The Son of Sam Claimed Six Lives but He Attempted to Take More — Details on His Victims

In May 2024, CBS News reported that David Berkowitz, the man known as the Son of Sam, was denied parole for the twelfth time. This means the 70-year-old was going to spend at least another two years in prison.

Berkowitz was arrested in August 1977, following a 200-person task force assembled by the New York City Police Department.

According to the killer himself, his first murder attempt occurred on Christmas Eve in 1975 when Berkowitz stabbed two women in separate incidents. They both survived.

His time as a serial killer began in July 1976 and held New York City hostage for a full year. By the time he was taken into custody, Berkowitz had murdered six people.

Here's what we know about his victims.

According to The New York Times, Berkowitz's first two victims were attacked in the Bronx. Donna Lauria, 18, was sitting in a parked car with her friend, 19-year-old Jody Velanti, when Berkowitz approached the vehicle. Valenti was wounded in her left thigh, but Lauria was killed instantly after being shot in the back.

Three months later, Berkowitz struck again.

On Oct. 23, 1976, Carl Denaro, 20, was sitting in a parked car with his girlfriend Rosemary Keenan when a bullet struck the back of his head. Keenan was uninjured, so she quickly started the car and sped away, looking for help.

Denaro lived but was hospitalized for three weeks. A steel plate was placed in his skull.

The next attempt did not happen while the victims were in a car, but rather, hanging out on the porch of a house in Queens.

Joanne Lomino, 18, and Donna DiMasi, 17, had just returned home from seeing a movie in Manhattan when Berkowitz walked up to the girls and asked for directions.

He fired at them multiple times, leaving DiMasi wounded and Lomino paralyzed from the waist down.

This was in November 1976.

Christine Freund, 26, and her boyfriend of seven years, 30-year-old John Diel, were on a date when she was shot twice by Berkowitz. The couple had just seen Rocky, then grabbed a bite to eat, when they returned to Diel's car with plans to go dancing.

While waiting for the vehicle to warm up, as it was January 1977, Berkowitz shot Freund in the shoulder and back of the head. Diel was uninjured. Freund also survived.

One of Berkowitz's victims, Virginia Voskerichian, valiantly tried to save herself. The 19-year-old was studying at Columbia University at the time and was walking home from school when Berkowitz shot her.

Voskerichian held her books up in front of her face in an act of self-defense, but was shot in the mouth from close range. She died in March 1977.

In what feels like déjà vu, Berkowitz attacked another couple in April 1977 while they were sitting in their car following a movie date.

Valentina Suriani, 18, and Alexander Esau, 20, were parked in the Bronx when Berkowitz fatally shot them both. This was only a few blocks from where Lauria and Valenti were shot.

Salvador Lupo, 26, had just danced the night away at a discothèque with his friend, 17-year-old Judy Placido, when Berkowitz found them chatting in a parked car.

Lupo was shot in his right forearm, while Placido was shot in her right temple, right shoulder, and back of the neck. Neither was killed.

Berkowitz's final two victims were Robert Violante, a 20‐year-old clothing store salesman, and Stacy Moskowitz, 20, a secretary.

According to The New York Times, a witness watched the crime unfold. Both victims were shot in the head. Violante was seen falling from his car while screaming, "Help me! Don't let me die!"

Moskowitz suffered brain damage and later died, while Violante lived but lost his left eye. Berkowitz was caught a month later.