Kerry-born captor of Son of Sam dies, aged 99

KERRYMAN Timothy J Dowd, who led the manhunt for the notorious Son of Sam serial killer in New York, has died at the age of 99.

“Inspector, you finally got me. I guess this is the end of the trail”: These were the first words which greeted Dowd when he finally tracked down David Berkowitz — the killer who terrorised New York City between the summers of 1976 and 1977.

The detective, who passed away in Millbrook in New York late last week, was born in Kerry in 1915 to Timothy Dowd and Margaret O’Sullivan. His parents were farmers until they moved to Boston during the Depression, before finally settling in New York.