The real life story behind The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness ahead of Netflix documentary

Calling all true crime fans – the new documentary The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness is dropping on Netflix this week.

The show will dive deep into the infamous serial killer David Berkowitz, whose nickname Son of Sam came from a note he left at the scene of one of the murders.

Berkowitz murdered six people and wounded a number of others in a series of attacks in New York City between 1976 and 1977. These killings gained widespread media attention thanks to the gloating letters Berkowitz wrote to the police while he was still at large.

Following the biggest manhunt in New York history, he was eventually arrested and is currently serving six consecutive life sentences.

However, Berkowitz claimed he didn’t work alone and was part of a satanic cult. Journalist Maury Terry became fascinated with investigating this claim.

The four-part series uses archive footage that shows how Terry conducted his own inquiries into Berkowitz and his crimes in an attempt to prove who he thought was responsible for the murders.

Case files and interviews with those closest to the investigation are also used to try to discover whether Terry was right or whether he was simply chasing ghosts.

When Berkowitz first admitted to the crimes, he said that he was acting on orders from his next-door neighbour’s dog, Sam, whom he claimed was a demon in disguise. However, he later admitted that this was a lie.

Berkowitz randomly murdered half a dozen people, shooting them with his .44 revolver.

His killing spree terrorised New York and its residents, but it wasn’t until almost a year later that Berkowitz coined the name Son of Sam after his murder of Alexander Esau and Valentina Suriani.

The note he left at the scene read: ‘I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon [sic] hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam.

‘Sam loves to drink blood. “Go out and kill” commands father Sam.’

Berkowitz is in prison to this day.

The Sons of Sam will be available to stream on Netflix from May 5.

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