Sons of Sam on Netflix

[Keeros318]

I saw this documentary a few nights ago. I'm interested in reading Maury's book. How true to I think his theory is? I don't know, but I'd say he may have been on to something... I couldn't believe that the security guard in the Arlis case killed himself when the police went to question him, that was actually recently. It only adds fuel to Maury's theory. I lived in Yonkers for a few years starting in 2007 thru 2015, but I was on the Eastern part on Central Avenue. I had friends who lived over near N Broadway and they mentioned on a few occasions that Untermeyer Park was not a nice place.

[The_Real_Deal]

Originally Posted by Dehumidifier

I was a 22 year old female at the time and it was very scary. After he did the last shooting in Dyker Heights he went to Sunset Park and sat on a bench reading the newspaper. I lived a block away. Very scary.
If there were multiple shooters why did the shootings (of that type) stop after he was caught?

That's a very interesting point to bring up there.

[mathjak107]

There would be no one else attracting the attention way …if someone else did a copy cat shooting they could get away with it as long as the cops thought they closed the case

[nygeek]

Originally Posted by Dehumidifier

I was a 22 year old female at the time and it was very scary. After he did the last shooting in Dyker Heights he went to Sunset Park and sat on a bench reading the newspaper. I lived a block away. Very scary.
If there were multiple shooters why did the shootings (of that type) stop after he was caught?

The books explains that quite clearly.

The 35 Pine Street building was changed to 42 Pine Street a few years after the killings. It definitely did not stop gawkers from going there.

[Dave 92 LSC]

Started watching it today. I love old nyc documentaries
. Looks like the media was just as scummy as today.

[bobspez]

Originally Posted by NYTom

I thought they weren't allowed to capitalize on crime stories, make movies, write books etc?

The criminal who committed the crimes isn't allowed to profit but anyone else can.

[bobspez]

Originally Posted by The_Real_Deal

That's a very interesting point to bring up there.

In the documentary it was said that when Berkowitz was caught the group scattered. They realized they could face prison like Berkowitz if they continued.

I lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn within walking distance of Bay 8th St. where one of the shootings took place.
There wasn't a lot of nostalgia in this series because it was mostly old news footage with current day commentary. For real 1970's NYC nostalgia "The Deuce" TV series couldn't be beat for capturing the way people talked and behaved and looked and thought.

I watched this Sons of Sam series with a critical eye because I was once a fan of Maury Terry but came to see him as making connections that weren't provable to make theories that sounded good but weren't what actually happened. For instance he did a whole blog series on Laurel Canyon in LA and because some of the rock stars came from homes of military and Washington DC establishment leaders, he concluded that the CIA was part of the reason for the success of those groups. But he ignored all the stars that came from middle class, unconnected families like the Stones and Beatles, Elvis, Everly Bros., etc. and all of the black stars.

Just a few months before he died Maury adopted the the Alex Jones conspiracy theory that Sandy Hook was a hoax. At that point I figured he lost his mind and started to question everything else he had written and came to see it as a lot of unproven theories held together by a few facts. At the end of the Sons of Sam series a former collaborator of his says that whether Maury was right or wrong, he wrote a hell of a good story.

My opinion after watching the series was that Berkowitz and his accomplices (likely there were some because of the yellow Volkswagen and the van also seen during the Moskowitz shooting, and the suicides of both Carr brothers and the owner of the Volkswagen) were just thrill killers looking for notoriety. I think the other three didn't want to spend their lives in jail like Berkowitz. The satanic element may have been a hobby or interest, like heavy metal or video games or porn are for others, but that's not what makes them killers. I get the feeling Berkowitz was the leader and the chief manipulator. He manipulated Maury and Maury manipulated him. They were both after fame and notoriety. There's a reason most of the other journalists didn't buy into his theories and it wasn't because of politics or the police or mayor. It was because they all could recognize BS when they heard it.