Exclusive | Bronx girl’s 1970 murder could be tied to Son of Sam, retired detective and crime buff believe
Mystery of a 1970 Bronx sniper shooting may tie back to Son of Sam
A retired Yonkers police detective and a crime‑history enthusiast are urging the NYPD to reopen a 1970 case that could have been the work of the infamous Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz.
In the decades‑old investigation, 16‑year‑old Margaret Inglesia was shot while walking home from a party on the corner of 169th Street and Morris Avenue in the Bronx’s Morrisania neighborhood. Three .22‑caliber rounds struck her—once in the front and twice in the back—before she died. Witnesses said she was among six victims hit by a sniper in the same block that year, but only Inglesia’s death was fatal and no suspect was ever identified.
Retired detective Mike Lorenzo—who spent 20 years with the Yonkers squad and whose father worked on the original Son of Sam case—suggests that a teenage Berkowitz could have been the sniper. He was employed at his father’s hardware store, Melrose Hardware, just a mile away from the killings, and was only 17 at the time.
“If we look at the timeline, it lines up,” Lorenzo told the New York Post. “This was Son of Sam before there was Son of Sam.”
The theory also points to a cache of 100‑yard training targets found at Berkowitz’s home after his 1977 arrest. “Why would a 17‑year‑old have 100‑yard targets? He isn’t a hunter,” Lorenzo added.
While the later Son of Sam attacks were close‑quarry shootings using a .44‑caliber revolver, the 1970 sniper case involved a .22‑caliber rifle. “Shooting into a car is sniping too,” he said.
Manny Grossman, the crime buff who first uncovered a new Son of Sam victim, says he can trace a possible link between the Bronx sniper and Berkowitz. Grossman identifies Wendy Savino, who was shot eight times in her Jaguar in April 1976, as Berkowitz’s first known victim. He matched Savino’s sketch of her attacker to Berkowitz’s physical description.
“After I found her sketch, I found a police report that confirmed the crime had all the usual Son of Sam traits,” Grossman said. He then reached out to Savino, who confirmed Berkowitz was the shooter in 1977 after the killer’s arrest.
The connection has now reached former NYPD first‑grade detective Robert Klein, who reviewed the evidence and concluded that Savino was indeed the victim of a Son of Sam attack—despite Berkowitz denying the crime in a prison interview.
Berkowitz was convicted of six second‑degree murders and seven attempted second‑degree murders in 1977. He is serving a life sentence at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Ulster County.
Lorenzo and Grossman remain convinced that a fresh look at the 1970 sniper files is warranted. They hope that if Berkowitz was involved, it would fill a critical gap in the long‑standing mystery. Grossman also seeks to honor Margaret Inglesia by having the street renamed in her memory.
“This is a major case that’s been forgotten,” Grossman said. “There’s a perp out there and we think it’s Berkowitz.”
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