Episode 3: 'He Really Wants to Shoot Someone'

Caught

WNYC Studios

Politics, Society & Culture, Documentary, News, True Crime

4.9 • 747 Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2018

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At age 15, Z received his sentence in adult court. The reason why dates back 40 years, to a child named Willie Bosket. His crimes changed everything for kids and criminal justice. In 1978, Bosket murdered two people on the New York City subway. Despite the severity of his crime, he received a sentence of just 5 years, and the tabloids went wild. The result: a new state law that has pushed thousands of kids into the adult system, an approach that’s been adopted by states across the country. We look back at Willie Bosket: his childhood, his extreme and atypical violence, and the specific challenges he presented to the juvenile justice system, even before he became a murderer. Caught is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Listener supported WNYC Studios.
0:09.2	That is a live picture and obviously a major fire in a large building in the south
0:20.2	across region of New York City.
0:23.4	1977, Yankee Stadium, Game 2 of the World Series, and the whole world is watching.
0:29.1	My goodness, that's a huge place. That's the very area where President caught it trod just a few days ago.
0:36.0	The moment became iconic, a metaphor for Gotham's just total collapse.
0:41.2	The 70s had been a long, hard decade.
0:44.2	And there was crime, really scary crime.
0:47.4	The murder rate had doubled, and there was a serial killer on the loose.
0:50.7	Good evening.
0:51.8	David Berkowitz, 24 years old, a postal worker walked out of his
0:55.4	Yonkers apartment last night, turned the ignition key in his car, and found himself surrounded
0:59.9	by police. Well, he said, you got me. Police say those words ended the biggest manhunt in New York
1:05.8	City history with a capture of son of Sam. People were freaked out, and the cops weren't helping.
1:12.3	In 1975, a group of disgruntled officers
1:15.1	circulated a so-called survival guide
1:17.4	to people landing at the airport.
1:19.3	It had a picture of the grim reaper on the cover
1:21.5	underneath the words,
1:23.0	Welcome to Fear City.
1:25.2	It offered nine tips for making it out alive. Don't go out after 6 p.m.
1:30.1	Don't leave Manhattan. And probably the most resonant, avoid the subway. And in the middle of
	...

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