NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz has sued a former lawyer in New York, seeking the return of letters, family photographs and other personal items.
Berkowitz is serving a 365-year sentence at the Sullivan Correctional Center in upstate New York for a string of killings in 1977. He was present at a hearing Monday in Manhattan via a telephone conference call hookup, Newsday reported.
Hugo Harmatz, a lawyer in New Jersey, wrote Berkowitz and claimed friendship with him "for his own salacious, selfish and scandalous purposes," Berkowitz's current lawyer, Mark Heller said.
The judge ordered two boxes of material, including photographs of Berkowitz with his mother and at his bar mitzvah, held by Harmatz's lawyer until the case is decided.
Harmatz has published one book of Berkowitz's letters and told the judge he plans to write another one. He said he was honest with Berkowitz, suggesting in his first letter in 2002 that they could write a book together.
