The Nation: Sam Told Me To Do It... Sam Is the Devil

• Share

(4 of 6)

The torments within Berkowitz, a man who sometimes greeted people in his apartment building with a friendly, smile and even gave a newspaper delivery boy a $30 tip one Christmas, also surfaced in anonymous crank letters to neighbors —notes that helped lead to his capture. Two were to Sam Carr, the fatherly figure Berkowitz was to fancy as a source of the commands to kill. Carr, 64, a frail, grizzled man who operates a telephone answering service from his home and maintains an astonishing arsenal of guns (he said he has a .22 automatic, .32 revolver, .38 revolver, .30-06 rifle, .410 shotgun and .357 magnum), suspected that Berkowitz sent the anonymous threatening letters that complained about the howling of Carr's black Labrador retriever Harvey.

The first letter declared that "our lives have been torn apart because of this dog." The second said that "my life is destroyed now. I have nothing to lose anymore. I can see that there shall be no peace in my life or my family's life until I end yours. You wicked, evil man—child of the devil—I curse you and your family forever." Carr claimed that Berkowitz later shot Harvey in the leg with a .44-cal. gun.

The other recipient of hate mail was Craig Glassman, 29, a male nurse and part-time corporal in the Westchester County sheriffs emergency force. He lived directly under Berkowitz's apartment and got four letters. They accused Glassman of being a "demon" and a "wicked person," who (like "Sam") was forcing the writer to kill. Said one letter: "My master Craig, You will be punished. Craig, how dare you force me into the night to do your bidding. I promise you, Craig, the world shall spit on you and your mother ... Sure, I am the killer, but Craig, the killings are at your command." On the same day that he received two of the letters (Aug. 6), Glassman was startled to find a fire burning outside his apartment door. When firemen put it out, they found .22-cal. shells in the ashes.

The fire brought Yonkers police to interview Glassman, who told them about the hate letters. Yonkers detectives quickly linked those letters to the similar ones Carr had reported receiving—and they informed Glassman that Berkowitz was the probable letter writer. At that time Yonkers police knew what type of car Berkowitz was driving and its license number, and they began to suspect that Berkowitz might be Son of Sam. It was three days later that the New York police task force hunting the killer learned Yonkers authorities were pursuing Berkowitz as a potentially dangerous neighborhood crank.