Crime-Related Quotations

Shapiro, Fred fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
Sat Mar 30 01:52:20 UTC 2013


In a 1977 letter to police, David Berkowitz wrote, "I am the 'Son of Sam.'"  Later, when he was apprehended, he said, "Well, you got me. How come it took you such a long time?"

It occurs to me that one class of famous quotations that may be missed by quotation dictionaries are written or oral statements by famous criminals in direct connection with their crimes, such as in ransom letters, letters to police, letters to newspapers, messages left at the scene of a crime, remarks made in the course of committing a crime, remarks while being arrested or arraigned, testimony during a trial, letters written while in prison, last words before an execution, etc.  I would welcome suggestions of such criminal quotations that may not be picked up by quotation dictionaries.

Fred Shapiro<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz#cite_note-Scott077-57>

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