in this written
dialogue with the killer for any number of reasons. One, because there might be more clues as to his identity, and two,
because it was an ongoing tabloid story that obviously would uh sell newspapers.
>> I mean, he just was going out 30 nights a month looking for someone to kill. >> Did you ever have a moment saying,
"Geez, did I cause this? Did this column trigger this nut?" >> No. >> Yeah. I mean, there's no question that
the police department was put under a lot of pressure by the press. >> A slow Sam news day would be seven or
eight pages. >> Detectives would walk out and they'd have a TV crew followed him.
>> The New York mafia is trying to track the killer down. >> The press stoows, but it also incited 20
million people. >> We used to stay in front of my house and talk and yell and kiss good night, but
we can't do that no more. >> An element of fear pervades neighborhoods which have not known fear
before. >> People wouldn't come out at night. They're really scared. And I mean, when
they scared, that's all they do is talk about the the killer. >> Civilian patrolling has been stepped up
in the neighborhood. Some women in the area are terrified, particularly ones with shoulderlength dark brown hair.
>> People going out cutting their hair and dying it. >> They were bleaching their hair, becoming
blondes. >> Literally at night, there sometimes a thousand, 2,000 guys who were just out
there patrolling, looking for this guy. Those phones rang 24 hours. >> Well, you guys were everywhere. You shut
down Lover's Lanes. >> I think all the motel owners in the city loved us. We forced everything indoors.
>> I'm leaving my house and I'm walking down the steps and my mom turns to me and she says, "Robert, be careful." And
I turned around and the next thing I said was, I'll never forget this. Ma, don't worry. I'm
going out with a blonde tonight. Good evening. In New York early this morning, the 44 caliber killer tried to
kill again. >> Robert Violante, 20 years old, Stacy Mossitz, also aged 20, blonde, both shot
twice in the head as they sat in their car near the ocean in the Brooklyn section of New York. It was their first
date. >> She was just a very bubbly, alive, full of life young lady. Now, it's Saturday night,
the 31st of July, 1977. Correct. And uh we went to see a very popular movie back then, New York, New York with
Elijah Minnelli. And it was a great movie and it was a just a great night. Well, what happens after the movies? So,
now we decide to drive to one of the uh as they call it a lover's lane. Now, we're sitting there a couple of minutes
and we're just talking, you know, kissing you a little bit and talking and uh Stacy turns to me and said, "Robert,
you know what? I'm getting a little nervous." She said, "Robert, let's go." And I said, "5 more minutes."
And in that 5 minutes is when we got shot. And I'm screaming now, blowing the horn.
Help us. Help us. We've been shot. We've been shot. The horn died. What do you remember from the shooting itself?
The bullet totally destroyed the left eye and most of my right eye. And uh you know, full of blood. I couldn't see
anything. I couldn't see Stacy sitting right next to me. I heard some moaning coming from Stacy.
[Applause] [Music] This evening, hospital officials said Miss Moscowitz remains in critical
condition after eight hours of surgery. She is given a 50/50 chance of living. Violante's condition is guarded. He has
lost the use of his left eye and probably will retain only 10% of the vision in his right eye.
>> What can you tell me about your son? >> We brought him up the right way. Good boy. Never any trouble. ever
involved in any dope? Ever involved in any arrests? What can I say? >> You told him to stay out of Queens.
>> I told him to stay out of Queens. He said, "Dad, I'm going to stay out of Queens cuz he usually used to go to
Queens." He said, "I'll do it for you and mom. I'll hang around in Brooklyn." And that's where they found him.
Vante, I remember his father was just distraught, totally distraught because he had seen the results of what had
happened to his son. >> He was my best friend in the world. He was there for me every minute of the day
when I was in the hospital. I think it was my dad that told me about Stacy. At 5:22 p.m. Monday, Stacy Moscowitz
stopped living. The doctors said they had not turned off the life support. It was just that the horrible damage done
by a 44 caliber bullet in the brain was too much. She wasn't worried, you know, cuz she
says, you know, I got blonde hair and, you know, I told her, I don't know how many times
to be careful. >> My daughter is dead, but I would die right here and now to see this man
punished. To do this to a young girl and a young boy. I lost a child. That woman
has a son that's blind. To do this to young people, he can't be normal. He's not normal.
>> And that's the saddest part that I never got to really know Stacy. >> You still think about it to this day?
>> Yeah, that was really really the sad part. But when Stacy Moscowitz was killed,
Burkowitz got a ticket for parking his car in front of a fire hydrant. >> Yeah. It was a woman there who said, you
know, I did see somebody get a summon on a fire hydrant in front of my house. >> We immediately started looking at the
summones. All right. They run the plate and the plate number comes back to David
Burkowitz. His address in Yandis comes out to David Burkowitz, 35 Pine Street. They now decide, again, thinking it's a
witness, to call him. So, they call the Yoners Police Department. The girl on the switchboard, she says, "Who too?"
"Uh, David Burkwood's 35 lb." She says, "That guy is crazy. He shot my father's dog. I know that guy." What's your
father's name? Sam Carr. Ree Carr who Sam Carr's daughter lives next door to David Burkowitz owns the
dog that Burkowitz shot. So you know that was like you know all of these things fell in in one phone call.
>> Everybody's antenna goes up. When they get up there they swing by his house and
they see his car. They look in the car and they see a letter to the Suffach Police Department and they see a duffel
bag that had a gun in a big rifle and here comes Birkwoods with a little brown paper bag with his 44 gun in it. Goes to
the car. They jump him. And he says, "You got me." He said, "I'm the son of Sam."
At about 1 this morning, 24year-old David Burkowitz, who detectives believe is the son of Sam, was brought to police
headquarters in Manhattan. He was wearing frayed jeans and an open sport shirt, and he was smiling slightly.
They caught him. They caught him. They caught the piece of garbage. I'll never forget that. My friend Nikki, what'd you
say? I was so elated, so happy. I said, "Thank God he's off the streets. He's not gonna ever be able to hurt anybody
else again." >> I I really can't describe how I felt. It was, I guess, a little bit of
everything. A little bit of excitement, a little bit of relief, a little bit of closure. When I saw the front page, I
was like, "Wow, I didn't expect them to look like that." >> Police ran ballistics tests this morning
on the 44 caliber gun they say Burkowitz bought from someone else who got it in Texas. It's an infamous gun. I I could
picture the damage that this thing did, you know, when you're looking at the at the scene of the crime.
[Music] The uh ballistics section has just called and told us that the uh 44 caliber gun recovered tonight has been
tested and the bullets match the bullets recovered from Stacy Moscowitz. >> What does this mean?
>> It means we have the gun that killed Stacy Moscowitz. [Music] >> I mean these were beautiful young
people. I understand that. But again, there's there's no, you know, it's just the way it things turned out. It's
regrettable, but that's it. You know, >> did you do all these crimes alone? >> Well,
Now, years later, he tells everyone that he was part of a cult and he was merely
one of the shooters. >> You know, he's he's wacky, you know. I mean, he's So, for him to say that he's
part of a cult, you know, it was just something he came up with like everything else, you know.
>> Well, I felt that there were demons with me, but that was I'll have to save that
for another time when I >> But you're the sole person who pulled the trigger, correct? Uh well, a lot of
things would happen in that in that case, but I take responsibility, you know, and and that's it. Yeah.
>> You take responsibility for all the Sonic murders, right? >> There was nobody else involved.
>> Uh let's just put it this way. They were demons and that was it. >> You leave the door open or is that
>> Well, one day maybe I have a chance to share more, but that's that's we'll leave that at that. You know, we shot
all that down, you know, and I think I told you the biggest claim to frame when they used to say that the cult I said,
"Did we have an incident after we locked up Burkowitz?" >> The killing stopped. >> Did the killing stop? Yeah. For him to
say years later he was part of a cult. You know, it was just more attention. That's all it's about with him.
>> But there are people who believe it. >> I'm just telling you the people that say
they believe in it never interviewed David Burkus. They never sat the way I did >> in this room.
>> In this room, in this corner. Just step back for a second. You walk in. >> I walk in.
>> You lay eyes on him. What are you thinking? What do you see? What does he look like?
>> Well, I'm first I'm looking at him to see what he looks like. >> I said, "So, what happened here? You
know, how did this start?" >> 30 minutes. He goes from beginning to end, tells me the whole story. He was
relaxed. What kind of demeanor? He's saying this. >> Oh, he was talking about it the way you
were talking about making a pastrami sandwich. Uh to to just talk about it like that was scary. I I thought he
absolutely felt he was certifiably wacky. and I thought they would just put him in
an institution. >> The accused killer is now undergoing a court-ordered psychological examination
at the Kings County Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he will be held in maximum security for up to 30 days.
>> He will engage in uh a normal psychiatric examination. >> Dr. Schwarz. He was a courtappointed
psychiatrist to analyze him to see if he was fit to stand trial and he determined
he was fit for trial. So this insane business that goes out the window. >> There was no outward sign of emotion, no
expressed remorse today as David Burkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn, New York court to six random Son of Sam
murders. Slaves which terrorized New York for more than a year. So you you show up in court when
Burkowitz was going to be sentenced for the first time. >> Yeah. He said some foul things about
Stacy. >> Oh yeah. >> To a weird nursery rhyme like tune, Burkowitz, who had never known Stacy
Moscowitz sang Stacy was a [ __ ] Mrs. Moscowitz bolted out of her seat and screamed back, "You animal." And then
Robert Vilante, Stacy's date the night she died, rose and shouted, "You creep." I reacted, go yourself, you piece of you
should die. You should rot in hell. I was Oh, I just went off on him. >> Robert Vante explained his courtroom
outburst. >> Total anger. Total anger. Uh, that's it. Just total outrage and I really couldn't
control myself. Three weeks after his wild courtroom outburst, which led to a delay for
further psychiatric evaluation, David Burkowitz, again, judge competent to face sentencing, arrived to learn his
fate. Burkowitz, who just turned 25, was given a total of six sentences for murder of
25 years to life. >> What do you say to the victim's families, to the victims who are still
living today? Well, I' I've I've apologized many times and I just always let them know that uh I'm very sorry for
what happened that uh I wish I could go back and change things and that I I hope
these people are getting along in life as best as possible. I never forget, you know, where I came from and what my
situation was like some four decades ago. people that were hurt, people that are still in pain, suffering loss
because of my criminal actions. And I I never forget that. That sometimes weighs
very heavy on me. Yeah. Yeah. >> It kind of took over my personality. And wherever I went, everything would
just stop and everyone you and you just hear whispering. That's the guy that was
shot by Son of Sam. And it got to the point where it was it became disturbing for me and um and I really felt like I
was losing my identity. didn't have any children. They never got married, never had children. Unfortunately, he ruined
not just my life, 12 other lives, plus the families. So, how do you forgive something like
that, somebody like that? You don't. When you think about the irony, I mean, here's a kid who lost his mom at 14 and
you think about the depth of the pain that you felt and then years later because of you.
>> Yeah, sure. Right. >> Six people have that same kind of pain. >> Oh, right. >> Seven others injured for life.
>> Mhm. >> How's that strike you? It >> It's very painful. It's very painful. I carry around a pain, too. not not not
the same kind, but one that I'm aware of what happened, you know. Yeah. I I draw
comfort uh if you can call it that from from reading about in in the scriptures about some of the uh
well-known Bible characters that uh did very bad things and how God forgave them
and God was able to use them in in very special ways, very unique ways and they became what what we'd call champions of
the faith. The Lord did a lot of work in my life. You know, that's why I try so hard in my
messages to give a cautionary tale to young people about not getting involved in in Satanism or the occult or, you
know, those kind of things because I feel that they they too could maybe take a bad path.
>> Does it give you satisfaction to reach young people? >> Yeah, sure. I I get letters all the
time. I have a a a calling to just write to encourage people from all walks of life. It's something I do on my own on
my spare time and uh I get a lot of satisfaction from it. But most of all, I believe that that's what God has called
me to do. Burkowitz is a born again Christian. He's a minister in prison. He takes a lot of pride in helping
people. That's his thing. What do you think of that? I think that's a lot better road to go down than serial
killer. >> You're in jail. What what else you got to look forward to? You might as well
Yeah, I found God. Why not? But um I really think he did. You know that that doesn't mean he's exonerated. If he's
trying to do better with other prisoners, so be it. That's God's way of probably
making him understand how wrong and bad of a person he was. And now God's giving him a second chance
to do right by other people. But it still doesn't change the fact of how I feel.
>> I I'll never forget. >> Why not? >> Why not? because he snuffed out six people's lives, ruined another seven,
plus all the families involved for people that didn't do anything to him, you know, didn't bump into him, didn't
say nothing to him. So, I I just can't forgive him. [Music] >> Yeah. >> But when you look at the front picture
right there, >> there's a two U's, >> right? >> Two pictures of you. >> That's right.
>> Mhm. Well, what do you see? >> I see I see the old man and I see the new man in Christ. Yeah. I see the one
man that was tormented by demons and I see the man that that has the peace of God radiating from him. Yeah. Yeah.
That's that's where I'm at now. That's that that's the way I was always supposed to be. A mayor of hope, you
know. Yeah. [Music] What is a life worth? I don't know. Mr. and Mrs. Lauria might feel totally
different. You know, they lost their daughter 40 years ago. >> Does parole is that attractive to you at
this point? >> As a realistic hope, I don't see any hope for parole, though. >> Yeah. Personally, I feel there has to be
justice for the death of those people. And that's the justice life in prison. [Music]
>> I can only describe it as evil, something horrible. >> From 48 hours, this is trained to kill,
the dog trainer, the ays, and the bodyguard. >> He couldn't control his obsession. Who
was the hunter and who was the hunted? Follow and listen on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast.
[Music]

Nearly five decades ago, the "Son of Sam" terrorized New York City. In a 2017 prison interview, convicted serial killer David Berkowitz tells CBS News what led him to shoot. "CBS Evening News" co-anchor Maurice DuBois reports.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

David Burkowitz reflects on his Son of Sam murders and their impact on 1970s New York City, discussing his life, capture, and transformation in prison.

Key points

The City in Fear. New Yorkers grapple with fear as the 44 caliber killer terrorizes the city.
A Killer's Identity. The police struggle to identify the 44 caliber killer amidst rising panic.
Burkowitz's Confession. David Burkowitz reflects on his past and the darkness that consumed him.
The Fear in the Neighborhood. Fear grips neighborhoods as civilians patrol at night, terrified of the killer.
A Tragic First Date. Robert Violante and Stacy Moscowitz are shot on their first date, changing lives forever.
Burkowitz's Capture. David Burkowitz, the Son of Sam, is captured, bringing relief to the community.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He is compelled to kill. I think people are really shook up.

0:37WatchAug 7, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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