DICK BELSKY: It was a very unusual page one for the Post [on August 11, 1977]. It was one word, but in red ink. “CAUGHT!” I’m not sure they had really ever done that before. A color headline as opposed to just black.
PAT SULLIVAN: When Son of Sam was arrested, it was DEFCON 1. Rosenthal was on the desk, and I was saying, “Give me a piece of it, give me a piece of it.” Finally, he said, “Okay, go on up to the 109th Precinct” — that was the headquarters. I lucked out, ran into cops I knew pretty well. They had debriefed Son of Sam. Late, late in the day, way past deadline, I called in and said, “Hey, I have his confession. I know nobody’s got it.” I guess they ran into the afternoon meeting and all of a sudden I get a panicked call: “We want you to do it now.” Poor Tommy Topor was going to have to take it in [on rewrite]. They put out an extra, which surprised the hell out of everybody. I still have it on my wall — it was one of the few times, apparently, that the Post went over a million [circulation] and it’s on my byline.
JOE BERGER: The ethics of the workplace began to change. Some of the reporters that were brought in had a kind of cutthroat competitiveness. I mean, journalists are all fairly competitive, but there are boundaries. When you work for the same paper, there’s a certain amount of cooperation. The day they caught David Berkowitz, I was sent to the home of the last victim, Stacy Moskowitz, to interview her mother. When she came out, I said, “My name is Joe Berger. I’m a reporter for the New York Post. Can I have a few minutes to ask you about your reaction to the arrest of David Berkowitz?” She said, “I can’t talk to you. I promised Steve Dunleavy, who I’m talking to right now, I wouldn’t talk to other reporters.” I said, “But I’m from the New York Post. I’m with the same newspaper.” She said, “He especially told me, ‘Don’t talk to any reporters from the New York Post.’”
The headline on the August 11 extra edition was “SON OF SAM’S OWN STORY. ‘Killing was my job …’” As the paper was selling out at newsstands, the Post — and every other news outlet — sought other angles on the story.
MYRON RUSHETZKY: That morning, Pat Smith had to go to Mutchie’s to throw Carl [Pelleck] and Steve [Dunleavy] out of there — they were celebrating — because he had to remind them: We have to do it again today.