For this episode of Black Hoodie Alchemy, I'm finally covering a topic I have teased here and there since the beginning of the whole show-run! At last, I am covering the sprawling, Charlie-Kelly-in-the-mailroom-style conspiracy theory that suggests that David Berkowitz did not act alone in the Son of Sam Murders of NYC.
But make no mistake, this frenzied mailroom vibe comes not from the incredulity of the research, but from the sheer state of mind that tackling all of this topic's many threads will put you into! And let's not forget the fact that Berkowitz was working in a mailroom at the time, and contributed to the whole "going postal" phrase that we have today.
Get ready to enter a story that surprisingly finds us diving into real-life theistic Satanism, Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, Charles Manson, a strange Scientology doom-hippie offshoot called 'The Process Church of the Final Judgment', the dangers of hysterical Satanic Panic, brainwashing, and so much more! There is a lot of hype, hysteria, and leaping-conspiracy-theory conjecture that surrounds this case, but the actual case for the 'Sons of Sam' itself is quite compelling to me.
In any case, I work my way through not only the classic tome on the topic, Maury Terry's 'The Ultimate Evil', but I also dissect the docu-series done by award-winning filmmaker Josh Zeman on this same subject, entitled: Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness. Not only was Zeman friends with Maury Terry towards the end of his life, but Zeman was the man that Terry willed his entire life's work to -- every document, photo, scribble, phone number... everything.
And as an inside scoop, I was able to pick Josh Zeman's brain about this over a Skype call many years ago. While there isn't much he told me that his documentary didn't say, I did get some more direct and explicitly informative answers from him that I share here in the episode.
Happy trip down the rabbit hole!
Related BHA true crime episodes:
Sante Muerte - the good and bad
Israel Keyes Alaskan serial killer
SHOW NOTES:
Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness documentary
Actual old school Process Church propaganda
Love, Sex, Fear, Death - book about the Process Church
Maury Terry's 'The Ultimate Evil'
Declassified FBI investigation into Process Church
Ed Opperman talks to NYPD Mike Codella
Opperman talks to childhood friend of Carr family
Opperman on History of 'Yonkers Cult'
Opperman talks to Carl Denaro, Son of Sam victim
This week's featured music -- a truly magnificent sonic assault coming from the strongest underground punk, hardcore, and experimental rock acts around!