Results: "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz
Published on 06/04/2024
“Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, who set New York City on edge with late-night shootings in the 1970s, was denied parole after his twelfth board appearance.

QUESTIONS
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Comments
1.
1.
Berkowitz (June 1, 1953-) terrorized the city with a series of shootings that killed six people and wounded seven beginning in July 1976. The shooter targeted young women and couples sitting in cars. The papers called him the ".44 Caliber Killer." In taunting notes to police and a journalist, he called himself "Son of Sam" and said he received demonic messages to kill. Do you remember these shootings?

Yes
50%
1047 votes
No
27%
564 votes
Undecided
7%
151 votes
Not Applicable
16%
338 votes
2.
2.
Berkowitz, 70, was rejected after a Board of Parole prison interview on May 14, 2024, according to information listed on a state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision web site. Officials with the corrections agency would not provide additional information. Do you think he's a rehabilitated prisoner? Yes
5%
95 votes
No
55%
1163 votes
Undecided
23%
479 votes
Not Applicable
17%
363 votes
3.
3.
Berkowitz was arrested Aug. 10, 1977, a little more than a year after the first victim was shot and killed in the Bronx. The New York Police Department formed a 200-person task force to find the killer. The case was finally cracked after a witness reported a strange man on the street near the final shooting. Police checked traffic tickets that had been issued in the area and traced them to Berkowitz's car and home in nearby Yonkers. If not being found because of the ticket, do you think he would have continued shooting people? Yes
66%
1387 votes
No
5%
113 votes
Undecided
13%
274 votes
Not Applicable
16%
326 votes
4.
4.
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. Berkowitz has since expressed remorse and said he is a born-again Christian. He is being held at a maximum-security prison about 60 miles north of New York City. Do you think he will ever get paroled? Yes
5%
107 votes
No
56%
1166 votes
Undecided
23%
488 votes
Not Applicable
16%
339 votes
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