Netflix is uncovering the horrifying true crimes of serial killer David Berkowitz in a new docuseries.
The Sons of Sam: The Descent into Darkness, which is available to stream now, looks at the killer's troubled childhood before digging into how he became one of the world's most notorious monsters.
Here is the twisted true story behind Berkowitz's life and crimes – demonic dogs and all...
Who is the 'Son of Sam' — and what was his childhood like?
The Son of Sam actually refers to David Berkowitz — a former soldier in the US army, who was born in New York in 1953.
Berkowitz became infamous for committing a series of crimes in the city during the mid-1970s. He was adopted as a child by Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, and raised in the Bronx. He found out he was adopted around the age of five, when his father told him that his biological mother had passed away during childbirth.
This turned out to be a lie, and he and his biological mother had a "wonderful reunion" after he was honourably discharged from the army. Speaking about this time of his life, he told CBS in 2017: "Looking in retrospect, that characterized much of my life. I struggled with a lot of depression as a child and obsessions with death because I thought I deserved to die."
It was during his teenage years that some disturbing red flags came up — Berkowitz was reportedly a bully who became obsessed with larceny and arson. The police actually confirmed the latter after obtaining his diary, where he claimed to be responsible for starting 1,411 fires around NYC.
Berkowitz enlisted in the army when he was 17, and received an honourable discharge in 1974. He then returned to the Bronx to attend community college, and to take on work as a taxi driver and a letter sorter for the US postal service.
It was then at the age of 22 that he started committing his violent crimes.
Why did he refer to himself as the 'Son of Sam'?
Berkowitz dubbed himself the "Son of Sam" and the nickname continues to endure.
It was first used in a letter that he wrote to the police, which read: "I am deeply hurt by you calling me a woman-hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the 'Son of Sam'."
However, Berkowitz is now not a fan of the name. In the same interview with CBS in 2017, he asserted: "I hate that name; I despise that name."
What were his crimes?
Between July 19th 1976 and July 31st 1977, Berkowitz murdered six people and wounded seven others in New York. He was quickly dubbed the ".44 Caliber Killer" due to his weapon of choice.
The first shooting took place in the Bronx. Donna Lauria and Jody Valenti were sitting in a vehicle talking when the killer fired five shots, killing Lauria and wounding Valenti. Another attack happened in October 1976 when a couple was shot while sitting in a car in Queens.
In November of the same year, Berkowitz shot two girls after approaching them to ask for directions. While both women survived, Joanne Lomino was paralysed by the bullet, which hit her spine.
During this period, Berkowitz took to taunting law enforcement and the press by writing them letters. In one, which was sent to the journalist Jimmy Breslin, he wrote: "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam. I love to hunt, prowling the streets looking for fair game…"
How did he get caught?
On July 31st 1977, Berkowitz shot Robert Violante and Stacy Moskowitz, while they were sitting in Violante's car during their first date. Violante survived, with an eye injury, but Moskowitz sadly passed away 18 hours later.
The attack was the first to take place in Brooklyn, and several days later an eyewitness came forward alleging to have seen a man with a gun before the shooting, and that police were also writing parking tickets in the same area.
A search ensued, and revealed that one of the ticketed cars was registered to Berkowitz, who was simultaneously being investigated over complaints of harassment to a neighbour.
By the age of 24, on August 10th, 1977, Berkowitz was arrested in front of his apartment, while he was sitting in his car. Law enforcement had found a rifle, maps of the crime scenes and ammunition in his vehicle prior to the arrest.
He was reportedly smiling as he was arrested, and told the arresting officer: "Well, you got me." A bag containing the .44 calibre revolver was recovered next to him.
What's with the 'demon dog'?
The following day, Berkowitz confessed to the shootings — but there's a twist; he claimed that he was taking orders from "Sam", a demonic spirit, who was talking to him through his former neighbour's black labrador, Harvey.
He claimed that Sam was his neighbour, Sam Carr, who was an agent of the devil. He transmitted his orders to kill people through his pet dog, who Berkowitz had once shot after it barked too much. He claimed that once the dog began to recover, he started telling him to kill people.
In 1979, Berkowitz admitted to this being a hoax, as reported in the New York Times. He said that there were "no real demons, no talking dogs, no satanic henchmen" who ordered him to kill. That story, he conceded was "just invented by me in my own mind to condone what I was doing."
In a 2002 CNN interview with Larry King, Berkowitz flat out refused to speak about the labrador, but maintained that there was a satanic element to the killings.
What sentence did he receive?
On June 12th, 1978, Berkowitz was sentenced to the maximum prison term, 25 years to life, for each of his six killings — with the sentences to run consecutively.
But in a shock to the victims' families, he became eligible for parole after 25 years, as he pled guilty to all the shootings.
He was 25-years-old when he was sent to the Attica Correctional Facility, and 10 years later he was relocated to Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, before he was moved again to Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Ulster County, New York.
Where is David Berkowitz now?
Berkowitz is now 67-years-old and is still at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility. Although he has been eligible for parole every two years since 2002, he has refused to ask for his release, having found god and wanting to atone for his sins.
Prior to his initial parole hearing, he wrote to New York governor, George Pataki, stating: "In all honesty, I believe that I deserve to be in prison for the rest of my life. I have, with God’s help, long ago come to terms with my situation and I have accepted my punishment."
During a 2016 hearing, it was revealed that he had been working as a caregiver in prison. Still, he maintained that he should remain incarcerated, saying, "I feel that the crimes were so serious and the damage so severe, and so many people I’m sure are still hurting and grieving, that, realistically, something like parole, in my situation, would be very unusual.
"For many years I have worked as… just like a caregiver. I have a heart for helping and reaching out to inmates, offenders, who have psychiatric problems, who have a lot of depression, and things like that… so, I feel that’s my calling in life," he added.
He has been using his time in prison to write a book, titled: Son of Hope: The Prison Journals of David Berkowitz, and has received a degree in education from Sullivan Community College.
The Son of Sam: Descent into darkness is available to stream now