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.