David Berkowitz was born Richard David Falso on June 1, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York. He had a troubled childhood. A few days after birth he was given up for adoption. He was adopted by a middle-aged couple who had no children. Their names were Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz. They changed his name from Richard David to David Richard and gave him their last name, Berkowitz. He was the couple’s only child. At the age of 6 years old, his adoptive mother died of breast cancer, (Pizzichi, 2022) which had a lasting effect on David. He started doing poorly in school after her death. He became more of a loner and developed aggressive behaviors such as arguing quite often with his peers. At a young age, the adoptive parents told him that he was adopted, and that his real mother had died while giving birth, which was a lie. David Berkowitz said he was suicidal when he was a child and suffered severely from depression because he thought he caused his mother’s death. He later says that he never held that lie against his adoptive parents, because they said that the adoption agency told them that it would be better to tell that story rather than tell David the truth. (Merryweather, 2021)
He was big for his age and was teased because of it by his peers. After his adoptive mother, Pearl, died, David began to go downhill. His grades went down, his faith in God was broken. Her death seemed to destroy him. In 1971, David’s adoptive father, Nat, remarried. The new wife did not get along with David. The couple moved to Florida without David, which left David alone. He no longer had guidance, purpose, or goals.
He made friends with a girl. In his mind this was more significant, though, than it actually was. Her name was Iris Gerhardt. (Bardsley)
Next David joined the army in the summer of 1971 and served for three years there, where he became an excellent marksman. (Jenkins, 2023) He never got married. He worked as a cab driver in 1976. Then had several non-professional jobs. At the time of his arrest, he was working as a sorter for the United States Postal Service.
After he got out of the army, he began to spiral out of control. His anger toward women grew. This could be due to his mother giving him up at birth, and his adoptive mother dying while he was young. He started setting fires, 1,488 to be exact, around New York City in the mid 1970’s. Interestingly he kept a diary of each. He said he heard demons in his head tormenting him, and believed that if he did what they asked, then they would leave him alone. Because of this he went on a killing spree. By 1975, he attacked his first victim with a knife. She survived with several stab wounds. He went on to attack several other couples with his gun, a .44 caliber revolver, which is how he earned his first nickname from the police, “The .44 Caliber Killer.” David terrorized the New York City area from July of 1976 to July of 1977.
There might be more than one crime theory that fits in with David Berkowitz. The sociological theory says that crime is formed by factors that are external to an individual. Meaning these factors were present before the criminal act. This may apply given that he did not have stability growing up but instead was given away at birth by a mother who he thought had died from giving birth to him. Only to find out that he was lied to, and that she gave him away at birth. Then his next mother died, and his adoptive father found a new wife and moved out of state, leaving David behind to fend for himself. He was teased as a youth for his size and weight. Then, going into the army exposes young men to violence, and desensitizes them to hurting people. An effective soldier has to be willing to strike without hesitation if needed. David was also a member of some satanic occult group. From there he was trying to find peace but found demons and voices in his head.
The psychological theory could also explain David Berkowitz’s killing spree. This theory states criminal behavior is a result of a thinking process or having a pro-criminal attitude or personality disorder. David Berkowitz showed signs of paranoid schizophrenia. (Student, 2012) He was an angry and combative child growing up and turned to arson after the army. These show that he had a violent psychological disposition and could be the reason that he went into such violent criminal activity.
References
Bardsley, M. (n.d.). David Berkowitz: The son of sam. Fantasyland – David Berkowitz: The Son of Sam – Crime Library. https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/notorious/berkowitz/19.html
Merryweather, C. (2021, May 26). 5 disturbing facts about David Berkowitz’s childhood. Crime Viral. https://crimeviral.com/2021/05/5-disturbing-facts-about-david-berkowitzs-childhood/
Jenkins, J. P. (2023, May 14). David Berkowitz. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Berkowitz
Pizzichi, A. (2022, June 7). Son of Sam: The story of David Berkowitz, from childhood until now. Auralcrave. https://auralcrave.com/en/2022/04/14/son-of-sam-the-story-of-david-berkowitz-from-childhood-until-now/
Student. (2012, February 17). American Psychological Association (APA). American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/undergrad/ptacc/csi-student-paper.pdf
