This article includes discussions of murder and satanic panic.
Netflix’s Conversations With A Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes touches on Maury Terry’s conspiracy theory that the Son of Sam is multiple people, a theory that reveals more about the 1980s than it does the facts of the case. The Conversations with a Killer docuseries has taken on the murderers Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy.
The most recent addition is a 3-part documentary on the Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz. Between 1975 and 1977, the serial killer killed six people and attempted to murder seven others. Like many other serial killers, he taunted the public about their inability to catch him. However, they eventually discovered Berkowitz’s identity.
According to his statement on the tapes, he pleaded guilty to the murders so he could get credit. If the recordings make anything clear, it’s the fact that David Berkowitz has a wild imagination, a proclivity for manipulation, and a need for attention. Surprisingly, one of Berkowitz’s stories led to journalist Maury Terry’s conspiracy theory, touched on in the Netflix documentary.
Journalist Maury Terry Believed The Son Of Sam Was Multiple Killers
Maury Terry Wrote A Book About The Conspiracy Theory
In the decades since his murders, Berkowitz has provided multiple explanations for his murders. The best-known reason is that his neighbor Sam’s dog, possessed by a demon, told him to kill, which is why Berkowitz went by the moniker “Son of Sam.” He also blamed rejection from women and anger when speaking to his psychiatrist.
However, the most outlandish explanation, told to Maury Terry, is that he was part of a group of killers whom he met at a neighborhood party (via Crime+ Investigation). They reportedly selected all the victims, rather than Berkowitz choosing who to kill. Berkowitz also said he only killed Donna Lauria, Alexander Esau, and Valentina Suriana. Other members allegedly killed the other three.
Journalist Maury Terry interviewed David Berkowitz and came to believe that the Son of Sam couldn’t be one person. However, the likelihood of this seems low since no more Son of Sam attacks and murders happened after Berkowitz’s arrest. Additionally, the DNA evidence doesn’t align with the idea that different people committed three of the murders.
How Maury Terry’s Son Of Sam Theory Was Linked To A Satanic Cult
Maury Terry’s Theory Is A Prime Example Of Satanic Panic
The most interesting part of Maury Terry’s conspiracy theory is that the group David Berkowitz supposedly joined was a satanic cult. They were all supposedly occult members trying to serve Satan. Terry even titled his book The Ultimate Evil: An Investigation into a Dangerous Satanic Cult, which inherently shifts attention away from Berkowitz towards the theoretical cult.
While there’s not much to his theory, it is an excellent glimpse into the satanic panic, which lasted from 1980 to the mid-1990s. During this period, society fed into the fears that witches and occult members were performing Satanic ritual abuse and murder.
It feels important to mention that David Berkowitz leaned into the satanic group explanation after he became a born-again Christian. There’s no doubt that his religious conversion and the satanic panic impacted his accusations. As mentioned in the Netflix documentary, he walked back the statement, saying he was going along with the journalists’ suggestions.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to know the truth of Berkowitz’s motivation because the killer is the only one who could understand what was going through his head, and he’s an unreliable narrator. Conversations with a Killer might have offered a glimpse into Berkowitz’s head, but we need to keep his previous lies and manipulation in mind when consuming his tapes.