a criminal's mind

a collection of known serial killers, what they did, who their victims were, and their stories.

warning: may contain nudity and gorey images

Outside the Elephas disco on 211th St. in the early morning hours of June 26, 1977, another young couple was shot as they sat in a parked car. Both Judy Placido, 17, of Queens, and Sal Lupo survived through the former took bullets to the temple,...

Outside the Elephas disco on 211th St. in the early morning hours of June 26, 1977, another young couple was shot as they sat in a parked car. Both Judy Placido, 17, of Queens, and Sal Lupo survived through the former took bullets to the temple, shoulder, and neck. Lupo was shot in the forearm. Ironically, just before the shooting, the couple discussed how scary it was knowing that Son of Sam was prowling the streets.

Lupo and his girlfriend Judy Placido were sitting in their car when three gunshots penetrated the window at 3 a.m. Both were hit, but their injuries were relatively minor and both survived. Neither had seen the attacker.

Witnesses at the scene reported to have seen a tall, stocky man, sprinting from the scene and anotehr blond man leaving the neighborhood without headlights on in a Chevy Nova. Remember, Berkowitz was blond (he lost in the meantime all hair). Berkowitz later claimed that cult members had long wanted to shoot someone at the Elephas disco, thinking the site significant in light of their interest in the work of noted 19th century occultist Eliphas Levi. Interesting in this light is, that Michael Carr was the son of Berkowitz’s neighbor who owned the infamous dog. Michawl Carr is mentioned as suspect also in the case of the Rochester Double Initial Murders, which as of yet remain unsolved.

At 3 a.m. on April 17, 1977, a young couple, Valentia Suriani, 18, and Alexander Esau were shot and killed as they sat in a parked car in front of 1878 Hutchinson River Parkway–just steps away from Suriani’s home and a few blocks from the first...

At 3 a.m. on April 17, 1977, a young couple, Valentia Suriani, 18, and Alexander Esau were shot and killed as they sat in a parked car in front of 1878 Hutchinson River Parkway–just steps away from Suriani’s home and a few blocks from the first murder. This time, the increasingly emboldened killer left a calling card: a note signed ‘the son of Sam.’ It was meant for Captain Joe Borelli, one of the senior police officers on the case.

Alexander Esau and his girlfriend Valentina Suriani were each shot twice. Esau died at the hospital several hours later without being able to descibe the attacker. Suriani died on the scene.

Ballistics confirmed a .44 caliber from a Bulldog. Police in the meantime came to the conclusion, they were looking for a single perpetrator (press conference from March 10th. The series was nicknamed by the New York Post the .44 murders.

Returning from classes at Barnard College at about 7:30 p.m. on March 8, 1977, 19-year-old Virginia Voskerichian walked her usual route home from the subway station–down the leafy, largely deserted streets of Forest Hills Gardens. Just half a block...

Returning from classes at Barnard College at about 7:30 p.m. on March 8, 1977, 19-year-old Virginia Voskerichian walked her usual route home from the subway station–down the leafy, largely deserted streets of Forest Hills Gardens. Just half a block away from the spot where Christine Freund died just six weeks earlier, Voskerichian was ambushed in front of 4 Dartmouth St. The brunette co-ed only had time to lift her textbook to protect her face as the .44-caliber Bulldog fired. The bullet tore through the book, killing her. But that same bullet also led police to link the previous shootings.

Moments after the shooting, a neighborhood resident who had heard the gunshots was rounding the corner onto Voskerichian’s street. He nearly collided with a person he described as a shot, husky boy, 16 to 18 years old and clean-shaven, wearing a sweater and watch cup, who was sprinting away from the crime scene. The neightbor said the youth pulled the cap over his face and said, “Oh, Jesus!” as he passed by, sprinting.

Other witnesses reported to have seen the “teenager,” and another man matching Berkowitz’s description, loitering separately in the area for about an hour before the shooting. In the following days, the media repeated police claims that this “chubby teenager” was the suspect in the shooting. Berkowitz later claimed that he was at the Voskerichian murder scene, but the actual shooter was a “woman from Westchester.” Additionally, Berkowitz claimed the Voskerichian shooting was partly designed to confuse police by seeming to change the modus operandi established in earlier cult shootings. However, his cult claims remain unproven, even there isn’t enough evidence either to dismiss them entirely.

Returning to their car at 12:30 a.m. on January 30, 1977 after leaving a bar in Forest Hills, Christine Freund, 26, was shot in the head as two bullets shattered the front windshield. Her companion, John Deil, 30, escaped unhurt–but Freund died on...

Returning to their car at 12:30 a.m. on January 30, 1977 after leaving a bar in Forest Hills, Christine Freund, 26, was shot in the head as two bullets shattered the front windshield. Her companion, John Deil, 30, escaped unhurt–but Freund died on the wya to the hospital.

Donna DeMasi
On November 27, 1976, Joanne Lomino, 18, and Donna DiMasi, 17, were sitting on the front steps of a house on 262nd St. in Bellerose, Queens, Suddenly, a man crossed the street, seemingly to ask for directions. Instead, he pulled out a...

Donna DeMasi

On November 27, 1976, Joanne Lomino, 18, and Donna DiMasi, 17, were sitting on the front steps of a house on 262nd St. in Bellerose, Queens, Suddenly, a man crossed the street, seemingly to ask for directions. Instead, he pulled out a .44-Caliber Bulldog, shooting both girls as they tried to flee into the house. DiMasi escaped without major injury, but Lomino was hit in the back of the head and paralyzed from the waist down.

The curved roof of a Volkswagon Beetle is likely what saved 20-year-old Carl Denaro’s life when a bullet ore through his head as he sat in the passenger seat of the parked car at 159th St. in Flushing in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 1977. The...

The curved roof of a Volkswagon Beetle is likely what saved 20-year-old Carl Denaro’s life when a bullet ore through his head as he sat in the passenger seat of the parked car at 159th St. in Flushing in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 1977. The bullet hit the car’s rain gutter, slowing down before hitting Denaro, who later required a steel plate in his skull. Police came to suspect that the shooter mistook Denaro for a girl because of his long hair–which was believed to be the source of Son of Sam’s fixations.

For the first time in 15 years Carl Denaro spoke about the time he was shot in the head back in 1976. Denaro recalls, ”I thought the car exploded.” Instead, a shooter had just emptied five .44 caliber rounds into the car, hitting Denaro in the back of the head. He was rushed to a hospital and surgery saved his life.
Police eventually determined that David Berkowitz was the one who shot him but now Denaro has serious doubts. He has done some of his own investigating in the years since he was shot and now he’s calling on police to re-open the Berkowitz case and prove it was all a conspiracy.

At the time police didn’t know who David Berkowitz was. Then a year later though, the infamous ‘Son of Sam’ serial killer was arrested and Berkowitz plead guilty to the killings and attempted murders which included Carl Denaro. Today, however, Denaro states, “I’d like to know who shot me”. When asked if he truly beleives Berkowitz didn’t pull the trigger Denaro replied, “I’m 99.9% sure it wasn’t him.”

Denaro says he has good reason to believe Berkowitz was not acting alone. He states, “I’ve run into up to 30 detectives that ‘off record’ will tell me they know other people were involved”. Denaro also remembers how detectives confiscated the Volkswagen he was shot in so they could conduct forensic testing. He says when police returned the car a couple of weeks later the car’s owner was cleaning it out and found a .44 caliber bullet that police somehow overlooked. That bullet was then turned over to the police department’s ballistics experts. Denaro cites this as a clear case of shoddy police work and he also believes officials rushed to close the investigation for political reasons. After Berkowitz’s arrest police officers and city officials were promoted and the press glorified them as the heroes who caught New York’s most infamous serial killer.

Denaro believes Satanic cult members were also part of the 'Son of Sam’ killings. Berkowitz himself contends his murderous rage was fueled by his involvement with a cult, “I really thought I was some kind of soldier in a Satanic army and we had determined to bring NYC to its knees.”

In the mid ’90’s Berkowitz admitted there were indeed others who also committed the murders. During an on-camera interview he claimed, “I did not pull the trigger at every single one of them.” Since then he has once again changed his story.

Denaro says this should convince police to revisit the investigation, ”I believe they should reopen the case because I think there are people who were involved who are still out there.”

Jody Valenti, friend of the first victim of The Son of Sam, wounded in the thigh. Scared away the gunman by leaning on the car horn
Donna Lauria and her friend, Jody Valenti were sitting in Valenti’s car outside the parent’s appartment discussing...

Jody Valenti, friend of the first victim of The Son of Sam, wounded in the thigh. Scared away the gunman by leaning on the car horn

Donna Lauria and her friend, Jody Valenti were sitting in Valenti’s car outside the parent’s appartment discussing their evening in a disquotheque. However, when it was time for Jody to leave, Donna’s father, Mike, agreed to Donna’s suggestion that she and Jody would walk the family dog together. Before Mike Lauria went inside to get the dog, he noticed a man sleeping in a yellow compact car across the street, about sixty feet behind his own car. Neighbors would later report the unfamiliar car cruising around the area for hours.

When her parents went inside, Donna opened the car door to depart. At that moment, she noticed a man quickly approaching. Startled and angered by man’s sudden appearance, Lauria said to him: “Now, what is this…” From the paper bag, he carried, the man produced a handgun and, crouching while he aimed, fired three shots. Donna Lauria was killed almost instantly by a bullet in the chest, Valenti took a hit in the thigh and the third shot was a miss. The shooter turned around and walked away quickly.