David Berkowitz is one of the most notorious serial killers in New York City history. The postal clerk terrorized the city for thirteen months in 1976-77 as he stalked young women in lovers’ lanes with a .44-caliber handgun and mocked the police probe in notes sent to then-Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin. Berkowitz’s rampage ultimately became the subject of a popular Spike Lee movie.
After his arrest and trial in 1977, Berkowitz was sentenced to serve 25 years to life in prison for the ambush killings of six people. In connection with the trial, Berkowitz exhibited many symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, including his statements that he was acting on orders of a dog owned by a neighbor named Sam.
Last week, Berkowitz was rejected for parole. Under New York law, it is mandatory that Berkowitz be considered for parole again in 2006.
Interestingly, Berkowitz has been a model prisoner and became a born-again Christian in 1987. He maintains a website that has some blog characteristics (a daily journal). He accepts full responsibility for his actions, makes no excuses, and appears to have true remorse for the surviving victims and survivors of the victims of his crimes.
Regardless of (or perhaps because of) the depravity of his crimes, Berkowitz’s case raises fascinating criminal justice, medical, and societal questions. Hat tip to Charles Kuffner over at Off the Kuff for the link to the Berkowitz story.