A notorious serial killer who once shot and killed six people in New York City, laments the recent spate of gun violence and now prays for his victims.
In an exclusive interview with the New York Daily News, David Berkowitz, also known as "Son of Sam," said, "Society has to take the glory out of guns. Young people have no business carrying a gun."
Berkowitz shot 13 people during a 13-month shooting spree in the 1970s, killing six. He stalked and preyed on young women from July 1976 until his arrest in August of 1977. He later said a neighbor's dog told when to kill. Spike Lee's 1999 film "Summer of Sam" is based on those serial murders.
Berkowtiz is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence.
"I would love to speak bluntly to those gangbanging teens and wanna-bes and tell them prison is nothing like what you think," Berkowitz told the Daily News. "If you're packing a gun, you're making a big mistake, and you'll regret it."
Berkowitz, now 56, told the newspaper he doesn't like to recall the time of the killings when, he said, he was heavily into the occult. He describes himself then as "lost," "tormented" and "confused."
"I don't even recognize that person. 'Son of Sam' represents evil and satanic things. That person is like a total stranger to me now," he said.
He is now a decade into his prison sentence; he says he's a born-again Christian, and he has taken on prison ministries and worked with younger prisoners, the article noted.
Berkowitz told the newspaper, "I continue to pray for the victims of my crimes. I do wish them the best in life. But I'm sure the pain will never end for them. I regret that."
The extensive interview recalls the summer 35 years ago when much of the city was in fear of the "Son of Sam" and how the media covered the crimes at the time.
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In an exclusive interview with the New York Daily News, David Berkowitz, also known as "Son of Sam," said, "Society has to take the glory out of guns. Young people have no business carrying a gun."
Berkowitz shot 13 people during a 13-month shooting spree in the 1970s, killing six. He stalked and preyed on young women from July 1976 until his arrest in August of 1977. He later said a neighbor's dog told when to kill. Spike Lee's 1999 film "Summer of Sam" is based on those serial murders.
Berkowtiz is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence.
"I would love to speak bluntly to those gangbanging teens and wanna-bes and tell them prison is nothing like what you think," Berkowitz told the Daily News. "If you're packing a gun, you're making a big mistake, and you'll regret it."
Berkowitz, now 56, told the newspaper he doesn't like to recall the time of the killings when, he said, he was heavily into the occult. He describes himself then as "lost," "tormented" and "confused."
"I don't even recognize that person. 'Son of Sam' represents evil and satanic things. That person is like a total stranger to me now," he said.
He is now a decade into his prison sentence; he says he's a born-again Christian, and he has taken on prison ministries and worked with younger prisoners, the article noted.
Berkowitz told the newspaper, "I continue to pray for the victims of my crimes. I do wish them the best in life. But I'm sure the pain will never end for them. I regret that."
The extensive interview recalls the summer 35 years ago when much of the city was in fear of the "Son of Sam" and how the media covered the crimes at the time.
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Source
Unrelated to this particular article but my mom and godmother were in their very early 20s in Brooklyn when all this went down and they were talking not too long ago about how terrified they were and how scary it was, I think the shootings in Brooklyn happened not too far from where they lived at the time. They also both fit the profile of the young women he was targeting, so that was even scarier. I can't even imagine living in NYC with something like this happening, I was scared enough when there was someone robbing women in broad daylight in my neighborhood and I got a scary notice from the NYPD slipped under my door because one of them happened on my block.
He murdered 6 people, shot 13, and terrorized countless people, he's done getting to talk about, or take a stance on, jackshit.