Archives: Dark Stories: On This Day In True Crime History - Page 29

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.

⬅ See all events from 31 July

1976: Son of Sam Claims His First Victim in the Bronx

Just after 1 a.m. on July 29, 1976, David Berkowitz approached a parked car in the Pelham Bay neighbourhood of the Bronx and opened fire with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver. Donna Lauria, 18, was killed instantly by a single bullet. Her companion Jody Valenti, 19, survived a gunshot wound to the thigh.

It was the first in a series of shootings that would terrorise New York City for over a year. Berkowitz, who came to be known as the Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, ultimately killed six people and wounded eleven before a parking ticket led investigators to his door. Arrested in August 1977, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received six concurrent life sentences.

⬅ See all events from 29 July