Chief of Detectives John L Keenan appealed to reporters yesterday to stop tracking down witnesses in the .44-caliber killings and to “let the police interview such people.”
The coverage by newspapers, radio and television has been so extensive that reporters have sometimes got to witnesses before the police. There were times when detectives leaving the investigation’s headquarters in Flushing Queens to interview potential witnesses had been followed by reporters. When the police finished their interviews, reporters rushed in. Tommy Z, who witnessed the Moskowitz/Violante shooting in his rear view mirror was interviewed by newsmen.
The more profound question is whether the huge coverage by the media encourages the killer. Psychologists agree that he wants publicity and enjoys the cat-and-mouse game with police. “One thing about the paranoid personality is that it tends to be very ego-involved.”
Excerpt from Deirdre Carmody Aug 5, 1977 New York Times
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