Where Are the Survivors of David Berkowitz's Attacks Now? What They've Said After Facing the Infamous 'Son of Sam' By Lynsey Eidell

In 1976 and 1977, David Berkowitz — also known as the “Son of Sam” and the “.44-Caliber Killer” — embarked on a 13-month shooting spree that left six people dead.

Berkowitz would strike in New York City’s outer boroughs, primarily targeting young women with long dark hair at night. He was able to commit eight shootings without getting caught — all the while taunting the police and the press with handwritten letters, calling himself the “Son of Sam” and claiming that demons were commanding him to kill.

On Aug. 10, 1977, the Son of Sam’s reign of terror finally came to an end when police arrested Berkowitz outside of his Yonkers apartment — but the notorious killer and his crimes have remained a fixture in popular culture, serving as the inspiration for books, music, television shows and movies.

Now, Netflix’s Conversations With a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes, which was released on July 30, features interviews with some of the survivors of Berkowitz’s crime spree.

Here is everything to know about the men and women who survived Berkowitz’s attacks — and where they are today.

Who is David Berkowitz?

Berkowitz was born Richard David Falco in June 1953. After his birth, he was adopted by Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, a Jewish couple living in a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, according to New York Magazine, and renamed David Richard Berkowitz.

Pearl died from breast cancer when Berkowitz was 14 years old, leaving the teenager devastated and without “the capacity to love,” he said in an interview with Dr. David Abrahamsen, per New York.

Years later, a reunion with his biological mother, Betty Falco, only further traumatized Berkowitz when he learned he was the result of Falco’s affair with a married man and that he had a half-sister who was raised by Falco. The discovery left Berkowitz “filled with anger and rage,” particularly toward women — and just a few months later, he began his shooting spree.

Between 1976 and 1977, Berkowitz terrorized the outer boroughs of N.Y.C. with a string of random attacks — primarily shootings — that targeted young women who often had dark hair and were typically sitting in a car with a companion late at night. Berkowitz used a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver in the attacks, earning himself the nickname “the .44 caliber killer.” But he later coined himself the “Son of Sam” in letters written to police and the press.

“I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam,” Berkowitz’s first letter, found at the scene of one of his shootings, read.

How many people did David Berkowitz kill during his 13-month shooting spree?

Berkowitz committed eight shooting attacks between July 1976 and his capture in August 1977. In those eight attacks, he killed six people.

On July 29, 1976 — Berkowitz’s first recorded attack — he shot and killed 18-year-old Donna Lauria in the Bronx. Six months later, on Jan. 30, 1977, a second fatality was recorded when Berkowitz murdered Christine Freund in Queens. On March 8, 1977, Berkowitz killed again in Queens when he shot 19-year-old Columbia University student Virginia Voskerichian in the face.

Berkowitz then returned to the Bronx for his next attack, shooting and killing Alexander Esau, 20, and Valentina Suriani, 18, as they sat in their car on April 17, 1977. It was at this crime scene that Berkowitz left his first letter, declaring himself the “Son of Sam” and revealing that the killings would not stop.

The sixth and final death came on July 31, 1977 — one year after Berkowitz began his spree — when he mortally wounded 20-year-old Stacy Moskowitz while she sat in a car with her date in a Brooklyn park.

Who are the survivors of the Son of Sam shootings?

Despite shooting his victims at point-blank range, a number of people survived the Son of Sam attacks. Some of the survivors of Berkowitz’s shootings were Jodi Valenti, Carl Denaro, Donna DeMasi, Joanne Lomino, Judy Placido, Sal Lupo, Robert Violante and Wendy Savino.

Valenti was shot in Berkowitz’s first recorded attack alongside Lauria, as the two sat in Valenti’s car. The then-19-year-old was shot in the thigh and was later able to give a description of the shooter to police.

On Oct. 23, 1976, Berkowitz struck for the second time, shooting Denaro, then 20, in the head as he sat in his car in Queens with Rosemary Keenan, who was 18. Keenan’s only injuries were from the car’s shattered glass, but Denaro was shot five times and needed a metal plate to replace a part of his skull, which was shattered by the bullets.

Lomino and DeMasi were shot and wounded by Berkowitz on Nov. 27, 1976, in Queens. The two teenagers had just gone to the movies and were standing on the front porch of Lomino’s house when Berkowitz approached and asked for directions before opening fire. DeMasi was shot in the neck but survived and recovered from her injuries. Lomino was struck in the back and became paralyzed as a result of the attack.

Following Lomino and DeMasi’s attack, Berkowitz’s next three shootings all resulted in fatalities. Then, on June 26, 1977, Berkowitz struck for the seventh time, shooting Placido, 17, and Lupo, 20, as they sat in their car outside a Queens nightclub. Placido was hit in the temple, shoulder and back of the neck, according to The New York Times, but survived and recovered from her injuries. Lupo was hit in the forearm and also recovered.

In Berkowitz’s final shooting before being caught by police, he shot and killed Moscowitz, but her date, Violante, survived the attack. He was shot in the head, losing his left eye and most of the sight in his right eye as a result.

Decades later, another woman was identified as being a survivor of Berkowitz’s shootings. Savino was shot on April 9, 1976, in the Bronx, three months before the official Son of Sam spree began.

Savino was shot five times and lost her eye as a result, but was able to get a good look at her attacker. She identified Berkowitz as her shooter when he was captured in August 1977, but it wasn’t until June 2024 that the NYPD confirmed Savino as Berkowitz’s first official shooting victim, NBC News reported.

What have the survivors of David Berkowitz said about their attacker?

Several of the Son of Sam survivors have spoken out about their brush with the infamous serial killer. Some expressed their desires for Berkowitz to face the same fate as his victims.

DeMasi, who was just 16 years old when she was attacked, told reporters she “felt like killing” Berkowitz when she saw him at his sentencing hearing in 1978. Lomino — who was shot alongside DeMasi and left paralyzed from the waist down as a result — shared similar sentiments to The New York Times in 1977, stating that the notorious murderer should “suffer a lot and then he should die.”

She added, “Jail is too good for him.”

Valenti, one of Berkowitz’s first victims, referred to him as a “lunatic” and also shared disdain for his life behind bars, she revealed to the New York Post in 2016.

“He’s getting three square meals. He’s getting an education. He’s getting everything he needs, and I find it very disturbing,” she told the outlet.

But other survivors of Berkowitz’s were more sympathetic to the shooter. Violante, who lost most of his eyesight as a result of his shooting injuries, expressed relief that Berkowitz was behind bars.

“I’m glad he’s not able to get out and hurt other people,” he told The New York Times from his hospital room in 1977.

Placido, who was shot three times by Berkowitz, harbored no hatred toward him, she revealed to the New York Post in 1999.

“How can I hate him? He was deranged,” she said.

And then there is one victim of Berkowitz’s — Denaro, who was shot in the Son of Sam’s second attack — who has publicly expressed his doubt over whether Berkowitz acted alone. Denaro told PEOPLE in 2017 that, after extensive research into his shooting, he does not believe that it was Berkowitz who pulled the trigger that night.

“I believe other people were involved,” Denaro said. “He [Berkowitz] had help, and I am not alone in thinking this. Berkowitz in an interview comes right out and says he did not shoot Carl Denaro and claims that it was a woman.”

What happened to David Berkowitz?

After taunting police and the press and terrorizing New Yorkers, Berkowitz was finally arrested on Aug. 10, 1977, outside of his apartment building in Yonkers. When taken into custody by the NYPD, the Son of Sam famously said to detectives, “You got me. What took you so long?”

Berkowitz had eluded authorities for 13 months, but it was ultimately a ticket for illegally parking near the scene of his last shooting that led to his capture.

Berkowitz quickly confessed and pleaded guilty to six murder charges and all other crimes connected with the shootings in May 1978, The New York Times reported. He was sentenced to six consecutive terms of 25 years to life for the murders. He has been behind bars for nearly five decades and, in May 2024, was denied parole for the 12th time, CBS News reported.

Where are the survivors of David Berkowitz’s attacks now?

Though the attacks during the “summer of Sam” occurred nearly 50 years ago, the survivors of Berkowitz’s shootings have been left with lasting physical and emotional effects.

For many of Berkowitz’s living victims, their shooting injuries may have healed — but the fear and panic have remained. Placido, who worked as a legal assistant and is married with a son, experienced panic attacks more than two decades after coming face-to-face with the Son of Sam.

“We are still suffering from the pain,” Placido told the New York Post about the surviving victims.

Valenti also struggled with the emotional trauma that came with surviving Berkowitz’s attack.

“It took probably about six years of my life to be able to get in a car at night,” she said in 2016. “It took a long time to be able to deal with the sounds of popping fireworks and stuff like that … But I faced my fears.”

Violante, who was on a date with Moscowitz when they were attacked by Berkowitz, grappled with “psychological episodes with dating” for years as a result, he told the New York Post in 2006. “I was very afraid just to be out on the streets,” he told the outlet. Left with limited vision from his shooting injuries, Violante became a mail sorter with the post office.

Lomino, who was paralyzed as a result of her injuries, battled depression and other health issues in the years following her attack.

“The initial wounds from the shooting, she healed from those. But she still had permanent problems with her health,” her brother Charles Lomino said in Conversations With a Killer. “Some of those health issues became pretty severe as her life went on and ultimately, that’s how she passed away.”

Charles added, “She just suffered the rest of her life.”

Three of Berkowitz’s survivors — Denaro, Violante and Savino — participated in Netflix’s Conversations With a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes.

“Unfortunately, the victims do get forgotten and the criminals just keep getting sensationalized,” Violante said in the docuseries. “I just want the victims to know that I’m here to speak out so we aren’t forgotten.”