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David Berkowitz's Techniques To Catch The Son Of Sam

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Another technique used by law enforcement to catch the Son of Sam was ballistic matching. David Berkowitz used a very specific gun to carry out his crimes; a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver gun. After each investigation, investigators found shell casings and bullets that were from a .44 caliber gun, they just couldn’t figure out which one. They did, however connect the shootings through the bullets. As more shootings occurred, law enforcement figure out that the bullets came from a Bulldog revolver. Police officers soon tracked down every legal owner .44 caliber Bulldog revolver in New York. They asked every owner questions and forensically tested each gun that they were allowed access too. When nothing turned up, they were at a standstill. It …show more content…

Officers completed every tasks by the book and lawfully. The only failure that happened, occurred in reference to the Son of Sam letter to NYPD Captain Joseph Borrelli. Angry with how the police were referring to him, Son of Sam wrote a letter to describe his feelings. The letter itself did not have any fingerprints that could be useful to the case. However, the envelope that the letter came in could have been helpful, but too many people handled it. There were numerous amounts of fingerprints on it, so it is unknown as to whether or not the Son of Sam’s prints were actually on it. (David Richard Berkowitz …show more content…

Checking to see if someone is competent to stand trial is another investigative technique used by law enforcement. Every citizen has equal protections under the law, so making sure David Berkowitz was able to comprehend the trial was vital. A psychiatrist test was ordered to see if Berkowitz was competent. It determined that Berkowitz was not able to assist in his own defense and did not completely understand the charges against him. They believed he had the capacity to understand these killings were wrong, and know of the charges against him but he suffered from paranoid psychosis that left him emotionally dead, therefore he couldn’t aid in his own defense. The Brooklyn DA, Eugene Gold decided to challenge this report. He asked the prosecution’s psychiatrist, Dr. David Abrahamsen to interview Berkowitz. After several interviews, Dr. Abrahamsen concluded that Berkowitz’s demons were an invention in his mind that he was able to control. He also stated that Berkowitz could aid in his own defense and understand the trial proceedings, if he chose to do so. (Son of Sam Trial

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