After his arrest, Berkowitz told detectives he was “mad” that Savitskaya was planning to divorce him and break up his family and that he would, “rather have her dead than leave me,” police said.
Berkowitz told detectives he believed he found text messages between her and another man and said, “If I can’t have her no one can,” police said.
He explained he used a hammer because he worked in construction and knew it would break “her cranium.” He said he didn’t use a knife because he “hates them” and knew she would “scream” if he stabbed her, investigators said.
Berkowitz didn’t know how many times he hit her head but there was blood all over the bed sheets. He told their son to “turn over” because he did not want the boy to see what he had “done to his mother,” the police report stated.
Then, Berkowitz told detectives Savitskaya was still making “noises” so he “dragged” her out of the bedroom by her arms and strangled her with a cord to, “put her out of her misery,” police said.
He said he told his mother when he knew Savitskaya was dead, detectives said.
Photographs posted on her Facebook page show Savitskaya was a graduate of Florida Atlantic University and Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Berkowitz is charged with premeditated first-degree murder and was being held without bond in the Broward County Jail, records showed.