1977: Son of Sam Shoots Final Victims in a Parked Car in Brooklyn
On the night of July 31, 1977, Stacy Moskowitz and Robert Violante, both 20, were shot while sitting in a parked car in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, on their first date. David Berkowitz, the serial killer known as the Son of Sam, fired four rounds, striking both in the head. Moskowitz died from her injuries; Violante lost his left eye. It was the final shooting in a terror campaign that had gripped New York City since 1975, leaving six dead and eleven wounded. Armed with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver, Berkowitz had taunted police with letters promising further crimes, triggering one of the largest manhunts in the city’s history. A parking ticket proved the vital clue to his arrest on August 10, 1977. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to six concurrent life sentences.
