According to investigative journalist Maury Terry, who has researched the murders for years, Berkowitz may not have acted alone. In fact, he appears to have ominous connections to a satanic cult through its rumored leader, Radin. So, who was Radin? Keep reading for information on Radin—the shady producer, victim of a murder-for-hire plot, and potential satanic cult leader.
Who was Roy Radin?
Radin was a wealthy producer and show business promoter of vaudeville shows and oldies music tours throughout the 70s and 80s. He was born in 1950 to parents Al and Renee—a show promoter and showgirl, respectively. After his parents divorced when Radin was a teen, he and his mother briefly moved to Long Island, NY, then later, Radin moved to Florida with his father. Radin dropped out of high school to venture into show business and was very successful. By the time he was in his 20s, he had become a millionaire. In May 1983, Radin traveled to Los Angeles to meet Hollywood producer Robert Evans in regards to financing a new film called The Cotton Club. It was there in LA, on May 13, that 33-year-old Radin was last seen. Almost a month later on June 10, Radin’s remains were found decomposed in a creek about 60 miles from the city. Identified by dental records, the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
Who killed Roy Radin?
The investigative journalist Terry traveled to the California scene where Roy Radin’s remains were found. There, Terry discovered a Bible nearby, which confirmed and ultimately strengthened his suspicions that Radin was killed in connection to his role in the cult. However, investigators discovered five years after the homicide that Radin was actually the victim of a murder-for-hire plot in connection with the movie, The Cotton Club. In 1988, four people were charged in connection with Radin’s murder, including Karen Greenberger, a drug-dealer-slash-movie-producer who felt she was getting the smallest cut in the movie deal. Believing Radin was also behind a robbery that occurred at her house, Greenberger arranged for Radin to be kidnapped and murdered. Greenberger was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The driver of the vehicle from which Greenberger was kidnapped, Robert Lowe (who was also Greenberger’s boyfriend at the time), was also charged with murder and kidnapping as well as two former bodyguards William Mentzer and Alex Marti were convicted for their roles, too. Though Terry wrote about his cult-connection theories about Radin in his book The Ultimate Evil(theorizing that Radin’s relationships to the cult and Berkowitz led to his murder), the convictions of Greenberger, Lowe, Mentzer and Marti seemed to shatter that theory.
How was Roy Radin connected to Son of Sam?
Former reporter Michael Zuckerman received information from a prison informant named Vinny, who claimed to have been imprisoned with Berkowitz and to have information about Berkowitz’s cult connections. The informant Vinny went on to allege that 20-year-old Stacy Moskowitz, who was Son of Sam’s sixth murder victim, was murdered on purpose, and not as a random killing. Vinny added that Moskowitz was shot as part of a snuff film—a pornographic movie in which an actual murder occurs. According to Vinny, this snuff-film murder, which was allegedly filmed by a man named Ron Sisman, was tied to the satanic cult. (Later, Sisman was murdered in a shooting that went unsolved.) Vinny added one more piece of crucial information—that, Sisman was involved with another shady character, known only as RR. RR lived in a mansion on Long Island, was not shy about his obsession for snuff films, and held a significant role—maybe even as the cult’s leader—in the same satanic cult Berkowitz was tied to. Both reporters—Zuckerman and Terry—were able to connect the mysterious RR character with Roy Radin. Radin lived in a Southampton mansion where he was known for throwing rowdy parties where drugs and illicit sex acts were aplenty. In fact, actress Melonie Haller made an accusation that she was brutally raped and beaten at Radin’s mansion in 1980 when she refused to join in on an orgy. Radin was charged with criminal possession of cocaine and LSD, illegal possession of a handgun, and criminal menace. Robert McKeage IV, the date with whom Haller arrived at the party, was also charged and pled guilty. Haller’s accusation added that her assault was videotaped. This important detail seemed linked to the cult’s leader RR since the informant Vinny’s description of RR included a detail about filming assaults, porn, and even murders. Ultimately, it has never been definitively proven that Radin was connected to or served as an accomplice of any of the Son of Sam murders. It has also never been proven that Radin was the leader of a satanic cult. Craving more crime? Find out what happened to Richard Ramirez, a.k.a. Nightstalker.
