Netflix’s three‑part docuseries Conversations With a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes, released July 30, 2025, gives survivors of David Berkowitz’s 1976–77 shootings a platform to share their trauma and healing journeys.
Director Joe Berlinger includes interviews with several survivors and family members, along with never-before-heard prison audio of Berkowitz himself.
Son of Sam Case: Who Was Targeted – and Who Survived?
Between 1976 and 1977, Berkowitz, infamously known as the “Son of Sam,” killed six people and wounded at least seven. His targets were usually young women with dark hair, often sitting in cars with companions in New York City’s outer boroughs.
Survivors include Jodi Valenti, Carl Denaro, Donna DeMasi, Joanne Lomino, Judy Placido, Sal Lupo, Robert Violante, and Wendy Savino.
Jodi Valenti, then 19, was shot alongside friend Donna Lauria on July 29, 1976. Valenti survived but was left with lasting trauma.
Carl Denaro, shot in the head and wounded five times, now lives with a metal plate and continues to question if Berkowitz acted alone.
Donna DeMasi and Joanne Lomino were wounded on Nov 27, 1976, Lomino was paralyzed from the waist down.
Judy Placido and Sal Lupo survived a shooting in Queens in June 1977. Placido was hit three times but recovered.
Robert Violante lost sight in one eye during the Brooklyn attack that killed his date Stacy Moskowitz.
Wendy Savino, shot five times in April 1976, was officially confirmed only in 2024 as the spree’s first authenticated survivor.
What Survivors Have Said
The survivors featured in The Son of Sam Tapes share raw feelings—some still angry, others reflective.
Donna DeMasi, only 16 at the time, admitted she “felt like killing” Berkowitz when she faced him at his sentencing in 1978.
Joanne Lomino told reporters, “Jail is too good for him… he should suffer, then die.”
Jodi Valenti publiclycriticized Berkowitz in 2016, calling him a “lunatic” and objecting to his life in prison with comforts like meals and an education.
Robert Violante offered a more tempered perspective: “I’m glad he’s not able to get out and hurt people again,” reflecting cautious relief.
Judy Placido expressed empathy rather than hate, saying, “How can I hate him? He was deranged.”
Carl Denaro continues to challenge the official narrative, believing Berkowitz may have had accomplices. This was echoed by Wendy Savino, who identified Berkowitz at the time but was only officially credited as a survivor decades later.
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Son of Sam Case: Trauma Beyond the Wounds
Physical injuries healed for many survivors, but emotional scars remain decades later:
Valenti shared that it took her six years to feel comfortable riding in a car at night due to fear and anxiety.
Violante battled fear around dating and public life, eventually finding work as a postal mail sorter, coping with limited vision.
Lomino, paralyzed from the attack, suffered severe depression and long-term health issues. Her brother revealed that those complications contributed to her eventual passing.
Their stories underscore how survival didn’t mean recovery, the psychological aftermath persisted.
Why Voices of Survivors Still Matter
The docuseries aims to rebalance narrative focus:
As Violante notes on screen, survivors “get forgotten while criminals become sensationalized.” By spotlighting survivors—even decades later—it shifts attention back to real lives impacted and emotional truth over dramatic myth-making.
Cutting through enduring conspiracy theories (like multiple shooters or cult involvement), Berlinger attempts to present a clear-eyed, factual retelling of events, grounded in survivors’ perspectives and psychological context.
Kollected Trauma: Berkowitz Today
Now incarcerated at upstate New York’s Shawangunk Correctional Facility, Berkowitz remains in prison. He pled guilty in 1978 to six murder charges and continues serving six consecutive life terms. His most recent parole denial came in 2024—his twelfth refusal—and he’s reportedly accepted he will likely die behind bars.
The series includes a 2024 phone interview with Berkowitz, in which he contests responsibility for Savino’s shooting despite official NYPD confirmation. His inconsistent storytelling—among other revelations—reinforces the documentary’s focus on trauma over sensationalism.
Conversations With a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes breathes new life into the memories and voices of those who lived through Berkowitz’s terror. Their resilience, doubts, and emotional truths make this much more than a crime retelling—it’s a human reckoning with fear, trauma, and survival.
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