"As I ripped through my city like a pinball, vindicating many names for this outsider, it seemed he was starting to doubt Maury's work. Larry was now more into proving Maury wrong than proving Maury right."
The "outsider" in question, also known as "Larry", is a certain YouTube personality that Paul was providing research for.
But let's consider that first part of the quote: "ripped through my city like a pinball". I would say this is a major part of the problem with Paul's approach to investigating this case.
On page 21 we are introduced to someone named Mrs. Callahan. Mrs. Callahan is not only a life-long friend of Paul's but also sat next to John Carr in homeroom at Sacred Heart.
"I discussed with Mrs. Callahan all the people from our neighborhood who Larry was associating with this satanic cult. A cult Maury Terry would come to call the Twenty-Two Disciples of Hell...I went through about ten names with Mrs. Callahan from Larry's videos and she knew every single one of them. Every person I brought up had no connection to David Berkowitz at all and were 100 percent not involved with a satanic cult."
Paul seems satisfied to leave it at that. Next he moves on to calling everyone he knows in all the Yonkers neighborhoods from Warburton Ave. to Sacred Heart and assures us nobody from those neighborhoods knew David Berkowitz and nobody heard of a twenty-two person satanic cult that gathered in Yonkers.
After that, he's onto Tocco Grady, then, briefly, Susan Conway, and then "Caveman", then the crosses on Untermyer trees and then the Netos...
There is so much wrong with Paul's pinball method I don't even know where to begin.
Who are the ten names Paul ran past Mrs. Callahan? Who is Mrs. Callahan? Why would you simply give her the final word if you are serious about this case? What detective would recommend a "one and done" approach to clearing suspects?
If "outsiders" are not readily welcome in Yonkers, as Paul assures us, how many people were supposed to know David Berkowitz, who wasn't even in the area for a long time? If you did know David, a convicted serial killer, why would you necessarily admit it?
Who read this and said, "wow, good job!"
If you have questions of your own, they're welcome below.
No serious investigator would allow 1 individual to exonerate so many people.
ReplyDeleteI’m very curious about the claims of JoaquiN/JoaquiM that the author makes, as public records verify David spelled that name correctly.
I guess if you’re on a mission to exonerate the city that, according to previous interviews, so badly wronged you as their employee for 20 years…well, it’s easier to “not” try.
He had the cooperation of Yonkers PD. He makes this very clear. Not one of his “friends” could give him tips on building a solid case?
DeleteThey were happy to give him files. Did they assume a guy with no training knew what to do with them?
If the secret of the 22 has been kept this long why would a woman who sat next to John Carr or a Yonkers native trying to make Berkowitz a lone gunman share that information. A memoir of the truth you found would be much more interesting and believable. Handed lost files has to make anyone question the truth behind this book.
ReplyDeleteUntil former Yonker's Detective Murphy's 1996/97 investigative report he conducted with NYPD Detective Mounts, which concluded that there WAS cult involvement in Son of Sam, is released, Agostino ain't got s***.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting book. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou could have mine when I'm done but I plan on wiping my ass with it.
DeleteBesides shooting around like a pinball, by the time I got to page 50, I walked away with a vibe that anyone purporting the multiple shooter theory should actually scream into their straight jacket while saying they are losing the game of the actual ping pong of the abyss, pinballs aside. I don't know, I walked away from this book feeling a bit manipulated, like the whole 4pi Process thing isn't really a thing when it is. . .
ReplyDeleteAnyhow. I suppose I'll just go listen to the Beatles now, maybe Lovely Rita Meter Maid, think about how Paul McCartney wanted to hater but instead decided to love her, the women who handed out the ticket to him, (the song is based on a real life occurrence and Crowley is on the cover of Sargent Peppers) and ponder the crap ticket at the Moscowitz crime scene. You know the one Berkowitz mailed in on July 31, cashed by the city on Aug 4, meaning the city HAD TO HAVE HAD A COPY OF THE TICKET TO PROCESS THE PAYMENT. That is how tickets work, you know? From an accounting standpoint? Copies of tickets are required to be mailed in with checks. And the city requires and auditing trail. Just food for thought for all the people who actually believe the police department misplaced the tickets, including not locating the ticket until days after it was cashed. THEY HAD A COPY.
Hey Nathan, if I read Paulie Walnuts' drivel, is my blood pressure going to go through the roof? TD
ReplyDeleteNo. Not once you realize just how bad the whole thing is.
DeleteSee, I didn’t even plan on buying it, at least not right away. I didn’t want my blood pressure to spike either.
All of the one star reviews convinced me I needed to man-up and face it. I was worried there might be something bad about Maury or his investigation- assuming the one-stars were coming from panicked “Terry Heads” that is.
5 pages in and I was reaching for the Hi-Lighter. There was already such a dumb mischaracterization of something that I knew the book was fucked and nothing to worry about.
The main issue I have with the book is the tone that people in Yonkers do not take kindly to "outsiders" especially those asking questions about controversial Yonkers-related issues. There is a contradiction there when the author has the attitude that I am the ONLY one who went out and got this information for the public, when others, including Grossman AND Murphy for that matter, DID go out and try to do the same thing. Agostino did not like the trajectory that Grossman's investigation was going so he was sent in to shut Grossman down. Murphy, well, why has he been so quiet in the midst of all this, and even more importantly, why did Agostino never speak with Murphy, the detective who dug DEEP into this case and concluded that there was in fact cult involvement in Son of Sam.
ReplyDeleteSpot on.
DeleteAnd why did the good people of Yonkers let Tocco Grady run wild? We have been told they brook no shit. Apparently they did.
Never in a million years would I defend or even slightly take up for Manny Grossman, but I cannot help but wonder if he knew his role in the “good cop/bad cop” routine being perpetrated. I won’t die on that hill, but it’s something I’ve been kicking around.
Another question that comes to mind: wtf was Neo’s big hurry? They obviously had enough material from Facebook and Maury’s files.
ReplyDelete