Mass murderers son of Sam and Jack the Ripper
Abrahamsen, D.
Acta Medicinae Legalis et Socialis 33(1): 651-656
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0065-1397 PMID: 6613634 Document Number: 5484
In 1976 the United States was shocked by a bizarre series of murders in Few York City. The killer chose as his prey young women, usually sitting with their dates in parked cars. The suspense ended suddenly with the arrest on August 10, 1977, of someone named David Berkowitz for the "Son of Sam" murders. His story satisfied our wildest fantasies. He had killed, he declared, at the behest of his "voices." He couldn't resist their demoniacal commands. Five days after Berkowitz's arrest, I was engaged by the prosecution to determine if he was mentally fit to stand trial for murder. Three psychiatrists (two of them court-appointed) had already found him psychotic and not mentally competent to stand trial. I was the fourth psychiatrist, and mine was the lone dissenting opinion. I concluded that he was able to stand trial.
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