Latest news with #ConversationswithaKiller:TheSonofSamTapes
Daily Record
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Netflix true crime documentary uncovers chilling audio from Son of Sam killer who terrorised New York
Netflix's latest true crime docuseries focuses on the infamous 'Son of Sam' murderer David Berkowitz, whose crimes took over New York in the 1970s. David Berkowitz, better known as the notorious serial killer 'Son of Sam', terrorised New York City from 1976 - 1977, unleashing fear and anxiety that gripped the city for over a year. Now, nearly five decades later, Netflix is revisiting the infamous case in Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes, a gripping three-part docuseries. This latest instalment in Netflix's acclaimed Conversations with a Killer series offers a fresh perspective on the case, featuring never-before-heard prison audio of Berkowitz himself, alongside archival footage and raw, first-person recollections from survivors and investigators. Now available to stream, the docuseries follows the previous Conversations with a Killer seasons that explored the crimes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and Jeffery Dahmer. The mastermind behind these limited docuseries is Emmy winner and Academy Award nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger. Speaking to Deadline, Berlinger reflected on the audience's fascination with these dark stories and the success of the Ted Bundy series, saying: "Once that first show was a hit, then it was a floodgate." The new season turns its attention to David Berkowitz, a former American Army soldier who killed six people and wounded eleven others between 1975 and 1977 in a brutal spree of shootings and stabbings. Originally dubbed the 44 Caliber Killer, Berkowitz began his murder rampage on July 29, 1976, when he approached 18-year-old medic-in-training Donna Lauria and her friend, 19-year-old nurse Jody Valenti, in the Bronx. Donna was killed instantly, and Jody survived with injuries. The murder marked the beginning of a horrifying series of attacks that left New Yorkers living in fear. As the city remained on edge, Berkowitz taunted police and the media with letters signed under the pseudonym "Son of Sam." His victims, two men and four women, ranged in age from 18 to 25. Authorities finally captured Berkowitz in August 1977. He confessed to the murders and was sentenced to six consecutive life terms in 1978, a sentence he continues to serve today. During his trial, Berkowitz claimed that he was driven to kill by a demon-possessed dog named, belonging to his neighbour Sam. The Netflix documentary features never heard audio interviews recorded in 1980 at Attica Correctional Facility by reporter Jack Jones, providing intimate and chilling insights into Berkowitz's mind. Filmmaker Berlinger stated: "These rare tapes reveal unnerving insights into his psyche, shedding light on the intricate details of the case and the pervasive fear that gripped the city." "Through these tapes, we hope to not only revisit history, but to bring clarity and depth to a narrative that has long intrigued and unsettled the public," he concluded. The documentary has 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and viewers have taken to X, formally known as Twitter to discuss the show. One viewer hailed it one of the best, writing: "Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes may be one of their best true crime docuseries." While another said: "The Son of Sam tapes on Netflix was done very well." Additionally, another viewer recommended the docuseries, stating: "Watching the Son Of Sam tapes on Netflix, you guy need to watch this its crazy. The documentary is also wild too"
Metro
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Haunting Netflix true-crime series about 'Satanic cult' killer races up chart
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A 'fascinating' true-crime series about one of the most notorious serial-killers in history has soared up the rankings on Netflix. Mixing present-day interviews with previously unheard recordings, Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes examines David Berkowitz's mark on 1970s New York. Now 72, Berkowitz carried out a murderous 13-month rampage in the American city between 1976 and 1977, during which he killed six women and wounded eleven others. Armed with a .44 Special calliber revolver for most of his crimes, eventually he was arrested in August 1977 for eight shootings. He confessed to them all and was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences in 1978. Now, Netflix's new three-part series features audio of past interviews the killer did with Rochester Democrat and Chronicle journalist Jack Jones. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. It also contains a new interview with Berkowitz, who is serving a life sentence in upstate New York. As well as this, victims' loved ones and researchers shed light on this period in New York history. Reacting to the series on X, many fans have highlighted the new information it provides. @maoshisa1981 described it as a 'fascinating listen', adding: 'The unreleased Berkowitz recordings sound like a chilling deep dive into the case.' Meanwhile, @CriticSusan added: 'Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes may be one of their best true crime docu-series. @Netflix.' Towards the beginning of the series, viewers are shown how the Bronx native was adopted in 1953 before he became the '.44 Caliber Killer' and 'Son of Sam' due to the signature he left on letters at crime scenes and sent to media outlets. When Berkowitz was finally arrested and put on trial, he claimed his neighbor's dog, Sam, was possessed by a demon and commanded him to kill. But, in an interview from 1980 we hear how Berkowitz fabricated this story to create confusion and manipulate the media and law enforcement. A character playing Berkowitz also featured in another Netflix series by David Fincher called Mindhunter, which ran for two seasons. In June it was teased that the rudely axed series could be getting a Hollywood makeover for a film revival. There is a potential to bring back the show as not only one movie but an entire trilogy, with creator Fincher carefully vetting the scripts. More Trending Holt McCallany, who starred as FBI special agent Bill Tench, recently spoke to the Fight Club director. 'I had a meeting with David Fincher in his office a few months ago, and he said to me that there is a chance that it may come back as three two-hour movies, but I think it's just a chance,' he told CBR. 'I know there are writers that are working, but you know, David has to be happy with scripts.' View More » Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes is available to watch on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Wednesday mastermind vows that Jenna Ortega is the 'reason Netflix phenomenon exists' MORE: 'Murderous' horror Netflix series soars up chart days before season 2 launches MORE: Netflix show boss fires back after raunchy TV series is labelled 'vulgar'
The Irish Sun
31-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Son of Sam killer invited me into dark world… he was like ‘Jack the Ripper with a gun' but cowardly admission stunned me
HALF a century ago serial killer David Berkowitz began his reign of terror in New York city - shooting random women at point blank range. Today the question remains, why did the man - calling himself 11 Serial killer David Berkowitz smirked after being caught Credit: Getty 11 Victims Valentina Suriani, Christine Freund, Virginia Voskerichian and Stacy Moskowitz Credit: AP 11 One of the letters Berkowitz sent to the police as the elusive 'Son of Sam' Credit: Getty Now journalist Jack D Jones has revealed the contents of those interviews in a new Netflix documentary titled Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes. Jones, who covered prison and had spoken to many inmates, became obsessed with Berkowitz - even visiting him at weekends during his free time. Having sat across from one of Read More in The Sun Berkowitz, though, is a slippery character who keeps changing his story. After being caught he told detectives that a 6,000-year-old demon, speaking through the dog of his neighbour Sam Carr, ordered him to commit the murders. But he told Jack that story was a 'sham' to excuse slaying 'innocent people'. Jack says: 'He was a modern Most read in The Sun When the reporter received a letter from New York's notorious Attica prison in 1980 with the name D Berkowitz on it, he could hardly believe it. Just three years earlier the former US soldier had been caught by police following the biggest manhunt in New York's history. Netflix drops trailer for harrowing new true crime doc The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness The Son of Sam had targeted young women with long brunette hair, often firing at the men they were with as well. Having stabbed two young women in December 1975, both of whom survived the vicious attacks, he switched to using a .44 caliber handgun. From his first shooting in July 1976 to a final failed plan to commit a massacre in August 1977, fear spread across the Big Apple. Both young men and women stopped going out at night as the police appeared powerless to stop a killer who struck at will. When Berkowitz was apprehended, police officers found bizarre messages scrawled in red all over the walls of his spartan apartment. He was a modern Jack the Ripper character with a gun Jack D Jones To the world, this loner was a dangerous 'nut job'. But that is not the impression Berkowitz gave when Jack first met him. 'Berkowitz comes over, bounds round the table and to my surprise he stuck his hand out and says 'hi, I'm David,'" Jack recalls. 'He's the last person you'd expect to be a serial killer.' Intrigued, Jack wanted to know what his motivation was for ending the lives of so many young people. Over the weeks he says 'we formed an ongoing relationship' and slowly Berkowitz opened up about his past. Making of a murderer Berkowitz was adopted by the childless Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, with his birth mother Betty Broder not wanting to keep a child she'd had with a married man. He told Jack: 'My parents were very nice, fair, kind, loving people, everything positive.' But he admits to being 'very mean' to his devoted adoptive mother, saying: 'I used to rip up her clothes, tear a hole in her blouse or something.' Berkowitz also used to set fires in stairwells. Berkowitz comes over, bounds round the table and to my surprise he stuck his hand out and says 'hi, I'm David.' He's the last person you'd expect to be a serial killer Jack D Jones His dad Nathan thought that rather than telling Berkowitz that his mother had given him up, he would lie and say she had died in childbirth. That, though, made the youngster feel guilty about the death of his birth mum. Then his adoptive mother Pearl died from cancer when Berkowitz was aged just 14 - and in 1974 he tracked down his birth mother. He disapproved of Betty having him out of wedlock and thinking he "was an accident", adding: 'It's like a volcano erupting.' Twisted logic Berkowitz resented others seemingly following a similar path to his mother. Often his targets would be couples making out in parked cars late at night - and in his depraved mind, 'It felt like I was getting revenge." But there might be another reason. While serving in the US Army in South Korea, Berkowitz started experimenting with drugs, including the hallucinogenic LSD. Friends felt he changed after this, and he became more of a loner on leaving the forces in 1974. It has been suggested that the But Berkowitz had already stabbed two women by this point and told Jack: 'The movies didn't cause it, but they did reassure me.' Cowardly killer 11 Donna Lauria was Berkowitz's first victim to die Credit: Getty 11 Stacy Moskowitz was the last person to be shot dead by the Son of Sam Credit: AP:Associated Press 11 Stacy's boyfriend Robert Violante was shot in the eye, leaving him permanently blinded Credit: AP 11 Police officers reading about the .44 killer, as he was first known Credit: AP Berkowitz did, however, buy himself a .44 Bulldog gun because he found it hard to kill someone with a knife. The coward didn't like to make eye contact with his victims. Jack says: 'He told me he was seeking out women he could kill. He said he had to view his victims as what he wanted them to be. 'When his intended victims asked him if he needed any help or would smile, he couldn't do it.' There were occasions where he ended up helping people he had initially targeted. He told Jack: 'I was always upholding the image of a good upstanding citizen.' In his spare time Berkowitz, who worked various dead end jobs, had helped fire trucks get to blazes. The movies didn't cause it, but they did reassure me David Berkowitz Jack says: 'His whole life he'd been practising keeping this horrible side of himself inside. David Berkowitz was looking to be a hero.' But the psychotic side of his personality took over. Donna Lauria, 18, was his first victim to die, gunned down as she got out of a car in the Bronx in July 1976. Berkowitz said: 'I had so much anger, one killing wasn't going to quench it.' Late at night he would trawl the city planning his next murder, mainly choosing couples sat in cars. After 20-year-old secretary Stacy Moskowitz was shot in the head in July 1977 her funeral was shown on television. Her boyfriend Robert Violante survived the attack but was shot in the eye, leaving him permanently blinded. Jack recalls: 'He remembered the grieving process everybody was going through. He seemed to get gratification from it.' Stacy was to be his final victim. Snared by parking ticket A parking ticket led detectives to Berkowitz, who a neighbour described as 'that nut'. They became even more suspicious on learning Berkowitz had shot a dog belonging to Sam Carr for barking. With the police closing in, Berkowitz headed to the wealthy Hamptons on the coast near New York with the intention of massacring holiday makers with an automatic weapon. But the terrible weather stopped him. Berkowitz admits on tape: 'When it started to rain and there was no one around, I got in the car and went home.' After his arrest he claimed he committed murder because Sam the Demon 'made me do it'. It was all just a sham, to be frank with you David Berkowitz Berkowitz was declared mentally fit to stand trial and pleaded guilty to all of the shootings, and was sentenced to 25 years to life. In his interview with Jack, though, he admitted to making up the voice in his head line because he had to 'convince myself that I'm not the one that's doing this'. He confessed: 'It was all just a sham, to be frank with you.' Even though Berkowitz will be forever known as the Son of Sam, he does not think there was anyone called Sam behind his bloody crimes. Jack thinks that this loner was desperate for attention, concluding: 'He achieved what he wanted. A lifetime of notoriety.' It could be argued that another documentary about Berkowitz will just give him what he wants. But with his next parole hearing due in May 2026, it should also convince everyone how truly dangerous this serial killer is. Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes is streaming on Netflix now. 11 His arrest was front page news Credit: New York Post 11 A parking ticket led to Berkowitz being caught 11 Berkowitz took drugs in the army, which those close to him say changed him Credit: Getty 11 The killer signed his notes 'Son of Sam' Credit: Getty
Scottish Sun
31-07-2025
- Scottish Sun
Son of Sam killer invited me into dark world… he was like ‘Jack the Ripper with a gun' but cowardly admission stunned me
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HALF a century ago serial killer David Berkowitz began his reign of terror in New York city - shooting random women at point blank range. Today the question remains, why did the man - calling himself The Son of Sam - go on this murderous rampage? Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 11 Serial killer David Berkowitz smirked after being caught Credit: Getty 11 Victims Valentina Suriani, Christine Freund, Virginia Voskerichian and Stacy Moskowitz Credit: AP 11 One of the letters Berkowitz sent to the police as the elusive 'Son of Sam' Credit: Getty Berkowitz, 72, who is serving a life sentence for six murders and seven attempted murders, decided to confess all in a series of taped interviews in 1980. Now journalist Jack D Jones has revealed the contents of those interviews in a new Netflix documentary titled Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes. Jones, who covered prison and had spoken to many inmates, became obsessed with Berkowitz - even visiting him at weekends during his free time. Having sat across from one of America's most notorious serial killers for hours on end, the reporter believes Berkowitz took 'gratification' from seeing victims' families grieve and, in his twisted mind, wanted to be 'a hero'. Berkowitz, though, is a slippery character who keeps changing his story. After being caught he told detectives that a 6,000-year-old demon, speaking through the dog of his neighbour Sam Carr, ordered him to commit the murders. But he told Jack that story was a 'sham' to excuse slaying 'innocent people'. Jack says: 'He was a modern Jack the Ripper character with a gun. This was some crazy motherf***er.' When the reporter received a letter from New York's notorious Attica prison in 1980 with the name D Berkowitz on it, he could hardly believe it. Just three years earlier the former US soldier had been caught by police following the biggest manhunt in New York's history. Netflix drops trailer for harrowing new true crime doc The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness The Son of Sam had targeted young women with long brunette hair, often firing at the men they were with as well. Having stabbed two young women in December 1975, both of whom survived the vicious attacks, he switched to using a .44 caliber handgun. From his first shooting in July 1976 to a final failed plan to commit a massacre in August 1977, fear spread across the Big Apple. Both young men and women stopped going out at night as the police appeared powerless to stop a killer who struck at will. When Berkowitz was apprehended, police officers found bizarre messages scrawled in red all over the walls of his spartan apartment. He was a modern Jack the Ripper character with a gun Jack D Jones To the world, this loner was a dangerous 'nut job'. But that is not the impression Berkowitz gave when Jack first met him. 'Berkowitz comes over, bounds round the table and to my surprise he stuck his hand out and says 'hi, I'm David,'" Jack recalls. 'He's the last person you'd expect to be a serial killer.' Intrigued, Jack wanted to know what his motivation was for ending the lives of so many young people. Over the weeks he says 'we formed an ongoing relationship' and slowly Berkowitz opened up about his past. Making of a murderer Berkowitz was adopted by the childless Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, with his birth mother Betty Broder not wanting to keep a child she'd had with a married man. He told Jack: 'My parents were very nice, fair, kind, loving people, everything positive.' But he admits to being 'very mean' to his devoted adoptive mother, saying: 'I used to rip up her clothes, tear a hole in her blouse or something.' Berkowitz also used to set fires in stairwells. Berkowitz comes over, bounds round the table and to my surprise he stuck his hand out and says 'hi, I'm David.' He's the last person you'd expect to be a serial killer Jack D Jones His dad Nathan thought that rather than telling Berkowitz that his mother had given him up, he would lie and say she had died in childbirth. That, though, made the youngster feel guilty about the death of his birth mum. Then his adoptive mother Pearl died from cancer when Berkowitz was aged just 14 - and in 1974 he tracked down his birth mother. He disapproved of Betty having him out of wedlock and thinking he "was an accident", adding: 'It's like a volcano erupting.' Twisted logic Berkowitz resented others seemingly following a similar path to his mother. Often his targets would be couples making out in parked cars late at night - and in his depraved mind, 'It felt like I was getting revenge." But there might be another reason. While serving in the US Army in South Korea, Berkowitz started experimenting with drugs, including the hallucinogenic LSD. Friends felt he changed after this, and he became more of a loner on leaving the forces in 1974. It has been suggested that the Robert De Niro movie Taxi Driver, about a vigilante New Yorker, released in February 1976, could have inspired him. But Berkowitz had already stabbed two women by this point and told Jack: 'The movies didn't cause it, but they did reassure me.' Cowardly killer 11 Donna Lauria was Berkowitz's first victim to die Credit: Getty 11 Stacy Moskowitz was the last person to be shot dead by the Son of Sam Credit: AP:Associated Press 11 Stacy's boyfriend Robert Violante was shot in the eye, leaving him permanently blinded Credit: AP 11 Police officers reading about the .44 killer, as he was first known Credit: AP Berkowitz did, however, buy himself a .44 Bulldog gun because he found it hard to kill someone with a knife. The coward didn't like to make eye contact with his victims. Jack says: 'He told me he was seeking out women he could kill. He said he had to view his victims as what he wanted them to be. 'When his intended victims asked him if he needed any help or would smile, he couldn't do it.' There were occasions where he ended up helping people he had initially targeted. He told Jack: 'I was always upholding the image of a good upstanding citizen.' In his spare time Berkowitz, who worked various dead end jobs, had helped fire trucks get to blazes. The movies didn't cause it, but they did reassure me David Berkowitz Jack says: 'His whole life he'd been practising keeping this horrible side of himself inside. David Berkowitz was looking to be a hero.' But the psychotic side of his personality took over. Donna Lauria, 18, was his first victim to die, gunned down as she got out of a car in the Bronx in July 1976. Berkowitz said: 'I had so much anger, one killing wasn't going to quench it.' Late at night he would trawl the city planning his next murder, mainly choosing couples sat in cars. After 20-year-old secretary Stacy Moskowitz was shot in the head in July 1977 her funeral was shown on television. Her boyfriend Robert Violante survived the attack but was shot in the eye, leaving him permanently blinded. Jack recalls: 'He remembered the grieving process everybody was going through. He seemed to get gratification from it.' Stacy was to be his final victim. Snared by parking ticket A parking ticket led detectives to Berkowitz, who a neighbour described as 'that nut'. They became even more suspicious on learning Berkowitz had shot a dog belonging to Sam Carr for barking. With the police closing in, Berkowitz headed to the wealthy Hamptons on the coast near New York with the intention of massacring holiday makers with an automatic weapon. But the terrible weather stopped him. Berkowitz admits on tape: 'When it started to rain and there was no one around, I got in the car and went home.' After his arrest he claimed he committed murder because Sam the Demon 'made me do it'. It was all just a sham, to be frank with you David Berkowitz Berkowitz was declared mentally fit to stand trial and pleaded guilty to all of the shootings, and was sentenced to 25 years to life. In his interview with Jack, though, he admitted to making up the voice in his head line because he had to 'convince myself that I'm not the one that's doing this'. He confessed: 'It was all just a sham, to be frank with you.' Even though Berkowitz will be forever known as the Son of Sam, he does not think there was anyone called Sam behind his bloody crimes. Jack thinks that this loner was desperate for attention, concluding: 'He achieved what he wanted. A lifetime of notoriety.' It could be argued that another documentary about Berkowitz will just give him what he wants. But with his next parole hearing due in May 2026, it should also convince everyone how truly dangerous this serial killer is. Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes is streaming on Netflix now. 11 His arrest was front page news Credit: New York Post 11 A parking ticket led to Berkowitz being caught 11 Berkowitz took drugs in the army, which those close to him say changed him Credit: Getty
Time Magazine
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
The True Story Behind Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes
Nearly 50 years after the arrest of David Berkowitz, the serial killer who terrorized New York City between 1976 and 1977, a new documentary series, Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes, explores that chilling period in history. Out July 30, the three-part series features audio of past interviews Berkowitz did with Rochester Democrat and Chronicle journalist Jack Jones, plus a new interview with Berkowitz, who is serving a life sentence in upstate New York. Berkowitz, now 72, has never shied away from media attention. Before he was caught—a parking ticket traced his getaway car to his home address—he sent letters to police detectives and even the New York City tabloid columnist Jimmy Breslin encouraging them to keep up the search for him. Conversations with a Killer also features interviews with the victims' loved ones, researchers, and former law enforcement assigned to the case. Here's how the series explores what drove Berkowitz to murder. Childhood resentment The series traces the origins of Berkowitz's discontent to his adoption in 1953. While the Bronx native was adopted by a couple that loved to dote on him, one day, his father told Berkowitz that he was adopted, his mother died in childbirth, and his biological father didn't want him. 'I thought there was a man out there that hated me and was possibly going to try to kill me for causing the death of his wife,' Berkowitz tells Jones. He wasn't the same after that moment, and though his adoptive mother loved him, he began to lash out at her, tearing her blouses and ripping her lipstick out of its container. When he graduated high school, he found out that his biological mother was actually alive and visited her. He learned that he was born out of wedlock, and his father didn't want to stick around. As he wrote in a letter, he felt like an 'outsider' who was on a 'different wave length than everybody.' In the recordings, Berkowitz says: 'It brings me back to the idea of women, young girls having sex in a car with guys. Carelessness, you know? It was kind of degrading to me to see that I was an accident…Anger took over to replace the guilt.' He describes himself as a 'loner' who felt 'stigmatized for adoption' and got to a point where 'I was so angry, I blamed others, and I started committing my crimes to make people pay attention to me.' When Berkowitz realized he was the product of an affair, he began 'targeting young lovers having illicit sex in their cars, producing unwanted children, so that there wouldn't be another child born with this level of alienation and resentment,' director Joe Berlinger says. 'But obviously lots of children discover that they're adopted, and lots of children have traumatic childhoods, and they don't turn into killers. So that's what endlessly fascinates me: Where is that line where somebody will go off the deep end versus somebody who will just soldier on?' Reign of terror There wasn't initially a clear trend in his targets, so New Yorkers were paralyzed with fear. Women with long brown hair were advised to get shorter haircuts or wear their long locks in a ponytail. Some even bleached their hair blond and donned baggy clothing on a night out. Many parents begged their daughters to have their dates at home or put off dating until the killer was caught. As TIME reported in the Aug. 15, 1977, issue of the magazine, 'If terrorists might well pose a greater potential danger to more people, there was much more apprehension of the threat of random shots in the dark from the lone gunman. He has haunted lovers' lanes, attacked couples coming from strobe-lighted discotheques, even opened fire at a pair of girls on a house porch and shot another as he passed her on a street.' Several of the victims were couples. Berkowitz was always disappointed that he struggled to have a romantic relationship with a woman. He sought out women who reminded him of what his birth mother might have been like at a young age. 'I felt like this is what I had to do, like I felt I was getting revenge,' he can be heard saying in a recording in the doc. His first target, Wendy Savino, appears in Conversations of a Killer. The New York Police Department confirmed in 2024 that she was the first 'Son of Sam' victim. He shot her on April 9, 1976, with a different revolver than the one he used to kill the other victims, so that was one reason authorities missed the connection initially. Now 88, she pulls out a sketch of Berkowitz in the doc and says, 'I've been carrying this around in my handbag for 47 years.' Lessons from 'Son of Sam' for today 'I actually think this case is a foundational case in our current and ever-growing obsession with crime,' Berlinger says. 'The way Berkowitz interacted with the media, the way the media willingly cooperated, I mean, everyone in New York couldn't wait for the next headline and next newspaper to buy. This is obviously before the 24-hour news cycle, before social media.' Berlinger notes that back in the 1970s, police departments weren't readily sharing computerized data with one another the way they do today. As he puts it, 'the '70s and early '80s was kind of the golden age of serial killers going on for a long time before they were caught.' Despite conspiracy theories that suggest 'Son of Sam' refers to multiple killers, Conversations with a Killer makes clear that Berkowitz was the sole perpetrator, arguing that when Berkowitz was arrested, the killings stopped. The series ends with Berlinger asking Berkowitz two questions in a 2024 phone interview. When Berlinger asks Berkowitz what he wants people to know about his story, Berkowitz emphasizes that he's very sorry for the murders, that he was in a 'dark space' in his life, and that his life 'spun out of control, and I just couldn't get on that right path.' Then, when Berlinger asks Berkowitz what advice he'd give to his younger self, he says that he should have gotten help sooner, stating, ''Dave, run for your life. Get help.' I could have gone to my dad. I could have gone to my sister. But I kept everything to myself…I wish I could start all over again and take a better path in life.' While Berlinger wrestled with whether to give the serial killer a platform, he thought viewers could learn from this answer. 'That just touched me so deeply,' he says. 'Putting that message out there can help somebody realize, 'I'm feeling some of this rage. I need to get help,' or empower people to encourage someone with a lot of pent-up anger to seek help."
