In case you missed it, Edward Zigo, a detective in the famed "Son of Sam" case, passed away a couple of weeks ago. Zigo was the New York City detective who cracked the notorious case in 1977 by acting on a hunch about a parking ticket and arresting David Berkowitz, a deranged loner who terrorized the city for 13 months, beginning July 29, 1976. On that fateful night, eighteen year old Donna Lauria and nineteen year old Jody Valenti were sitting in their car outside Lauria's Bronx apartment. Suddenly, Ms. Lauria noticed a man peering into the window. She asked her friend, "who is this guy?" She never lived to learn the answer. David Berkowitz pulled his .44 caliber Charter Arms Bulldog out of a paper bag and fired five shots into the car, instantly killing Ms. Lauria and seriously wounding Ms. Valenti. Valenti, however, survived the attack and was able to give the first vague description of the man the newspapers dubbed" the .44 caliber killer. Over the next thirteen months, the self-proclaimed "Son of Sam" embarked on a shooting spree that left seven young people dead and seven others critically wounded. Berkowitz wrote a bizarre four-page letter to police while he terrorized the city with a handgun. In the letter he said, "Let me haunt you with these words: I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interpreted as bang. bang, bang bang bang - ugh." The letter was peppered with allusions to vampires and monsters and heightened the frightened city's unease. In another letter, left at one of the crime scenes, he called himself "the Son of Sam" and claimed that voices were ordering him to kill. Sam, it turned out, was Sam Carr, a former neighbor in Yonkers, a "high demon" who sent his evil Labrador Retriever to order poor David to kill teenage girls with long dark hair, and young couples. With a dearth of clues and a city on edge, Detective Zigo, acting on a tip, decided to question Berkowitz, whose car had been ticketed for parking by a fire hydrant in Brooklyn the night of the last shooting. According to Zigo he walked into the interrogation room and said, "Hi David, I'm Detective Zigo." Berkowitz replied, "Hi, Detective, I'm the Son of Sam." Zigo got his man. Berkowitz was convicted in 1978 and was sentenced to 365 years in prison.
Berkowitz's Victims: July 29, 1976: Donna Lauria, 18 Jan 30, 1977: Christina Freund, 26 Mar 8, 1977: Virginia Voskerichian, 19 Apr 17 1977: Alexander Esau, 20 Apr 17, 1977: Valentina Suriani, 18 July 31, 1977: Stacy Moskowitz, 20 0 comments • like • Published on March 06, 2011 19:13
In case you missed it, Edward Zigo, a detective in the famed "Son of Sam" case, passed away a couple of weeks ago.
Zigo was the New York City detective who cracked the notorious case in 1977 by acting on a hunch about a parking ticket and arresting David Berkowitz, a deranged loner who terrorized the city for 13 months, beginning July 29, 1976.
On that fateful night, eighteen year old Donna Lauria and nineteen year old Jody Valenti were sitting in their car outside Lauria's Bronx apartment. Suddenly, Ms. Lauria noticed a man peering into the window. She asked her friend, "who is this guy?" She never lived to learn the answer. David Berkowitz pulled his .44 caliber Charter Arms Bulldog out of a paper bag and fired five shots into the car, instantly killing Ms. Lauria and seriously wounding Ms. Valenti. Valenti, however, survived the attack and was able to give the first vague description of the man the newspapers dubbed" the .44 caliber killer.
Over the next thirteen months, the self-proclaimed "Son of Sam" embarked on a shooting spree that left seven young people dead and seven others critically wounded.
Berkowitz wrote a bizarre four-page letter to police while he terrorized the city with a handgun. In the letter he said, "Let me haunt you with these words: I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interpreted as bang. bang, bang bang bang - ugh." The letter was peppered with allusions to vampires and monsters and heightened the frightened city's unease.
In another letter, left at one of the crime scenes, he called himself "the Son of Sam" and claimed that voices were ordering him to kill. Sam, it turned out, was Sam Carr, a former neighbor in Yonkers, a "high demon" who sent his evil Labrador Retriever to order poor David to kill teenage girls with long dark hair, and young couples.
With a dearth of clues and a city on edge, Detective Zigo, acting on a tip, decided to question Berkowitz, whose car had been ticketed for parking by a fire hydrant in Brooklyn the night of the last shooting.
According to Zigo he walked into the interrogation room and said, "Hi David, I'm Detective Zigo."
Berkowitz replied, "Hi, Detective, I'm the Son of Sam."
Zigo got his man. Berkowitz was convicted in 1978 and was sentenced to 365 years in prison.
Berkowitz's Victims:
July 29, 1976: Donna Lauria, 18
Jan 30, 1977: Christina Freund, 26
Mar 8, 1977: Virginia Voskerichian, 19
Apr 17 1977: Alexander Esau, 20
Apr 17, 1977: Valentina Suriani, 18
July 31, 1977: Stacy Moskowitz, 20
0 comments • like • Published on March 06, 2011 19:13