It's the 40th anniversary of one of NYC's most infamous summers: 1977, when the blackout and the Son of Sam dominated headlines. The serial killer, who was originally dubbed "the .44 Caliber Killer" before the "Son of Sam" moniker stuck, was targeting young couples in NYC, and was particularly attracted to "women with long, dark, wavy hair." So naturally, on-air reporters took to the streets and approached attractive young women, asking, "Do you feel personally threatened because you have long brown hair?" Please watch the :17-second mark when the reporter literally sneaks up on a woman from behind in 1977 when a serial killer was on the loose:
This footage is from the Smithsonian Channel's upcoming hour-long special, The Lost Tapes: Son of Sam, which premieres Sunday July 30th. The documentary, which exclusively features old footage, focuses on David Berkowitz and the media frenzy that the murders created. "Viewers get to relive these shocking U.S. moments as eyewitnesses," a rep for the channel says, explaining they only used "rare, newly discovered news and home video/audio footage from that time period, with no narration or new interviews." From the press release:
Berkowitz had already struck five times before the police were able to confirm that the bizarre shootings were all committed by the same individual, and the documentary features rare press conference footage of Police Commissioner Michael J. Dodd announcing publicly that the murders were connected and carried out using a .44 caliber Charter Arms Bulldog pistol. It wasn’t until Berkowitz struck for the sixth time on April 17, 1977 that he left a note promising to continue killing as the “Son of Sam.” The media ran with the new name, and New York, a city already plagued by a brutal crime wave, was now living in total fear. The “Son of Sam” began sending letters to newspapers describing the bizarre details and motives behind his attacks, and the headlines and notoriety surrounding the “Son of Sam” murders only fueled the flame for an unstable, violent killer.
Berkowitz’s method of stalking the streets at night, murdering brazenly, was incredibly difficult to track, and the NYPD formed a 200-person task force, Operation Omega, to bring him to justice. Attacking young couples in different sections of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn meant that no neighborhood was safe during his rampage, and police and the public had no idea when or where the “Son of Sam” would strike again.
The NYPD eventually got a tip from Cacilia Davis, a resident of Bath Beach, who told them about a suspicious man on her street the night of the Moskowitz-Violante murders; the police had ticketed his car moments before he walked by her, giving her an uneasy feeling. They checked every parking ticket issued that night and eventually hit Berkowitz's 1970 yellow Ford Galaxie. The tip led them to 35 Pine Street in Yonkers, where they found his car, stuffed with ammunition, maps of his previous crime scenes, and a letter to Inspector Timothy Dowd of the Omega Task Force, who was leading the manhunt.
The Lost Tapes: Son of Sam premieres on the Smithsonian Chennel Sunday, July 30th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
