Murder, Mystery & Makeup - The Son Of Sam’s Reign Of Terror. Demon Possessed Dog Gave Demands?

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

Hi friends!   Today I wanted to talk about the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz. I really don't know what else to say here hahahah... Love you so much and please be safe out there! Hope to be seeing you very soon x o Bailey Sarian Watch the original video here and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube @BaileySarian! Tik Tok : https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram : http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook : http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter : http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest : http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube : http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat : https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian

It's the Lexus Demonstrator event at Don Valley North Lexus. During May, Don Valley North Lexus has rates as low as 1.9%, with savings up to $9,000 on select remaining 2024 Demonstrator models, while supplies last. See DonValleyNorthLexus.com for details, or visit them at 7200 Victoria Park, just north of Steeles. A proud member of Wayne's Auto Group. At 7200 Victoria Park, just north of Steeles. At Don Valley North, Don Valley North for Lexus. A proud member of Wayne's Auto Group. Hi friends, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian and today is Monday, which, I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin,

and I do my makeup at the same time. If you're interested in true crime and you like makeup, I would highly suggest you hit that subscribe button, because I'm here for you on Monday. Warning, the following presentation is intended for mature audiences. It contains graphic descriptions of crime scenes, adult dialogue, and strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. So the story I have for you today focuses on a criminal in particular who has just all the worst characteristics that you want in a human being. Sorry, but it's true. Just a horrible human being. He's just like, he was a criminal,

just so lonesome and obsessed with his own legacy that he ended up leading New York City investigators on for years, just taunting them at every turn as he continued his infamous crime spree. Horrible person. And this guy's name was David Berkowitz, AKA the son of Sam. I wish I had like a fog machine and stuff,

just to make that more dramatic, like and like lightning, thunder. Berkowitz, Berkowitz. So I went down a rabbit hole per use. And this guy was like, he's, okay, let me just tell you about him jumping ahead so david berkowitz was born on june 1st 1953 in brooklyn new york his real name or i should say his birth name was richard david falco david's biological mother her name name was Betty, she was married to this man named Tony Falco,

and the two of them ran a fish market together until he left her for another woman. Before Tony had separated from Betty, Betty had an affair with a married real estate agent named Joseph. Betty became pregnant. Yes, drama. Who was the father, you ask?

See, I don't know, I couldn't really even get clarification on this, but Betty and her husband split, and now she was in a relationship with this guy Joseph. Now when she told Joseph that she was pregnant, he was very upset, okay? He threatened Betty, like if you don't get rid of this baby, and if you decide to keep this baby, then I'm leaving. Once Betty gave birth to her son, David, David was born. From my understanding, that's why she gave him her first husband's last name, Falco,

because the cheating husband guy, he didn't want it to be associated with his baby. But I also couldn't get clarification if it was indeed Tony's child or Joseph's child. Either way, it just seems like from the beginning, he just, these people were just, they didn't wanna be parents, okay? They didn't wanna be parents,

no one wanted to take responsibility for this child. So we're not off to a good start. So with all of that being said, Betty decided it was best if she placed David up for adoption. When David was placed up for adoption, he was still just like a newborn. He was an infant, you know?

He would be quickly adopted by a couple who was looking to start a family of their own. A lovely couple named Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, they were both hardware store retailers, they were living in the Bronx. It was said that they were, they were desperate, I don't want to say desperate, I feel like that sounds wrong, they just really wanted to have a family together, right? But they just weren't having much luck conceiving and they decided to adopt. So when they saw David, he's a newborn, they thought, oh it's perfect and they just quickly snatched him up. When Pearl and Nathan adopted David,

they decided to rearrange his name just to kind of give him a fresh start, a new beginning. So that's how he got the name David Berkowitz. I wasn't there so I can't confirm or deny this, but based off of what I was reading, it was said that Pearl and Nathan were just he got the name David Berkowitz. I wasn't there, so I can't confirm or deny this. But based off of what I was reading, it was said that Pearl and Nathan were just wonderful. And they just loved David as their own. They tried their best to raise a good boy. As a child, he had an above average intelligence.

He was a really smart cookie. But the thing was, they couldn't keep David interested in school. He seemed to be bored or not, just not interested. He felt like he didn't belong, he didn't fit in. He really didn't have too many friends because he just felt like, I don't know, he was just an outcast.

So as time is going on and David's growing up, you know, he just started to rebel a little bit. Okay, a lot of it. Why am I, yeah, he decided to rebel a little bit. Okay, a lot of it. Why am I? Yeah, he decided to rebel. Gup. It was said that David became infatuated with stealing and starting fires.

Getting away with stealing gave David this rush. When it came to setting fires, it was said that David struggled with just controlling his destructive impulses and setting fires brought feelings of satisfaction or was a way to release all the inner anxiety that was building up inside of him. David would spend a lot of his free time,

just kind of, I don't know, finding new ways to get himself in trouble without being caught. Some neighbors, family, friends, and even educators who knew David would say that in his childhood and early adolescent years, he was difficult, spoiled, or just a bully. So David's attitude, it wasn't changing,

and things actually ended up getting worse when David's adopted mother, Pearl, who he considered his mom, she had died of breast cancer when David was only 14 years old. David was more close with Pearl than he was with his adopted father, Nathan, and he considered Pearl his mother

and was the only one or the only person who just really understood him, cared about him, showed him any type of love. So when Pearl passed, David was just completely lost. He was angry, he's upset, he's 14. So within a few years after Pearl's passing, David's adopted father, Nathan, he remarried, and this marriage, it really, really angered David beyond belief. When he saw Nathan with his new wife, he just couldn't understand why or Pearl, his mother is supposed to be the

love of this man's life. How could he, how could he love another woman after she's died? Like he just wasn't understanding any of this. And David was just really angry, and he didn't really want anything to do with his new stepmom. He didn't want any kind of civil relationship. He didn't really wanna show her any respect. Tension in the household is just building up because David's got a bad attitude, and they're just all trying to move on, and it's not working out.

When David turned 17, he decided that, you know, maybe he could escape. He could get away from his home, at least for a while. His main option at that time was to join the United States Army in 1971, and he would end up serving both at Fort Knox and South Korea. For some unknown reason, David ended up being honorably discharged in June of 1974, just three years after he started his role in the army. and he's now trying to figure out just more about himself, what does he want to do, what is he doing? So when he returned to New York,

he decided for the first time in his life to look up his birth mother, Betty, and get some understanding about his story, where he comes from, and all that jazz. David was able to find Betty pretty quickly and he was able to find her in the first place. And he was able to find her in the first, where he comes from, and all that jazz. David was able to find Betty pretty quickly,

and he didn't hesitate to contact her right away. When the two of them ended up meeting in person for the first time, it was a lot more difficult than David had imagined. So Betty had discussed with David details of his birth, his adoption, and all the information made David feel actually worse than before. David said that he just had this feeling as if he wasn't enough. He felt like the motherly figures in his life always ended up leaving him one way or another,

and something inside of him just really broke. I don't know how he was feeling to be honest, but I could imagine it wasn't good. For David, it seemed he committed his crimes for attention. Initially, he blamed his actions on something else entirely. In the 1970s, David had a neighbor named Sam Carr, and he had a pet dog named Harvey. David claimed that Harvey the dog, well, this dog was possessed by an ancient demon

and gave irresistible commands, quote, to David. Oh yes, that's right. Blame the dog. This demon dog's demands, according to David, were to kill people and spill their blood in the streets of New York. What a demanding dog. Later on down the line,

David's psychiatrist would reveal that David had actually long contemplated murder to get revenge on the world that he had felt had rejected and hurt him. And that's why he did it, not because of a devil dog, a demon dog, excuse me. Whether it was from the influence of the demon dog or just the feelings within him,

David began a long and notorious crime spree in the mid 1970s. His first official violent crime was on Christmas Eve, like what a dick, Christmas Eve, 1975. David is 22 years old and had no real idea as to how he was going to kill a victim or kill a person, okay? But the one thing he knew for sure

was that he wanted to kill somebody. It's nighttime, there are two young girls, they were around the ages of 15. They were walking underneath a bridge in Co-op City and David attacked them with this hunting knife that he had. He starts stabbing, just going for it like a maniac, then runs off. One of the victims sadly passed away, this poor child.

The other victim was hospitalized for a week as a result of her injuries. The surviving victim tried her best to give as much information as she could to help catch her attacker, but it was just a random attack. David had no link to the victims. They also didn't see him at all.

Like it just kind of happened so quickly. This victim didn't really have that much information to give and it wasn't leading to any arrests for police. Police, I'm struggling to talk today. Well, that's every day actually. So a few months go by, David's laying low. No one's suspecting anyone of David for the stabbing and the murder.

David's like, hey, I'm gonna test my luck and try this again, you know, maybe get a little better. I don't know what he's thinking. This time around, David thought it would be best if he left his hunting knife at home. And instead he went out and he bought a.44 caliber pistol. Side note, hi. Is it.44 caliber pistol or is it just 44 caliber pistol?

Do I say the 44? Someone out there is gonna know. Let me know down below. Thank you. Anywho, so he gets a gun. And on July 29th, 1976, two young women are out. Donna and Jodi were friends and they had just finished their night out

doing whatever they were doing. They were just hanging out and they were sitting in Jodi's car discussing, just having a conversation. Conversation comes to an end. Donna opens up her car door to leave. And in doing so, she notices a man or just a figure is like quickly approaching her,

like just running towards the car. Donna kind of like calls out to this person, like what is going on? And David, because it was David, David takes out his gun and shoots Donna in the chest. The bullet killed her instantly. After Donna was shot, then David kind of is like focusing his sights on Jodi.

He's like, oh, there's another one. Jodi, she gets out and she tries to run. David sees her take off and he shoots her in her thigh. Now this attack had taken place in a public parking lot and David knew he didn't have much time. People were gonna, someone's gonna come, it's a busy parking lot. He thought that going after Jodi

would probably lead to him getting caught. So instead he let Jodi run off and quickly put the gun back into a paper bag that he was using to conceal it, and then just walked away. Jodi was able to escape, get some help, and she survived. Now when police are asking her about, you know, what did the man look like or anything,

she didn't really have much information for them because again, it was like, it was at night. She didn't recognize this person. It happened so quickly. So the police, they had no leads. They had no other witnesses and generally no idea as to who the shooter had been. So David's feeling a little worried

because Jodi had gotten away, he's laying low, but again, nothing was coming of it, and he's like, I think I'm onto something here. So David waited, you know, he was careful to wait a few months before he again went out for an attack. He wanted to be sure that he wasn't being followed, or even being watched by police. On the evening of October 23rd, 1976,

David found his next victims in a residential area in Flushing, Queens. A man named Carl, who was about 20 years old, he was out with his girlfriend, Rosemary, and the two of them were sitting in Rosemary's car. They're just chatting. Suddenly out of nowhere, the car windows just shattered. Rosemary, she starts the car

and she just tries to drive away from whatever, whatever the threat had been that caused her to feel like her car just exploded. Once Rosemary got like a decent distance away, she looked over and she like, look at Carl. And she realized that there was a bullet hole in his head. Rosemary, she only received the superficial injuries from the broken glass. You know, Carl's in pretty bad condition,

and he would get a metal plate installed in his head to replace a portion of his skull. Luckily, though, both of them did end up surviving. Now, when police arrived to the scene, they were immediately aware of the striking similarities between this attack and the attack on Donna and Jodi. They're like, hmm, this is sounding kind of familiar. So investigators are kind of looking inside of the vehicle.

They find the shell casings. Casings belong to a 44 caliber. Police thought that Carl was initially a woman. Carl had shoulder length hair and softer features. So they thought at first that Carl was a woman and they later speculated that the shooter had most likely potentially mistaken Carl for a woman. So police were trying to find like a pattern,

a type that the sicko was going after. Just like Donna and Jodi, you know, two women, maybe he thought that these were two women as well. A couple days later, police got confirmation that the shell casings found on the scene were almost, most definitely, the same as the ones used in the shooting that involved Jodi and Donna. But not only that, it also appeared to investigators

that the shooter had a specific type of victim who they prefer to target, women with long, dark hair, or like medium to long, dark hair. So David's feeling pretty good. He's like, I'm getting away with my little shenanigans. And you know what? I'm gonna strike again. A month later, he did just that.

Slash makeup. Price guaranteed. So on November 27th, 1976, there are two local high school students who were walking home. Donna, who was 16, and her friend Joanne, who was 18, were just hanging out there chatting. They go up to Joanne's front porch area,

and they're just hanging out on the front porch. Both of them notice a man dressed in a full combat uniform approaching the two of them. So this man comes up to them and asks for directions. It was said David got as far as, "'Can you tell me how to get to dot, dot, dot before he revealed that he had a gun. David then shot each of the girls once,

then he fired several more gunshots, just kind of littering the front of the home with bullet holes. Donna was shot in the neck and luckily it was, she was okay, she survived. Joanne, however, had been hit in the back and luckily it was, she was okay. She survived. Joanne, however, had been hit in the back near her spine and she was hospitalized and was eventually rendered paraplegic

as a result of her injuries. A neighbor who had heard all of those gunshots had called the police and he recounted seeing a blonde man running from the scene as he seemed to be clutching or holding on to a weapon in his hands. So once again, a few months go by, police still have no leads for any of these crimes. David's feeling again, pretty, pretty good.

Nothing's happening. No one's, I'm sorry for laughing. I don't know why I giggled. Anyway, so January, 1977, David decides to strike again. Around 1230 in the morning on July 30th, an engaged couple, they had just finished up seeing the movie Rocky for the first time in theaters, and they're sitting in their car discussing

probably about Rocky maybe, I don't know, we don't know, but they're sitting in their car in the parking lot. Christine, who was 26 at the time, and her fiance John, were getting ready to just take off, right? When out of nowhere, a bunch of gunshots just start going off like crazy, and the bullets begin to penetrate their car. John, who was in the driver's seat, he quickly, you know, tries to drive away from the direction of the shooter,

to find help or just to get away. John was able to drive off and get away. It only suffered from superficial injuries, but poor Christine, his fiance, she had been shot twice. And sadly she died that night as a result of her gunshot wounds. So again, police had no real leads, okay? They got nothing.

But after this attack, investigators finally decided to release their suspicions to the public that they believed that these shootings were all related. They thought that maybe it had been done by the same individual. So sketches of the assumed shooter were released to the public through the media

and police hoped that they would have some kind of lead before the shooter had the chance to take his next victim. Someone had to know something, is what they hoped. Now, unfortunately for everybody, David had no interest in being found. Besides like his demon dog friend, he really wasn't talking to anybody. So it's like, no one knew it was David.

On the afternoon of March 8th of that same year, a 19 year old girl named Virginia had been walking home from school when she was confronted by a man with a gun. She was in an area where there was no one else around, okay? So this man confronts her with a gun. She's terrified. Virginia, it was said that she held up her textbooks

and she used that as a shield. And sadly, David shot and the bullet went right through the book and into her head. The shot killed her instantly. So just days after Virginia's murder, investigators officially released a statement claiming that the bullets used in the recent shootings

were all in fact from the same gun. At the time there was no name given to this killer. So the media gave David the name the 44 caliber killer, which I think is pretty straightforward. That's a good one. Sometimes they get a little too creative, you know? But barely over a month later on March 10th, 1977, 20 year old Alexander and his girlfriend Valentina,

they're just sitting in the car chatting and someone just came up and shoots them, AKA David shoots them. Valentina was pronounced dead on the scene, and soon Alexander died once he arrived to the hospital. This time though, there was something very different about the crime scene. There was a handwritten note

left specifically for police officers to find. Oh yes. In this letter, David revealed his desired nickname. He was like, look, I don't like this 44 caliber killer thing. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. My desired nickname is Son of Sam. In addition to this, David also taunted police for their inability to catch him

and explained bits and pieces of his determination to keep killing. Should I read you? Should I read you it? Okay, hold on. I am deeply hurt by you calling me a Weemon hater. I am not, but I am a monster. I am the quote, son of Sam.

I am a little quote, brat. Sorry, it's not funny, sorry, this is serious. When father Sam gets drunk, he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "'Go out and kill,' commands Father Sam.

"'Behind our house, some rest. "'Mostly young, raped and slaughtered. "'They're blood drained, just bones now. "'Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic too. "'I can't get out, but I look out the attic window "'and watch the world go by. I am on a different wavelength than everybody else. Programmed to kill. However, to stop me, you must kill me. Attention all police. Shoot me first. Shoot to kill or else. Keep out of my way or you

will die. Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. Too many heart attacks. Ah, me hoot, it hurts, sonny boy. Me hoot? I didn't know this was gonna turn into an audio book. I'm so sorry. I wonder if he's writing like this on purpose to throw them off or if this is really how he wrote. You know, I didn't look that up.

I want to make love to the world. Okay. I love people. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I want to wish all of you a happy Easter. Police, let me haunt you with these words. I'll be back. Yours in murder, Mr. Monster.

Mr. Monster, I thought you wanted to be called son of Sam, sir. It sounded like he was having a stroke while writing that letter. So he wrote this letter. At least he wished everyone a good Easter. That was nice. I don't know why I try to see the positive in everything.

It's just how my brain works. But that, okay, anyways. So these letters get put out by the media and everyone's going nuts trying to buy the newspapers and everybody was scared. Because the scariest killer of all is the type who just kills at random. That to me is terrifying.

So again, they released parts of the letter to the local news outlets. Police soon also released a psychological profile that they had put together. All of the victims had mainly been women with dark hair. So they put this out in the media, right? Now the release of this profile and the contents of the letter

led thousands of women across New York City. Everyone went and got their hair cut. If they had long, dark hair, they cut their hair. Some women also decided to dye their hair blonde. In June of 1977, another shooting occurred in Bayside, Queens. A young couple named Sal and his girlfriend, Judy, were shot in their car around three in the morning.

This time, none of the shots had been fatal, but the victims also, once again, had not been able to see who shot them. According to reports during the month of July, that same year, the first anniversary of the initial 44 caliber shooting was approaching, and police were on the lookout for this killer. They knew he favored Queens and the Bronx.

So David was like, I'm gonna celebrate my one and do some damage over there. And on July 31st, a man named Robert and a woman named Stacy, they were on their first date when David fired four rounds into their car. The shots hit both of the victims in the head. And sadly, Robert lost one of his eyes and Stacy died instantly from her injuries. Stacy, she was so young,

she was so young that she was so young that she was so young that she was so young that she was so young that she was so young into their car. The shots hit both of the victims in the head. And sadly, Robert lost one of his eyes and Stacy died instantly from her injuries. Stacy, she was the only Son of Sam victim that was blonde instead of dark haired. I mean, what an awful first date. Now, before the killing had taken place, earlier in the day before David had killed

these last victims, there was this woman who was a local in the area. She was walking her dog and she saw David. She saw David park his car, get out of his car. He was holding some kind of like dark object in his hands. This woman was said to have just gotten like a really bad feeling about it all. And she ran away from the man who ended up firing a few shots in her direction. So later on, she's hearing the news about the shooting that had taken place nearby, and the woman, she decides,

I mean, it was probably that guy. I mean, the same area, whatever. So she comes forward to police and she tells them everything she knows about David, but the most important thing she said was that she saw David had a parking ticket on his car. A parking ticket? The parking ticket leads to the license plate.

License plate leads to like registration and all that. So they're able to look up who this car belongs to and guess who they get? Well, David, of course. According to reports from August 9th, 1977, the police headed over to the residence of David Berkowitz in hopes to catch him by surprise and take him in for questioning. When they arrive, they see David's car and they're like peeking inside and stuff.

They realize that there's an assault rifle on the backseat of David's car. So when officers noticed the rifle, they phoned in to obtain a warrant immediately to search the inside of his house. While doing so, they continued to search his car and found a duffel bag filled with ammunition, maps of the crime scenes, and a threatening letter addressed to Inspector Timothy Dowd of the Omega Task Force.

All of that was inside of his car. Which like that must have been a great feeling. Like damn, he didn't even try to hide it, make it difficult for investigators or anything. Like it was just all there. Great, love this for us, you guys. Probably what they said. Investigators decided to wait for David to leave his house

before confronting him. It was just probably safer. And around 10 p.m., David finally leaves his home. He walks to his car. The detectives like pop out and they're holding a gun to David's temple. David said, quote, well, you got me. The following day, investigators only needed to interview David

for around 30 minutes for him to confess every single one of his crimes. During his confession, that's when David claimed that the neighbor's dog was a demon dog and he was demanding the blood of pretty young girls, as dogs do, which was why David started killing in the first place. So David was planning on using the insanity plea, but three different mental health experts stated that David was indeed mentally competent to stand trial. David decided to just ignore the counsel advice

that was given to him. David pleaded guilty to all of the shootings. At the end of his trial, he was sentenced to 25 years to life for each of the murders to be served consecutively. David said while in prison, he became a born again Christian and claimed that he no longer wanted to be called the son of Sam, but rather the son of hope.

During his time in prison, he compiled his various letters and essays about his story and his experience. These written works caught the attention of various publishers who really wanted to buy and sell his story. In a response to these publishing inquiries, that's when New York State legislator produced a swift and clear law that would prevent convicted criminals

from receiving royalties on any published books, movies, or other enterprises related to the stories of their crimes. The son of Sam Law, at least he has a law named after him. Well, you pretty much can't profit off of your murders and stuff, pretty much. That's a light summary. It's really interesting, you guys,

because David's upbringing by his adopted parents seemed really, really good. They really loved him and they tried their best and it's really sad that this is how he turned out. His upbringing, in comparison to the lot of murders we've talked about here, in comparison to them, his upbringing really wasn't that bad and it's like, how did he end up so fucked up? In 2002, David did apply for parole, he was declined. And he has done a lot of interviews, not a lot, but a couple. And he does say that, you know,

he's found God and just has a new meaning in life. He is now 67 years old and he will be applying for parole at every chance he can. I mean, that's very brave of him to think that he could get out. I think they have to stay optimistic in order to survive in prison, right? Let me know your guys' thoughts down below,

demon dog? Maybe. I appreciate you guys so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you have a great rest of your week ahead of you. Make good choices, please. And I'll be seeing you guys later. Bye.