The location where David Berkowitz shot Virginia Voskerichian

This is the location where the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, shot and killed Virginia Voskerichian.

It is situated outside of an apartment complex on Dartmouth Street in Forest Hills, Queens.

On the evening of March 8th, 1977, Voskerichian was traveling home from Barnard College in Manhattan.

After leaving the Forest Hills–71st Avenue subway station, the 20-year-old proceeded to walk south along Continental Avenue. Her intended destination was Exeter Street, which was just a five-minute walk away.

By the time she reached Dartmouth Street, it was roughly 7.30 p.m.

Back in 1977, this street was very dark, as the area had poor lighting, and one of the bulbs was broken.

As Voskerichian was walking along the sidewalk on Dartmouth Street, Berkowitz calmly approached her from the front and then opened fire at close range. Although she attempted to defend herself by holding up her textbooks, the bullet penetrated them and struck her in the face.

An autopsy later determined that the bullet broke through her teeth and lodged in the back of her skull, killing her almost immediately.

When the shooting took place, an elderly man who was in the area heard a "pop" that sounded like a firecracker. He then saw a "pudgy youth" with a stocking cap fleeing the scene of the crime.

Not long after, a young man discovered Voskerichian's body near the sidewalk. Although he attempted to revive her, he ran off to call the police when he noticed that there was blood coming out of her mouth.

Berkowitz later claimed that he killed Voskerichian in an attempt to switch up his modus operandi and confuse the police.

Up until that point, he had been mostly targeting couples. By shooting a single female, he was trying to make himself seem less predictable.

Six weeks earlier, Berkowitz had shot Christine Freund and John Diel while they sat in their car at a nearby location.

Initially, the police publicly claimed that there was no evidence to suggest that the two shootings were related. However, it wasn't long before the media learned that similar large-caliber bullets had been used in both of the killings.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

Map

This aerial map shows the route that Voskerichian took that evening.

After leaving the subway station, she walked south on Continental Avenue before turning right onto Dartmouth Street.

Berkowitz said that he was walking around the area for about an hour before he spotted a suitable victim. When he first saw the young student, they were on the same side of the road, walking towards each other.

Once he was close enough, he pulled out his gun and fired one bullet at her head. He then turned around and ran back towards his car.

Voskerichian lived at 69-11 Exeter Street

At the time of her death, Voskerichian was living at 69-11 Exeter Street, which is a short walk away from the crime scene.

Coordinates: 40.718772, -73.850439

Google Maps

Shooting

The shooting took place roughly 210 feet away from where Berkowitz had killed Christine Freund 37 days prior.

His decision to reuse the exact same location so soon after Freund's murder is an interesting one.

Berkowitz's letters to the police and media show us that he was hungry for attention. This was a man who enjoyed seeing news reports about his crimes. For the first time in his unremarkable life, he finally felt powerful.

Therefore, it seems plausible that he wanted to make the links between the shootings more obvious by purposely targeting the exact same area.