David Berkowitz is one of the most infamous serial killers in history. Known as the "Son of Sam", he killed at least six people and injured seven more between 1976 and 1977 in New York. According to him, the crimes were ordered by a demon who possessed a neighbor's dog. He was arrested and sentenced to six life sentences.
In prison, in addition to blaming the dog (Satan and the animal), Berkowitz only confessed to two of the murders – the rest would have been committed by a satanic sect of which he was part. The possibility that Berkowitz did not act alone is the motto of the documentary series 'Children of Sam: Madness and Conspiracy', produced by Netflix and scheduled for May 5.
The production won its first trailer on Wednesday (7). Check out:
Directed by Joshua Zeman, the series follows the work of journalist Maury Terry, who, convinced that Berkowitz did not act alone, spent decades trying to prove the existence of such a sect. archive footage, conversations with people close to the investigation, and reports from Terry himself, Zeman tries to unravel if the journalist is just chasing ghosts or if the real Sons of Sam are still out there.
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In an interview with Rolling Stone, the director says he heard about Terry and his work for the first time while making his first film, 'Cropsey', about the disappearance of children in Staten Island. Rumors at the time linked the case to the Son of Sam murders.
“Originally, I thought the rumors were nothing more than satanic panic ('satanic panic', a phenomenon in the 1980s and 1990s, which arose in the United States, which linked a series of crimes to alleged satanic sects - of which few proved true), but I changed my mind when two NYPD detectives told me the story, ”said Zeman.
“They said there was a lot more to the Son of Sam case than the public knew. They referred me to the book 'Ultimate Evil' by Maury Terry - which both fascinated and frightened me. Finally, I found Maury and put his theories to the test. To my surprise, I found myself seriously considering the unimaginable: that Berkowitz did not act alone and that there were other Sons of Sam out there, ”says the filmmaker.
Terry passed away in 2015, still obsessed with investigating the murders, and Zeman admits that he himself was afraid of falling too deep into the rabbit hole. “I knew it could easily be me 40 years from now, but even though I tried to fight it, I couldn't help it - I was hooked. Even today, it is hard not to be thinking that maybe this last email or news is the clue to solve the case ”, he explains.
For the filmmaker, the police, the press and even the public helped to create the myth of the “lone shooter”. “You see these holes in the investigation start to show, where wrong decisions are being made and evidence is being lost, to the point where it's shocking. And that's what Maury was up against - and why, despite all the evidence he had, he couldn't convince the public of a different narrative."
'Children of Sam: Madness and Conspiracy' will be a four-part series, 60 minutes for each episode.
Via: Rolling Stone
