Son of Sam

Throughout history we have witnessed gruesome murders and the serial killers behind them. Serial killers like Ted Bundy, the BTK killer, and one of New York’s own, and most memorable killers the .44 Caliber killer, also known as the “Son of Sam” killer. For over a year David Berkowitz, known as Son of Sam, was able to remain uncaught walking the streets committing these shootings wounding and murdering many people. The criminal investigation that was conducted to capture this violent serial killer was very complex and widely talked about because Berkowitz spread out his shootings over a course of a year and committed them every few months making it hard for police to find a trail to follow. This paper will discuss the early life of David Berkowitz giving us some insight on how and why he committed these crimes, an overview of the victims and why they were chosen, what investigative measures were used to track him down and lock him up, and also what happened to him after he was finally caught. First, to understand why David Berkowitz committed all of his shootings, we must understand where he came from, and how he was raised. When Berkowitz was born he was put up immediately for adoption. He was adopted by owners of a hardware store in the Bronx, New York. (http://crime.about.com/od/murder/p/sonofsam.htm). While he was being brought up, there were stories of Berkowitz having problems with bullying, stealing and having a fascination with fire (CITATION). Berkowitz adopted parents were not very social people, which would also lead Berkowitz to follow in there footsteps being more of a loner and separating himself from other people (CITATION). When Berkowitz was thirteen years old his mother died of breast cancer, and this was the first time that Berkowitz was remembered to ever really show any emotion as a child. Many people said that after his adopted mother’s death Berkowitz became a little bit colder and little bit shrewder (CITATOIN). When Berkowitz turned