Son of Sam: David Berkowitz Blamed Big Apple Bloodbath on His Neighbor's Devil Dog (FPD CASE VAULT)

Believing he'd been commanded by his neighbor's demonic black labrador retriever to kill, David Berkowitz terrorized the Big Apple during a year-long binge of butchery that left six people dead - five of them women - and seven others wounded.

Nursing a secret hatred for the opposite sex, the 23-year-old former Army marksman began his bloodbath on July 29, 1976, by shooting Donna Lauria, 18, as she talked with her 19-year-old friend, Jody Valenti, in a car outside her family's apartment in The Bronx. Donna died instantly, and Jody was wounded.

Nearly three months later in Queens, the paunchy postal clerk fired five shots from his .44-caliber Bulldog handgun into another parked car. This time, Rosemary Keenan was talking to a college friend, Carl Denaro. Berkowitz missed the woman, but wounded Denaro in the head.

On Nov. 26, 1976, Berkowitz shot 18-year-old Joanne Lomino and her friend Donna DeMasi, 16, as they walked home. Joanne was left a paraplegic. DeMasi's wound was not life-threatening.

With panic mounting across the city, the fiend, then dubbed "The .44 Killer," struck again on Jan. 30, 1977. Christine Freund, 26, was shot twice in the head as she and her fiance, John Diel, 30, sat in his car in Queens. She died in the hospital.

By now, hundreds of cops had been drafted to catch the monster.

Yet on March 8, Barnard College honor student Virginia Voskerichian was walking home from classes when a man walked toward her, pulled out a .44 - and killed her instantly with one shot to the face.

Just 40 days later, the maniac struck again, pulling up in a car and killing aspiring actress Valentina Suriani, 18, and her 20-year-old boyfriend Alexander Esau.

Afterward, he wrote a taunting letter addressed to one of his police pursuers - and signed it "Son of Sam."

Then, the predator wrote a series of chilling letters to newsman Jimmy Breslin. In one he said: "Sam's a thirsty lad - he won't let me stop killing till he gets his fill of blood. I will see you at the next job."

The "next job" happened at 3 a.m. on June 26, 1977, as Judy Placido climbed into her boyfriend's car outside a Queens disco. They were both shot, but survived.

On July 31, a year and two days after the carnage began, Stacy Moskowitz and her beau Bobby Violante, both 20, became the killer's last victims. While kissing in a parked car, Stacy was shot once in the head and died 38 hours later. Bobby was hit twice in the face and was left nearly blind.

Never miss a story — sign up for the Front Page Detectives newsletter. Be on the scene the moment news breaks.

In the end, it was a parking ticket that collared Berkowitz. Cops traced him to the scene of one of his final murders.

After Berkowitz was arrested, he claimed a 6,000-year-old demon spoke through his neighbor Sam Carr's dog, Harvey, and ordered him to kill. He pleaded guilty in June 1978, and was sentenced to 365 years in prison. He has been eligible for parole since 2002, but said he has no interest in seeking his freedom.