The Son of Sam Murders Never Really Added Up. There's Evidence David Berkowitz Wasn't Working Alone.

Photo credit: Elaine Chung
Photo credit: Elaine Chung

On July 29, 1976, 18-year-old Donna Lauria and 19-year-old Jody Valenti were sitting in a parked car outside Lauria's home in the Bronx after a night out. She opened the car door to get out, and was suddenly hit by a bullet. She was killed instantly. Another bullet flew and hit Valenti in her thigh. A third bullet missed both women, and the gunman quickly fled the scene.

It was the first of eight seemingly random shootings that continued throughout New York City for more than a year afterwards. It was a year of terror, in which the streets of New York City were uncharacteristically silent at night. Scared of being the next shooting victim, people stayed home, off of the streets and out of their cars. From the summer of 1976 until the summer of 1977, fourteen people were shot in parked cars throughout the city, from the Bronx to Brooklyn. Six of them died. Creepy, cryptic letters were sent to the police and to journalists from “the Son of Sam,” claiming responsibility for the violent murders, mocking the police, and threatening more to come.

But finally, after his car was traced to the final shooting in Brooklyn, the police arrested David Berkowitz, a 24-year-old postal worker living in Yonkers on August 10, 1977. He confessed to the shootings, and told police he had been commanded to kill by a demon dog belonging to his neighbor Sam. He pled guilty and was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences. Though he later recounted the demon dog story, it was already ingrained in the public’s narrative of the case. Today, the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, is known as one of America’s most prolific serial killers.

But it never really added up. The witness sketches of the perpetrator from various shootings showed totally different men. The handwriting in the letters sent to the police from the Son of Sam was inconsistent, too. And Maury Terry never bought it. A journalist who grew up near Berkowitz in Yonkers, Terry believed there had to be more to the story. So he investigated. He found evidence that Berkowitz belonged to a Satanic cult based in Yonkers, and clues about its other members in the text of the Son of Sam letters. He wrote for any tabloid that would publish his theories, and went on any TV show that invited him. He wrote a book called The Ultimate Evil in 1988, in which he connected Berkowitz to a network of Satanists across the globe. He was convinced Berkowitz did not act alone in the Son of Sam killings, and desperately wanted the world to listen. The Queens District Attorney publicly stated that he believed Berkowitz hadn’t acted alone, but as the shootings had stopped, the NYPD refused, despite mounting evidence, to reopen the case.

Photo credit: Netflix
Photo credit: Netflix

The case consumed Maury Terry. As Netflix’s latest docuseries Sons of Sam conveys, he dove down rabbit hole after rabbit hole until his original investigation became skewed by his own obsession connecting disparate threads. He interviewed David Berkowitz twice, and the documentary features footage in which Berkowitz admits he did not commit the crimes alone, and that he had been a member of a Satanic cult that was behind the shootings. But Berkowitz, now 67 years old in a New York prison, remains the only person ever charged in the case.

Maury Terry passed away in 2015, but left his his entire archive of files and evidence on the Son of Sam case to filmmaker Josh Zeman. Knowing it was time to rewrite the history of the case, Zeman created Sons of Sam, a four-part docuseries that premieres on Netflix on May 5. It's both a biography of Terry and an exploration of his findings in the infamous case, a portrait of his life inseparable from his life's work. Maury Terry is portrayed as both a driven reporter and an unreliable narrator in the series, but it is clear that despite his unhealthy obsession with the case, he had ample evidence to prove that David Berkowitz did not act alone. As the doc shows, there are still living victims of the Son of Sam who deserve truth and justice, and Esquire spoke to Josh Zeman about having Maury Terry as a true crime mentor, what's next for the notorious case, and why now is the right time to change the narrative.

I think a lot of these infamous cases that are being made into docs now to scratch the never-ending true crime itch can get repetitive, but this one was unique because it brings a fresh perspective and new angle to such a well-known case.

Josh Zeman: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. As somebody who's done a lot of true crime, it's always important, I think, to be evolutionary. And so, I felt it was not only getting to talk about this case, but organically Maury Terry just interested me because he himself allows for a larger discussion about the genre. That wasn't intentional, but that is just something that interests me, and it just so happened that it kind of all came together at once.

Why now? How did it come about?

So I first heard of this case while making Cropsey, another film that I did about some missing kids in my hometown. And while investigating that case, a number of people, both journalists, lawyers, and police, said to me that these missing children might be connected to the Son of Sam case. And I was like, "What do you mean?" And they said, "Well, there are those who say that in the Son of Sam case, David Berkowitz didn't act alone and that it was a cult behind it. And some people suggest that this cult might be connected to your missing kids." And of course, I didn't believe it at all. I thought it was all satanic panic. And I was like, "You're crazy." But these cops sat me down and said, "No, no, no. Let me tell you the story." And they proceeded to tell me that they, along with some of their other cop brethren, had all believed that the Son of Sam didn't act alone and that there were others, and that the information got kind of suppressed. They told me to read this book, The Ultimate Evil and to look for this guy, Maury Terry.

So I got The Ultimate Evil. I read it. It scared the shit out of me. I don't scare easy. I'm a debunker of things that go bump in the night. And I was like, "Okay, I have to go meet this writer." I actually wanted to turn it into a narrative series, I didn't really want to do a documentary. And I met Maury Terry and he ended up being this really fascinating character. He was both this kind of true crime mentor, but also unreliable narrator wrapped up in one. And again, I didn't quite believe him or the whole story, but I still found this story very fascinating. And I found him as a character very fascinating, but I wasn't going to make this into a doc. I was doing another series called The Killing Season about Long Island and why that case of a serial murder didn't get solved and kind of all the police shenanigans that were going on behind it. And while I was making that series, I got a call that Maury Terry passed away, and he ended up telling his family to send me his files.

Wow.

And in the files was just an unbelievable amount of information. It was really this guy's life work. And all his interviews with David Berkowitz. It was just this crazy deep dive down a completely dark rabbit hole that I just felt like I had to explore. I had tried to get the project off the ground for a number of years. And now, with the explosion with true crime, it finally happened. Ironically, at the same time, Maury's story as a guy who went down the rabbit hole and never came back out, took on far more relevance in this national conversation of going down rabbit holes and obsession and things like that. More than I could have ever imagined. Now, this cautionary tale of true crime takes a far more important tone in the national conversation with people going down rabbit holes and obsession and maybe realizing that obsession isn't such a good thing. Here we sit, and I love to binge, but suddenly I turn around, I'm like, "Oh my God, what happened to my weekend?" And it's like a badge of honor though. I still was like, "I watched the whole thing." But here's a guy who went down the rabbit hole for 40 years. Imagine what that must do to you.

So you knew him personally. I didn't realize that.

Yes. He was already sick when I met him. He was on oxygen. And I would go to his apartment and bring him tuna fish sandwiches and we would talk, and he would rant and rave, and he would say things and I wouldn't believe him. And he'd shuffle up into his room and come out with a piece of evidence. And I would be like, "Oh my God, you're telling the truth." And he would get apoplectic and be like, "Of course, I was telling the truth." And slowly but surely, I started to believe him. And then I spoke to a whole bunch of other detectives who started to confirm a lot of his information. At least the first part of his investigation is quite real and there's a preponderance of evidence to suggest it. I started to say, "Why didn't the world believe him?" That became the most interesting part. And it was due a lot to Maury Terry himself. When he first put this information out there that Berkowitz didn't act alone, the cops called him a crackpot. And I think he doubled down and I think he, in my mind, made a deal with the devil. The only people that would allow him to talk about it was the tabloid press. And so, he became a fixture on these shows and then when Satanic Panic rolled in, it ended up kind of pushing his agenda and it became a symbiotic relationship. Finally, people were willing to believe him about his story, but tragically that only ended up with people thinking he was that much more crazy than he was.

Right, for sure. And if he were alive today, after the doc premieres, he would finally have that validation. People are going to take him seriously now. There's a lot of evidence, obviously.

There is a lot of evidence. That's what's so ironic. People ask me, his family, his friends, and even the victims, who are some of his strongest supporters. They said, "Josh, why do you think after so many years you're going to change the narrative?" And I say, well, I don't know that I'm going to change the narrative, but what I will tell you is that how we view police has changed. The conversation about policing has changed. And we know it's no longer about white hats and black hats. It's a much more nuanced conversation about how investigations are run and how politics comes into play and how rank and file police officers have to bend to the will of politicians. And so, I think people are much more willing to believe that politics pressured the case to be shut down prematurely."

You called Maury Terry an unreliable narrator before, and I actually had that written down too. Because there was that tension in the doc, and I was wondering how you found that balance between showcasing his findings that are backed up in evidence and then also instilling a sense of doubt about his obsession with the case?

Right. Right. When did his obsession take over and overshadow what was a well-researched investigation? When did it become just a spiral down a rabbit hole of connections? To me, that's really where the drama is. It's making that decision. And I think presenting that case to the audience, because at some point they're on board and at some point it slightly shifts, and you're like, wait a second. I think that is an important lesson for all of us as we think about crime and as we listen to people and pundits spout off and pontificate about things. You could be right one time, you could be right for part of the conversation, and then suddenly it all starts to go downhill. So what I think that means is that we have to have our spidey sense about us at all times.

Photo credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Photo credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX

From the news archives in the doc, I kind of got the sense that these theories about David Berkowitz not acting alone were widely known in the '90s. But I feel like that narrative has totally been brushed to the side. I had never heard that.

Yeah, you're right. So this is the other part of the series. One is Maury Terry's investigation and the other part of the series is what I call print the legend, and it's the idea that when the legend becomes fact, you print the legend. And it's this idea where even the serial killer was sitting there telling Maury, despite how much evidence you have, the world will never believe you. And that's because the police and the press had this story of David Berkowitz and the barking dog and it became codified. It became the story. And it was just so hard for Maury Terry to reverse that story and to change history. He couldn't. And yes, I think for a little while, maybe people were like, "Oh yeah, I heard that David Berkowitz didn't act alone." But you can never keep a good urban legend down. And so, I think slowly but surely, the narrative of David Berkowitz's barking dog was just too strong. That pull of history was just too strong. So I hope this case will change the history books for good.

Maybe it needed time, and with the separation now, people will reevaluate. And also you're right that the way we view the police is very different now.

And this is not any indictment of the rank and file. Look, it was an incredible time in New York City in 1977. New York City was on the verge of bankruptcy. New York City had just dealt with an incredible blackout that cost millions and millions of dollars of damage. There were fires, 12,000 fires that were burning over in the Bronx and in the tenements. The skyline was on fire, the Bronx was burning. Crime was at an all-time high and garbage was piled high in the streets. And then, on top of it, you had the Son of Sam. So for 13 months, a guy is stalking the kids, shooting them in lover's lanes. And people weren't going out. The streets were empty. No one was going to bars, no one was going to restaurants, no one was going to discos, and everybody was afraid to go out. And suddenly you have this 24-year-old postal worker, it sounds like a movie, who lives alone, smiling as he's brought into One Police Plaza and says, "I did it. What took you so long?" And the dog. It was perfect. David Berkowitz became that sacrificial lamb so that New York City could pull itself out of the malaise that it was in. So you can't really blame people for wanting that nightmare to be over.

The Son of Sam letters were so fascinating to me, too.

There's clues, there's a crazy amount of clues in the letters that we unfortunately did not get into in the series, but we do in the podcast. There's an accompanying podcast, which literally is just like all the granular evidence of the letters and the eyewitness accounts and the aliases and maps that Maury Terry uncovered. It's literally just all the hardcore clues. Many people believe that the letters were written by two different people. The first one was written by David Berkowitz and the second one was written by the Carrs [The Carrs were two brothers who Terry alleges were in the satanic cult based in Yonkers with Berkowitz and carried out some of the Son of Sam shootings.].

I was wondering if there were handwriting samples ever done.

Yes, handwriting samples were done. Experts say that the first letter is far different from the second letter, both in its word choice, in its penmanship. They're just completely different letters. The second letter, it is in some ways horrifically brilliant. "Hello from the gutters of New York City." There's a lot of people who said maybe some of the dialogue was pulled from Taxi Driver. David Berkowitz was also a taxi driver.

Very interesting. So, Berkowitz is still alive. Do you believe that there's anything that could be done or said by him or anyone that could cause the police to reopen the case? Did you try to talk to him for the doc?

No. I did want to get his opinion about Maury Terry, but that's about it. I think it's time. There are a number of victims, Carl Denaro specifically, who in fact just wrote a book about his experience, who has been searching for decades to find out the real person who shot him. And I think in terms of Carl Denaro's experience and his search for justice, I think he deserves to know who shot him. And secondarily, I also believe that the people deserve... history needs to be correct. If we're ever going to learn from it, it needs to be right.

Do you think that that same hesitancy from decades ago to reopen the case still persists today, if there’s enough evidence to do so?

I'm sure nobody wants to review their past mistakes. Myself included. But at the same time, sometimes for the greater good, we do need to look at those mistakes. And I think it very well could be that there are people out there who committed these crimes who are not dead.

Photo credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Photo credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX

At the end of the doc, the Arlis Perry case, Maury was right about her killer being the security guard. Right?

Maury said that he believed that the security guard was a participant in the crime.

Was he ever linked to Satanism or the occult?

Not that I know of. Basically, the idea was that there was no way that one individual could have done that. They couldn't. They couldn't have staged that crime in the manner that it was staged without help. So it just had to be, from a logic standpoint, that the guard was connected. Also, he was the one that found the body and he acted fairly suspicious.

Did that arrest happen while you were making the doc?

Right as we were starting, yeah. We were like, "Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening." Well, I was pitching the doc still. And suddenly, it became part of the why now.

What's the reaction you're anticipating to the doc?

I think it's now time to change the history and for people to give this case a new look, to realize that Maury Terry, despite going as far as he did down a rabbit hole, that his initial investigation was spot on.

What was the most challenging part of making the doc?

The amount of material. We barely scratched the surface of Maury Terry's book. Diehard fans are going to be so upset that we didn't include everything. But how do you include everything for a guy who went on a 40-year journey? We can only scratch the surface and tell a cohesive story.

What's next for this case, in your opinion?

I think that with all the attention that's going to be put on this case, we now have a real chance of getting some more answers and at least putting that footnote in history. And stopping with this BS story about Berkowitz and a barking dog. In retrospect, it's ridiculous. The irony here is how many tropes this case created. It's like they pulled stuff from Zodiac and put their own spin on it. It's like, it's not somebody who was crazy, but somebody who wanted to seem crazy in a bad movie way.

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