Neysa Moskowitz; daughter was a victim of Son of Sam
Hyfler/Rosner
A MOM DIES - FORGIVING SON OF SAM
By ANDREA PEYSER
September 28, 2006 -- SHE survived the death of her husband
and all three
of her children - includ ing Stacy Moskowitz, the last
person gunned down
by David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz.
Neysa Moskowitz, who remained fiery and funny in the face of
unspeakable
tragedy, was sustained by the belief that, one day, she
would join her
family in the afterlife.
Now she will. Neysa died Tuesday at home in Miami Beach. She
was 73.
A friend told me she suffered from breast cancer. The Dade
County Medical
Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy because of a
suspicious amount
of drugs in her system - although foul play is not
suspected.
She has no close survivors - except, incredibly, Berkowitz.
The killer
lives, fat and happy, in an upstate New York prison.
When Berkowitz struck in 1977, Neysa had already buried the
first of her
three daughters, Jody, a decade before. Friends said she
evidently
committed suicide.
Then came the event that would define the rest of Neysa's
life. Her
daughter Stacy, just 20 years old, was murdered as she sat
in a car with
her date, Robert Violante, watching the moon over Bath
Beach, Brooklyn.
Violante, who was shot and blinded, survived.
Neysa used to talk about her last conversation with Stacy,
as the
flaxen-haired beauty prepared to go out.
"She told her, 'Stacy, be careful,' " Neysa told friend
Vincent DiMino.
"And Stacy said, 'Don't worry, mom. He's not after blondes.'
"
In the mid-1990s, Neysa moved with her husband, Jerry, to
Florida. Jerry
died of a heart ailment. Her youngest daughter, Ricki,
developed
scleroderma, a fatal disease of the immune system. Ricki
died about seven
years ago.
Alone in the world, Neysa never lost her spark, despite
failing health
that cut her weight down to some 90 pounds. She had already
developed into
an unofficial spokeswoman for murder survivors. In fact, 29
years ago,
over a drink with The Post's Steve Dunleavy, she vowed
vengeance on
Berkowitz.
"I don't believe in turning the other cheek when you take a
child from a
mother," she said at the time.
Years later, that changed.
"She would say things like, 'This kind of anger can make you
sick. Don't
let anger eat you up,' " said her close friend and neighbor,
Sharon
Denaro.
For a while, she seemed to make peace with Berkowitz. He
sent her letters
and a Mother's Day card. But she did not support his bid to
be let out of
prison on parole.
Neysa lived her final days in a Miami co-op, surrounded by
pictures of her
girls, whom she talked about constantly.
"But she said she did forgive everyone," Denaro said. "She
needed to
relieve herself of anger to be able to move forward with her
life."
Her friends are gathering for a memorial service in Miami
Beach on
Tuesday.
Neysa would have liked that.
Kathi
wrote:
>http://www.nypost.com/seven/09282006/news/columnists/a_mom_dies___forgiving_son_of_sam_columnists_andrea_peyser.htm
>
>A MOM DIES - FORGIVING SON OF SAM
>
>By ANDREA PEYSER
>
>September 28, 2006 -- SHE survived the death of her husband
>and all three of her children - includ ing Stacy Moskowitz, the last
>person gunned down by David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz.
>
>Neysa Moskowitz, who remained fiery and funny in the face of
>unspeakable tragedy, was sustained by the belief that, one day, she
>would join her family in the afterlife.
>
>Now she will. Neysa died Tuesday at home in Miami Beach. She
>was 73.
<snip>
>When Berkowitz struck in 1977, Neysa had already buried the
>first of her three daughters, Jody, a decade before. Friends said she
>evidently committed suicide.
So 29 years ago, she had already lost one daughter to suicide ten
years prior. She was only about 34 years old then, when Jody died...
>Then came the event that would define the rest of Neysa's
>life. Her daughter Stacy, just 20 years old, was murdered as she sat
>in a car with her date, Robert Violante, watching the moon over Bath
>Beach, Brooklyn. Violante, who was shot and blinded, survived.
...and only 44-ish when Stacy was killed...
<snip>
>In the mid-1990s, Neysa moved with her husband, Jerry, to
>Florida. Jerry died of a heart ailment. Her youngest daughter, Ricki,
>developed scleroderma, a fatal disease of the immune system. Ricki
>died about seven years ago.
...and 66-ish when Ricki died. I can't even begin to imagine how
awful it must be to outlive all your children, who all died by
different means, too. What strength.
<snip>
>Her friends are gathering for a memorial service in Miami
>Beach on Tuesday.
>
>Neysa would have liked that.
God bless her for her unfailing faith in humanity. Condolences to her
extended circle of friends.
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Brad Ferguson
<rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
> For a while, she seemed to make peace with Berkowitz. He sent her
> letters and a Mother's Day card.
A Mother's Day card? How sick.
MWB
Robert Violante. I don't recall if they interviewed Neysa Moskowitz.
Mark
Bill Schenley
> > Berkowitz. He sent her letters and a Mother's
> > Day card.
> A Mother's Day card? How sick.
According to the September 18th issue of New York (magazine), it was
more than just *one* Mother's Day card ... and Berkowitz said Neysa
Moskowitz had gone back to hating him (not that anyone could blame
her).
Pretty long article, so I'll link it ... But here's a quote from page
III:
"'The Lord put it in my heart to reach out to her
because Neysa's suffering a lot,' David says.
He wrote to her in September 2000: 'I am sorry
that I ruined your life and your dreams.' Neysa
wrote back. A relationship developed. David
even sent her Mother's Day cards. Eventually
David called her from the prison yard. 'I started
crying and began apologizing,' he says. They
talked about Stacy, he says, even shared a few
laughs. Later, when a Christian admirer mailed
David $20,000, he sent $1,000 to Neysa, which
she appreciated. (He says he didn't keep any of
the money.) At one time, Neysa and David even
planned to meet at the prison; it was going to be
filmed for TV. Neysa says she wanted information
about the murder of her daughter. David backed out.
'I couldn't in my heart. It would be a circus. I had
personal things to share I didn't want to be used,'
he says. Soon thereafter, the relationship fell apart.
'Neysa's forgiveness was withdrawn,' David tells me
glumly. 'She's back to hating me.'"
You gotta' love those "Christian admirers" ... They not only believe in
Jesus ... but in David Berkowitz, too ...
FROM: New York (September 18th 2006) ~
By Steve Fishman
http://newyorkmetro.com/news/crimelaw/20327/index.html (9 pages)
Brad Ferguson
Schenley <stra...@ma.rr.com> wrote:
Thanks for all of that, Bill.
Back after Stacy was murdered, Neysa was on TV pretty often, since she
looked a bit eccentric and could always be relied on for a couple of
purple quotes for the 11:00 news. I remember she had brightly dyed
hair and wore a ton of makeup, and she had a classic Noo Yawk voice.
Even under the circumstances, people would tend to see her on TV and
say "Wha'?"
The murders were incredibly notorious. I was in San Diego just after
Stacy was killed and her boyfriend was wounded. The boyfriend had been
unconscious for days but had finally awakened, and so had been told
about Stacy. The hedline in the San Diego Tribune was MORE TEARS FOR
STACY. Just that. The case was so familiar to everybody that no more
was needed.