Phone numbers in Berkowitz's possession
Jun 27, 2022 0:24:23 GMT -6
Omega, Jon, and 2 more like this
Post by marionumber1 on Jun 27, 2022 0:24:23 GMT -6
With the release of some NYPD investigative reports (thepeoplevsdavidberkowitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IF-NYPD-Investigator-Notes-Berkowitz-Contacts.pdf), we now have their record of investigation into the phone numbers in Berkowitz's address book. On page 4 you can see the listing of (redacted) phone numbers and their locations, with the owner's name in the left column and the response when called in the right column.
So here's what I can (and can't) make out:
Everything mentioned by Maury Terry in TUE checks out, except for his claim that the police didn't identify the names behind the numbers. Is there an innocuous explanation, like maybe he was given a version of the reports with names whited out, or that these annotations were only made later by him? Or is he misrepresenting what happened? From p.761-762 of the 1999 edition:
It's worth noting that if the police already knew as far back as Berkowitz's arrest that he had all these numbers in his possession, it should have immediately been clear that he was tied to something bigger, and so explanations of mere incompetence/laziness become less tenable.
EDIT: Since the rest of this file has mentions of people like Terry Gardner and Maury Terry who only came into the investigation later, this is clearly not just the original NYPD reports from the time of Berkowitz's arrest. So the above document on the phone numbers might just be Maury's own work, in which case there is no mismatch with TUE.
So here's what I can (and can't) make out:
- West Babylon phone number for "Hydro Machine" (?) that was unlisted
- Shelter Island phone number for S. Neil Fujita, a well-known Japanese-American graphic designer
- East Hampton phone number for Alfred King, who appears to have been (www.easthamptonstar.com/obituaries/202233/virginia-backlund) the "proprietor of the Marmador restaurant in East Hampton Village" and the wife of a Long Island nurse named Virginia. King "died in a moped accident in 1980"; potentially curious timing with the Son of Sam investigation just having been reopened.
- Shoreham phone number for Dr. William J. Garvin, a Yonkers eye doctor. Jon's book from a couple years ago absolutely called it!
- The phone number of the Montauk Golf and Racquet Club, which might raise the eyebrows of any "conspiracy theorists" who are interested in MKUltra and the rumors of mind control experiments occurring at the supposedly-closed air base in Montauk
- ?? (Montauge? Montague?) phone number for Dr. ?? (R. Schwar?) of Yonkers
- The phone number of the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater FL, the "spiritual headquarters" for Scientology
Everything mentioned by Maury Terry in TUE checks out, except for his claim that the police didn't identify the names behind the numbers. Is there an innocuous explanation, like maybe he was given a version of the reports with names whited out, or that these annotations were only made later by him? Or is he misrepresenting what happened? From p.761-762 of the 1999 edition:
When Berkowitz was arrested, he possessed a list of telephone numbers, which were barely investigated by the NYPD. No names accompanied these particular numbers, and the NYPD simply dialed them and wrote down notations such as "female answers" or "no answer." That was the extent of the Police Department's work.
However, with the original paperwork in hand, I was able to enlist sources in the telephone company to identify the names behind the mysterious numbers. In light of what Vinny (and, earlier, Berkowitz) wrote about doctors and lawyers being connected to the cult, the results of the Berkowitz phone numbers search were intriguing.
One number was identified as that of an exclusive country club in Long Island's Hamptons area: the Montauk Golf and Racquet Club. Two other numbers were listed to the Long Island summer residences of Yonkers doctors; these were not office numbers.
Another number was that of a private residence in East Hampton, another belonged to an unlisted telephone in West Babylon, Long Island, and a final number was listed to a private home on exclusive Shelter Island, Long Island.
[...]
Berkowitz also had the phone number of the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida — a facility owned and operated as a major training center by the Church of Scientology. This further cemented his relationship with middle-level Scientology official Michael Carr, at the least.
However, with the original paperwork in hand, I was able to enlist sources in the telephone company to identify the names behind the mysterious numbers. In light of what Vinny (and, earlier, Berkowitz) wrote about doctors and lawyers being connected to the cult, the results of the Berkowitz phone numbers search were intriguing.
One number was identified as that of an exclusive country club in Long Island's Hamptons area: the Montauk Golf and Racquet Club. Two other numbers were listed to the Long Island summer residences of Yonkers doctors; these were not office numbers.
Another number was that of a private residence in East Hampton, another belonged to an unlisted telephone in West Babylon, Long Island, and a final number was listed to a private home on exclusive Shelter Island, Long Island.
[...]
Berkowitz also had the phone number of the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida — a facility owned and operated as a major training center by the Church of Scientology. This further cemented his relationship with middle-level Scientology official Michael Carr, at the least.
It's worth noting that if the police already knew as far back as Berkowitz's arrest that he had all these numbers in his possession, it should have immediately been clear that he was tied to something bigger, and so explanations of mere incompetence/laziness become less tenable.
EDIT: Since the rest of this file has mentions of people like Terry Gardner and Maury Terry who only came into the investigation later, this is clearly not just the original NYPD reports from the time of Berkowitz's arrest. So the above document on the phone numbers might just be Maury's own work, in which case there is no mismatch with TUE.