
Woman shot by Son of Sam receives chilling message from notorious serial killer during trip to library
Wendy Savino had been inside the Valley Cottage Library in Long Island, on Wednesday when she was approached by Frank DeGennaro.
The 88-year-old told The New York Post that DeGennaro approached her outside the building, claiming he told her 'David wants to talk to you'.
She said: 'So I try to walk around him and he says, "you're Wendy Savino, aren't you?".'
The man added: 'Well, I just want you to know David is very upset about what happened to you. David wants to talk to you. David wants you to know he didn't do it'.
Following the strange comment, she asked DeGennaro to write down his name, her and her son Jason then took it to Clarkstown Police Department to file a report.
She added: 'He had me backed into a corner. He's just talking and talking about the same thing, "David's a really good person".'
DeGennaro told the outlet that he was called by the police but not charged, adding that he never intended to scare Savino.
He said: 'I didn't corner her. I didn't stand in her way', adding that he became friends with Berkowitz after exchanging letters with the killer who remains behind bars.
'I realize now that it was probably the wrong thing to do, to even talk to her. This is getting blown out of proportion', he added.
Savino was shot several times by Berkowitz - who admitted to killing six people - in her car on April 9, 1976.
It was later determined that Savino was the first victim of Berkowitz in a series of violent murders that crippled the New York City.
For 13 months from July 1976 to July 1977, the 'Son of Sam' carried out a killing rampage that claimed the lives of six and left seven other victims wounded.
Armed with a Bulldog revolver, he hunted in the shadows, targeting mostly young couples in cars and on lovers' lanes across Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
When he earned the nickname the .44 caliber killer in the press, the notorious murderer coined his own chilling moniker - the Son of Sam - in a letter taunting the police captain on his tail.
The killer claimed that he was driven to kill by a 6,000-year-old demon named Sam which spoke to him through his neighbor's dog.
The Son of Sam shootings took over the city's consciousness and filled pages and pages of the daily papers.
Young women - noting a pattern of brown-haired victims - began dying theirs blonde or wearing wigs. Other New Yorkers avoided going out altogether.
Then finally, on August 10, 1977, the Son of Sam - a 24-year-old postal worker from Yonkers by the name of David Berkowitz - was captured.
Berkowitz was sentenced in 1978 to the maximum prison term of 25 years to life for each of the six slayings. He first became eligible for parole in 2002.
He has since expressed remorse and said he is a born-again Christian. He is being held at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in New York.
Speaking with the Daily Mail last month, Berkowitz said t hat he was 'thankful to be alive, and by the grace of God do good things today with my life today.'
'The past could never be undone. I wish it could, but it's not possible. So I just have to keep moving forward,' he said.
'I am also grateful for the friends I have in my life today. These are good law abiding individuals who love me for who I am today, not for who I was in the past when a [sic] let the devil rule my mind.'
But, despite the apparent regret for his crimes, the Berkowitz suggested that he was simply a passive pawn being 'used' to do the devil's bidding.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
FBI chief 'shocked to core' amid Epstein files scandal
By Embattled FBI deputy director Dan Bongino revealed he has discovered matters that have 'shocked me down to my core' during his time in office. Bongino shared a cryptic message to his social media in which he vowed to uncover 'the truth' amid mounting criticism of his handling of the Epstein files. He added: 'We cannot run a Republic like this. I'll never be the same after learning what I've learned. 'We are going to conduct these righteous and proper investigations by the book and in accordance with the law. We are going to get the answers WE ALL DESERVE. 'As with any investigation, I cannot predict where it will land, but I can promise you an honest and dignified effort at truth. Not 'my truth,' or 'your truth,' but THE TRUTH.' Bongino alluded in his statement to recent discoveries surrounding government corruption and weaponization. He did not provide a timeline for when the general public might learn about what he is talking about, adding that 'things are happening'. He failed to show up on one Friday after a DOJ memo was released that said Epstein had died by suicide and that no other people named in the files would be charged. It also said there was no 'Epstein client list'. The following Monday, officials were starting to squirm and feared that Bongino would be a no-show yet again, but he arrived in the office a few hours later than expected. It was reported at the time that Trump was furious that one of his hand-picked appointees would be so publicly against him. A source inside the DOJ told Daily Mail that Bongino was ready to stand down if Attorney General Pam Bondi didn't. The fallout of that memo continues, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in the Epstein files. Bondi also allegedly acknowledged that the administration should withhold the files due to them containing images of child sexual abuse. The president associated with Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1980s and 1990s. Maxwell was questioned this week by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. She is serving 20 years behind bars for his involvement in Epstein's crimes. The 63-year-old made it clear earlier this month that she was willing to speak in front of Congress about the case. Trump has not been implicated in any crimes and just because a name appears in the files does not mean imply they were involved in Epstein's child sex trafficking. Many believe Maxwell appears to be angling for a pardon from President Donald Trump after she 'didn't hold back' during questioning. Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell saying: 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about.'


Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Major broadcaster is slammed for calling Ghislaine Maxwell a VICTIM
Newsmax Anchor Greg Kelly has been ridiculed after saying he believes Ghislaine Maxwell 'might be a victim'. Speaking on Greg Kelly Reports the longtime Trump loyalist portrayed Maxwell as a sympathetic figure, w hile discussing the crisis around the Jeffrey Epstein files, despite her conviction on child sex trafficking and exploitation. Kelly was talking about Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche two-day meeting with Maxwell to discuss the case. '[Maxwell] has also been subpoenaed by the oversight committee, I think this is great. I do have a feeling that she just might be a victim, she just might be,' Kelly said. 'There was a rush to judgement there was a lot of chaos there for a while, granted she hung out with Jeffrey Epstein, and I know that's apparently not good.' Maxwell is serving 20 years behind bars on child sex trafficking charges for her role in helping Epstein exploit and abuse multiple minors over the course of a decade. Epstein's victims alleged they were procured by Maxwell and passed around his billionaire friends and associates who regularly visited his homes, which included his private island. He was found dead in his cell from an apparent suicide while awaiting trial. Kelly's remarks have been circulated on social media where they were roundly slammed. Ghislaine Maxwell is serving 20 years behind bars on child sex trafficking charges for her role in helping Epstein procure victims One person commented: 'Just when you don't think they can be more depraved then they prove you wrong.' Maxwell reached out to the Department of Justice to set up the meetings with Blanche, ABC News reported. She apparently requested what's known as 'proffer immunity' so that anything she revealed couldn't be used against her at a later date. It is provided to people under investigation or facing charges to determine the value of a possible witness. Maxwell has already been tried and convicted. Maxwell's lawyer David Oscar Markus said after her questioning: 'There have been no asks and no promises.' Many believe Maxwell appears to be angling for a pardon from President Donald Trump after she 'didn't hold back' during questioning. She completed a second day of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday afternoon. Markus claimed that his client spoke with Blanche about '100 different people' in relation to Epstein's alleged child sex trafficking ring. He also said Maxwell is being used as the 'scapegoat' in the entire Epstein case and has been 'treated unfairly for the past five years '. Her attorney said that they had not put in a formal request with the White House for a pardon for Maxwell after the conclusion of the second day of questioning. But Markus did not rule out taking that action in the future, saying 'things are happening so quickly.' 'The president said earlier he has the power to do so, we hope he exercises that power in the right way,' he said of a potential commutation. Trump refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Maxwell saying: 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about.' CNN's Maggie Haberman appeared on Friday night's The Source with Kaitlan Collins stating that if Trump did so, he would 'infuriate the MAGA base'.


Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Lover of dentist who murdered his wife on safari for her breaks her silence from jail
The lover of a married dentist who gunned down his wife during an African safari in order to be with her has broken her silence from behind bars. Lori Milliron, 67, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for her role as an accessory to the brutal murder of Bianca Rudolph, who was shot in the heart by her husband Lawrence 'Larry' Rudolph during a hunting trip in Zambia. The shocking case has now been featured in the new Hulu docuseries Trophy Wife: Murder on Safari, which argues the Pennsylvania dentist's own arrogance became his downfall. But his lover, who was accused of being his 'partner in crime ' still insists she she's not a killer. Speaking from prison in the ABC News Studios production, Milliron vehemently denies she pressured Rudolph into killing his wife of 34 years to be with her. 'There was no ultimatum. Why would I wait 15 years to give him an ultimatum? It just didn't make sense,' Milliron said over the prison phone in video obtained by Business Insider. Milliron and her lover were ultimately nabbed after a bar worker claimed he overheard Rudolph yell: 'I killed my f***ing wife for you' during an argument. 'I'm not violent. I didn't kill anybody. I didn't hurt anybody. But they really wanted to put me in jail,' Milliron said from jail. Speaking from prison in the ABC News Studios production, Milliron (pictured left with lover Larry Rudolph) vehemently denies she pressured Rudolph into killing his wife of 34 years to be with her Rudolph was charged in December 2021 for the murder. The 68-year-old claimed his wife accidentally shot herself while she was packing to head back home. He said he was in the bathroom when he heard his wife say, 'come here and help me' before hearing the shot and finding his wife on the floor bleeding. 'The police did an investigation and they said it was an accident,' Milliron said. 'Everyone believed that it was an accident, so I assumed it was an accident as well.' After Bianca's death, her dentist husband fraudulently claimed $4.8 million in life insurance payouts. During his trial, the prosecution told jurors that Rudolph was overheard blurting out: 'I killed my f***ing wife for you!' during an argument with Milliron at a Phoenix steakhouse in 2020, after he learned that the FBI was investigating his wife's death. Rudolph has denied confessing to his wife's killing. Rudolph claimed what he actually said was, 'Now they're saying I killed my f***ing wife for you.' He said he and Milliron were having an argument about their finances and how the COVID-19 pandemic would affect the Pennsylvania dental franchise that had made him a small fortune. But he was irritated because he said his top concern was the FBI's probe. A jury of six men and six women sided with prosecutors - who believed the dentist pre-planned to kill his wife of 34 years in cold blood to begin a new life with Milliron. Milliron was found guilty by the same jury of being an accessory after the fact to murder, obstruction of a grand jury. She was also convicted of providing false and misleading testimony to a grand jury about the money and the nature of the relationship with Rudolph. Milliron was found not guilty on three other counts of perjury. During the hearing, she told the judge that she was innocent of the crimes, but the judge proclaimed that the lengthy sentence was deserved based on the evidence that Milliron encouraged the heinous act.