Word: berkowitz
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...guards rushed the struggling Berkowitz out of the room, he cried: "That's right! That's right! I'd kill her again! I'd kill them all again...
...Berkowitz rants in court...
When David Berkowitz stood before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Joseph Corso three weeks ago, he admitted that he, acting as "Son of Sam," had terrorized New York City in a long series of killings with his .44-cal. revolver. The former mail clerk appeared so placid and reasonable that the judge agreed with a panel of psychiatrists and found him mentally competent to stand trial. Berkowitz then pleaded guilty to the murder of Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and to five more counts of second-degree murder. This flat and anticlimactic appearance in court was entirely free of the seemingly psychotic rantings...
Last week, as Berkowitz returned to court to be sentenced, it was Son of Sam's turn to put in an appearance. In a packed courtroom sat Stacy Moskowitz's mother and Robert Violante, Stacy's date the night of the murder, who is partly blind from the gunshot wounds he received. While the spectators waited for 1½ hr., guards struggled to bring the killer into the courtroom; he scratched and bit them, trying to rush for a window. Finally, disheveled and handcuffed, he was pushed into the room. His face was flushed, his eyes bulging...
...judge delayed sentencing until June 12 and ordered new psychiatric tests. Both legal and medical experts were left to ponder a fresh set of problems in the case. Among them: If Berkowitz was so deranged last week, had he been competent to plead guilty two weeks earlier? Another question: What had he meant last month when a court-appointed psychiatrist asked what he planned to do at the sentencing? "I know, but I'm not telling," he had replied. It sounded, thought some, as if he were planning his outrageous performance. "This will be the third psychiatric report," complained...