Detailed Description of the Case and the Type of Multiple Murders (Essay Sample)

Serial Killers: David Richard Berkowitz
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Serial Killers: David Richard Berkowitz
Detailed description of the case and the type of multiple murders
David Richard Berkowitz, commonly referred to as the Son of Sam, asserted that his initial murder happened in late months of 1975; he undertook a knife assault on two women (David, 1985). The two women in the initial attack survived, and just one of the two attacks (of Michelle Foreman) was verified to take place. Nevertheless, David Berkowitz was not accused of any of the two attacks. His killing spree that eventually earned him fame started in 1976 summer at the New York streets; on 29th July, he shot Donnal Lauria and Jody Valenti. The two were sited in a car parked adjacent to Donna Lauria’s house. Jody Valenti managed to survive while Donna died; this attack did not catch the attention from the media. In 1976 October 23rd, David Berkowitz travelled to Queens to attack his subsequent pair; once again in a parked car (Gibson, 2010). In this round, the survivor was Carl Denaro after a shot on the forehead; his companion succumbed to the shooting. One month after, David Berkowitz was engaged in a shoot out of two teenagers, Joanne Lomino and Donna DeMasi, in 1976 on 26th November; they were heading home from a cinema trip. Joanne Lomino got paralyzed while Donna Demasi recovered. David Berkowitz took a number of weeks off the killing and in 1977, on 30th January, he resumed the shooting. The attack was on a couple that had been engaged, John Diel and Christine Freund. Christine Freund passed on while John Diel survived. After this shooting, police identified the weapon of David Berkowitz as an Arms Bulldog, 44 calibers Charter. David Berkowitz signifies the set-and-run killers’ murder; normally motivated by a desire for vengeance although ideological motive, extortion and insurance fraud are often additional motives (Jack, 2010).
Reasoning
When David Berkowitz was active in the murders, he was profiled to be a paranoid schizophrenic believing that he was a victim of possession with demons; in other instances, he alleged that his dog told him to kill. Later, he admitted at an interview carried out by Robert Ressler, an FBI Veteran, in prison that he was only pretending to be insane to attain a punishment that was lighter; that he murdered because of resentment to his mother as well as contempt to women at range. David Berkowitz M.O implied that he was extremely disorganized in terms of manner; applying blitz attacks and in many instances left his victims alive. His choice weapon was a 44 Arms Bulldog revolver Special Charter. It possesses five rounds, and it is created for close-quarter combat. The majority of his attacks applied blitz attacks, even if, he in some instances applied ruses to hide his initial intent, for instance, during the shooting for Lauria- Valenti, which he obscured the gun using a paper bag and also the DeMasi-Lomino shooting in which he approached the victims asking for directions. David Berkowitz’s victim differed in race, age, as well as socio-economic class; although they normally were couples at the late teens seated in parked cars. In addition, he attacked in the early morning, late nights or weekends. David Berkowitz would, in addition, masturbate at the scenes of the murders. He might have emulated elements of a number of serial killers. The dominant was George Foyet; they both attacked people in cars and applied 44 revolvers. In contrast, Foyet was extremely organized and launched attacks in highways after utilizing a ruse to lower their guard. Berkowitz was disorganized and launched attacks in cities applying blitz
Psychological theories
One of the psychological theories that may explain or add to the understanding of the event or case is Horney's theory. Karen Horney in her concluding book, Neurosis and Human Growth, laid out an entire theory on the cause and diversity of neurosis. Neurosis,...