Friday, June 11, 2004
Son of Sam's Club
Even John Ashcroft can't make you this afraid. Tho' lord knows, he's tried.0 comments
`Son of Sam' killer again denied parole
If you weren't here in the New York City area during 1977, you'll never be able to fully grasp the depth of fear "Son of Sam" generated.
The key to his hold over the city, I believe, stemmed from his going from a clear, but near-universal M.O.—"dark-haired girls in their twenties, sitting in a stationary position (cars, stoops, etc.)" [gosh, let me count how many of those there are in NYC]—to NO M.O. (blondes, women walking down the street, etc., putting everyone now at full risk from every dark shadow). That's what made everyone so nuts that summer.
Plus, the intense and stifling heat/humidity that year was unrelenting.
That summer also introduced Penal Colony Magnate Ruppert Murdoch to the New York and American scenes, as he had just recently bought the respected, liberal New York Post and immediately tarted the poor thing up, and swung it to the right of Ghengis Khan.
And human flesh was the perfect meat to throw to this jackel.
Daily lurid, dark red headlines screamed from every newsstand (in a time when there was one on almost every corner), subliminally reinforcing the lastest horror just committed or David Berkowitz' latest taunts to the police.
You would nod knowingly at the reports in the morning, but by evening, after seeing that headline out of the corner of your eye all day long, you'd be reduced to limpid jello.
So, from the perspective of 26 years, it's still hard to assess who did the graver damage to this great city: Berkowitz or Murdoch.
Again, AP stories disappear quickly from the web, so I'll paste in the story.
`Son of Sam' killer again denied parole
Associated Press
June 11, 2004, 12:02 PM EDT
ALBANY -- "Son of Sam" serial killer David Berkowitz has again been denied parole, state officials said Friday.
Berkowitz's second denial by the state Parole Board, made Thursday, means the man who terrorized New York City in 1977 will serve two more years in prison before he is again eligible for parole, according to the state Correctional Services Department.
The parole denial was first reported by the New York Daily News in Friday's editions. Parole board officials, who posted the decision Friday, offered no explanation for the denial.
Berkowitz, 51, formerly of Yonkers, is serving six consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences at the maximum-security Sullivan state prison in Fallsburg. The former postal employee murdered six people and wounded seven others beginning July 29, 1976. But it wasn't until the fourth attack in January 1977 that police noticed a pattern and dubbed Berkowitz the ".44-caliber killer."
He left a note at the sixth crime scene that read: "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam." Sam was a neighbor of the killer. Berkowitz said he was taking demonic orders through Sam's dog.
Berkowitz has since said that he became a Christian. His Web site (http://www.forgivenforlife.com) is mostly filled with Christian-themed messages of remorse and "how poor choices led to the horrific murders he committed."
In a 2002 letter to Gov. George Pataki, Berkowitz stated he has "no interest" in parole and "I can give you no good reason why I should even be considered for parole."
Although Berkowitz did not request that he be considered for parole this year, the issue is automatically considered by the board every two years.
Berkowitz isn't allowed to post messages to the Web site from prison. Instead he provides typewritten messages that are posted.
"This should be stopped," Michael Lauria, father of 18-year-old victim Donna Lauria, said. "He's telling the world: `Ha, ha!' I'm in jail and I got a Web site' ... He should stay in his 4-by-6 cell and rot."
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
Donna Lauria...
I confess I'd forgotten.
There was a time when all NYers knew the names and the profiles of all of the dead and wounded from that murderous spree as well as we knew our own families.
May the families forgive us. Now, we only remember that fear.
posted by Gotham 1:11 PM
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