David Berkowitz, the deranged serial killer who stalked the streets of New York between 1976 and 1977, was finally captured 48 years ago \u2014 ending a murder spree that claimed six lives and left seven others wounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaught!\u201d blared the front page of the New York Post on Aug. 11, 1977, announcing the end of the reign of terror of the cold-blooded killer known as \u201cSon of Sam.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Berkowitz, the serial killer known as \u201cSon of Sam,\u201d was arrested at his Yonkers home 48 years ago. New York Post<\/p>\n
Berkowitz was found guilty of eight shootings in June 1978 and slapped with six consecutive life sentences. Since he first became eligible for parole in 2002, Berkowitz has vied to be released every two years like clockwork.<\/p>\n
Last May, he was denied for the 12th time<\/a> at the maximum-security Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, where he\u2019s been incarcerated since age 24.<\/p>\n He had a penchant for leaving notes at the scenes of his crimes and writing gloating messages to police and journalists. New York Post<\/p>\n Over a 13-month period, starting in April 1976, Brooklyn-born Berkowitz, a postal employee and former US Army soldier, terrorized the Big Apple \u2014 particularly young women and couples \u2014 armed with a .44-caliber Bulldog revolver, shooting many of his victims through car windows.<\/p>\n Following his crimes, Berkowitz would frequently leave notes at the scene, or boast about what he did in letters to police or journalists. He earned his nickname from one of the missives, an apparent reference to his neighbor\u2019s dog, Sam.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a monster. I am the Son of Sam,\u201d bragged Berkowitz in a note left near the bodies of victims Alexander Esau, 20, and Valentina Suriani, 18, on April 17, 1977.<\/p>\n The NYPD formed a 200-person task force to crack the case, with many undercover officers working in the streets overnight on the hopes of catching the shooter in the act.<\/p>\n David Berkowitz killed six people and injured seven more during his 13-month killing spree in New York City. New York Post<\/p>\n The shootings spanned Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, \u201cSam\u201d claiming his last victim, Stacy Moskowitz, 20, on July 31, 1977 \u2014 less than two weeks before cops busted Berkowitz at his Yonkers home.<\/p>\n Authorities had traced the killer by linking traffic tickets issued in the area of the final killing to his car.<\/p>\n \u201cI am Sam. David Berkowitz,\u201d he told cops swarming his building on Aug. 10, 1977.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat took you so long?\u201d he asked chillingly.<\/p>\n Now 72, Berkowitz claims to have found God behind bars.<\/p>\n In an exclusive interview with The Post last year<\/a>, Berkowitz said \u201cJesus has allowed me to survive and thrive,\u201d and said he sees himself as a \u201cfather figure\u201d to his fellow inmates.<\/p>\n The convicted murderer also likened himself and his ability to \u201cchange lives\u201d with his writing to that of Anne Frank, the Jewish teen author whose diaries chronicling her life hiding from Nazis with her family were published around the globe following her death during the Holocaust.<\/p>\n \u201cShe impacted the lives of millions,\u201d Berkowitz said. \u201cLittle Anne changed the world with a pen. So I ask myself, what can I do with my trusty typewriter? Maybe I can change lives, too, with my message of hope in God?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n