Let's Look at the "Famous Brooklyn Series" and Laugh Part I

(1:38:24) “Maury Terry completely fabricated the times, he got 20 minutes wrong once, he's three hours wrong on another one.

"This guy was pulling reports to fit a narrative he already had in his head and as an honest journalist and as an honest reporter and a person who wants to bring you the most accurate information about this case possible, I am absolutely disgusted at this and it needs to be exposed.” 

- Manny Grossman

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Manny Grossman first came into possession of Maury Terry’s personal Son of Sam files around the end of June, 2021.

“Brooklyn Part One”, our subject for this post, streamed live on Sept. 26, 2022 according to the description given.

This gave Mr. Grossman well over a year to familiarize himself with the files that were once in Mr. Terry’s hands. Ample time, most would agree, to discover what Maury's collection contained and  - when compared to the Queens DA files -  what it was missing.

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For the sake of brevity we will be discussing what may very well be the most damning example of Maury Terry and his damnable lies regarding the Moskowitz/Violante shooting.  

Other examples will be covered in posts that follow for no better reason than Manny's commentary is too amusing to let be.

At the 1:10:34 mark, Manny and his guest John Catalano begin to analyze eye witness accounts from a couple named as the Raymonds in The Ultimate Evil. It is suggested by Maury that the Raymonds saw a suspect other than David Berkowitz on the night of the Moskowitz/Violante attack. Their testimony can be found under the "About 1:30 A.M." marker on page 65 of the 1999 edition and page 68 of the 2021 version: 

Next Manny presents an eye witness police report (pg. 270) from someone named Mrs. Raimondo whom Manny believes to be the source of the "Raymond" account in The Ultimate Evil. 

After comparing the two accounts, Manny has this to say:

"This happened at 11 P.M. Maury has it happening at 1:30 A.M."

Oh no. This looks bad for Maury. 

Manny continues. "It says in the police report right here. I am not, I didn't change anything. I want people to verify my stuff. It says here, ‘2300'. Unless I am mistaken, that is 11 P.M. - three hours before the shooting." 

Now before we get swept away in a wave of righteous indignation and switch sides, let's ask ourselves a few questions. 

I don't know if I can really fault him for this but Manny assumes the "Raymonds" are Mr. & Mrs.  Raimondo. Yet where in the "Raymond" passage from The Ultimate Evil does Maury say anything about quoting a police report? 

Nowhere.

Next, I would really like to know if Maury had that report in his files?

I have been over every single page of the Maury Terry files that are available (aka "the Grossman files").

The Mrs. Raimondo report is nowhere to be found.

How could Maury lie about a report he never had in his possession?

Maury had a total of eight Moskowitz/Violante files. Not one had any bearing on any of the Brooklyn passages discussed in this episode of the Manny Grossman Show. Not one. You can hope, you can pray, you can wish but there is no evidence that Maury lied about this or any other encounter discussed on this program.

Mr. Grossman had to know this - the contents of “the Grossman files”. 

Instead of immediately assuming Maury lied, why not consider that he spoke directly to witnesses?

"And finally, an important acknowledgement to the many private citizens, and others, who either came forward with vital information or gave hours of their time when I sought their cooperation. It made a difference.

- Maury Terry

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I have to admit that while watching this episode, tracking down the relevant files and comparing them to how the Brooklyn attack was portrayed in The Ultimate Evil, I was ready to give Mr. Grossman credit for actually finding something noteworthy. I was not ready to join him in calling Maury Terry a liar, but the episode definitely raised questions. 

Yet it was the way that Mr. Grossman and Mr. Catalano kept talking about the Queens DA files and insisting that Maury had access to them that did not sit right with me.

I have learned that if you pay very close attention to what Manny says he will often tell you exactly why his version does not line up with the facts. 

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Thanks again everyone. Your readership is greatly appreciated. 

We are correcting the record without resorting to name-calling, exaggeration, or dirty tricks. 

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And remember...

 

Keep doing what you're doing even if it does involve newspaper archives.