ABC Evening News open - 1977-08-11

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:04] This is the ABC Evening News with Harry

[0:07] Reer and Barbara Walters. And tonight,

[0:10] Howard K. Smith in Washington and

[0:12] Heraldo Rivera from New York Police

[0:14] Headquarters. Barbara Walters.

[0:18] >> Good evening. There is one overwhelming

[0:20] story today. The capture and arrest of

[0:22] the man police call the son of Sam, the

[0:24] psychopathic killer who was terrorized

[0:26] New York.

[0:29] This is David Burkowitz, a 24year-old

[0:31] postal worker from Yonkers, a suburb

[0:33] just north of New York City. He was

[0:35] arrested late last night in front of his

[0:37] home, ending one of the biggest manhunts

[0:40] in this nation's history. Police think

[0:42] this is the man who murdered six young

[0:44] people and wounded seven others in New

[0:46] York over the past year. News of the

[0:48] arrest made banner headlines throughout

[0:50] the United States and Europe. This is

[0:52] how the London papers look tonight. At

[0:55] the moment of his capture, Burkowitz may

[0:57] have been planning a mass execution with

[0:59] a machine gun at a disc attack. Bill

[1:01] Stewart has the incredible details of

[1:03] his arrest.

[1:04] >> A parking ticket on a car too close to a

[1:07] fire hydrant at the scene of the most

[1:08] recent killing and a frightened woman

[1:10] who saw a man going near that car and

[1:12] then told police unraveled the year old

[1:15] case. Police traced the car to David

[1:17] Burkowitz and Yoners and while looking

[1:19] inside saw the butt of what proved to be

[1:21] a submachine gun sticking out of a

[1:24] burlap bag in the rear seat of the car.

[1:26] Police stopped a suspect thinking him to

[1:28] be Burkowitz, only to find out that they

[1:31] had the wrong man, that they had

[1:33] Westchester County Deputy Sheriff Craig

[1:35] Glassman, a neighbor of Burkowitz, a

[1:38] neighbor able to point out Burkowitz's

[1:40] apartment. Police staked it out and

[1:42] waited. Then a lone figure, Burkowitz,

[1:45] emerged and started for his car.

[1:48] >> I looked out and I said to the two

[1:49] officers, "I think this might be him.

[1:51] He's coming towards the car." He did

[1:52] stop. He opened the door. I said, "This

[1:54] is him." I jumped out of the car. I ran

[1:56] down the street, pulled my revolver,

[1:58] pointed at him. New York City was the

[2:00] officers were right there with me. We

[2:02] said, "Freeze, police, turn the key off,

[2:06] you know, get out of the car, put your

[2:07] hands on the roof." Burkowitz offered no

[2:10] resistance, telling the arresting

[2:11] officers, "All right, you got me."

[2:15] Police took the suspect in handcuffs to

[2:17] the precinct in Yoners and later to

[2:19] police headquarters where under

[2:20] interrogation, police said Burkowitz

[2:22] told them that he is the son of Sam. Sam

[2:25] being an invisible force who spoke to

[2:27] him through a dog, commanding him to

[2:29] kill. Police said Burkowitz showed no

[2:32] remorse. Then a short time later, police

[2:35] displayed for newsmen the arsenal

[2:36] reportedly recovered from Burkowitz's

[2:38] car and home, a Thompson submachine gun,

[2:41] which police suspect Burkowitz planned

[2:42] to use to spray a crowded disc attack

[2:45] with bullets. Police recovered a rifle

[2:48] and a 44 caliber bulldog revolver

[2:51] supposedly purchased in Houston. The

[2:53] same weapon, according to ballistics

[2:55] tests, as the one used to murder Stacy

[2:57] Moscowitz, son of Sam's latest and

[3:00] possibly last shooting victim. People of

[3:03] the city of New York can rest easy this

[3:07] morning because of the fact that the

[3:10] police have captured a man whom they

[3:13] believed to be the son of Sam. Late this

[3:16] morning in Brooklyn, Burkowitz was

[3:18] arraigned on illegal weapons charges and

[3:20] charges of murder and assault in

[3:22] connection with the killing of Stacy

[3:23] Moscowitz and the wounding of her

[3:25] companion. Early in the morning of July

[3:27] 31st on Shore Parkway in Brooklyn, just

[3:31] down the street from the fire hydrant

[3:33] which provided the clue which New

[3:35] Yorkers hope has ended Son of Sam's

[3:38] reign of terror. Bill Stewart, ABC News,

[3:41] New York.

[3:43] >> At this very moment, Burkowitz is at

[3:45] King's County Hospital in Brooklyn for

[3:47] psychiatric tests. Ironically,

[3:49] 20-year-old Robert Van