(Originally published by the Daily News on Aug. 10, 1977. This story was written by Vincent Lee and Martin Gottlieb.)
Police released a dramatic composite sketch of the .44-caliber killer yesterday which shows him as a steely-eyed, stone-faced man with hollowed cheeks and a grim, sinister appearance.
The sketch was based on the accounts of witnesses who watched in horror as he crept up on a parked car two Sundays ago in the lovers’ lane off the Shore Parkway service road in Brooklyn and fatally wounded Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and virtually blinded her companion, Robert Violante, also 20.
The killer has stalked the city for a year, killing six and wounding seven in eight attacks.
Police officials said that 25,000 copies of the sketch, which varies considerably from three earlier ones made after previous attacks, were being printed and would be sent to every stationhouse and law enforcement office throughout the country and to local post offices and some taxi companies.
The new description, The News learned, is based in large part on one key account given by a man so close to the last attack that he was able to describe tiny, kidney-shaped designs spaced three inches apart on the killer’s bluish-gray Qiana shirt.
An Athletic Build
Police now describe the murder, who calls himself Son of Sam, as a white man, 25 to 32 years old, 5 feet 8 or 5 feet 9, and 165 to 175 pounds. He is said to have an athletic build, a clean-shaven face, dark, almond-shaped eyes, dark, wavy hair, a sensuous mouth, and high cheekbones.
The witnesses said that on the night of his last attack he was wearing a blue denim jacket, matching blue denim pants that were slightly flared the bluish-gray shirt, and blue denim deck shoes with a narrow white band.
Two of the most striking differences between this sketch and the three completed after earlier attacks are in the killer’s hair, which is shown to be thick, wavy, and unparted, instead of straighter and swept killer’s hair, which is shown to be thick, way, and unparted, instead of straighter and swept over his brow; and in his eyes, which appear a good deal narrower.
Chief of Detectives John Keenan, in releasing the drawing yesterday, said that he believed the killer has been wearing wigs. He said that the killer’s eyes may have come out larger in past sketches because they were based on accounts from victims who looked him in the face at a moment terror.
Keenan said that this sketch was based largely on the recollections of one witness, which were corroborated by the impressions of at least two others. Up to eight other witnesses were consulted before Police Officer Bill McCormack put the final touches to his pencil sketch.
The key description came from a man identified as Tommy Z., who had parked with a friend under a lamppost in the crowded lovers’ lane and later moved up two car lengths to get out of the light. Violante and Miss Moskowitz then pulled in under the light.
Tommy Z. reportedly saw the full attack in his rearview mirror. A five-day delay in the release of the sketch occurred while his recollections were corroborated.
Son of Sam has killed six young people and wounded seven since his spree began a year ago.
So far, callers have given police 7,000 names, of which 1,500 have been investigated.
Police ask anyone with information to call 961-9613 or 844-0999. All calls will be kept confidential.
