Is Son of Sam a Born Again Christian
(Source: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images North America)
*Investigation Discovery'due south 2 60 minutes special "Son of Sam: The Chase for a Killer" aired before this month, taking viewers inside the mind of one of the state'due south well-nigh notorious series killers, David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam.
Also known as the .44 Caliber Killer, "Berkowitz pled guilty to eight carve up shooting attacks that began in New York City during the summer of 1976. He killed six people and wounded 7 others by the post-obit summer. Equally his victim count increased, Berkowitz eluded the biggest police manhunt in the history of New York City while leaving letters that mocked the police and promised further crimes."
Criminologist Dr. Scott Bonn, author of "Why We Beloved Serial Killers," interviewed Berkowitz in 2013 and during the 2017 Summer TCA Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. on July 26, he explained that over the years, the former serial killer has experienced a "rebirth."
When EUR/Electronic Urban Report correspondent Ny MaGee asked Bonn to recall his last conversation with the Son of Sam, he revealed that since his arrest on Aug. 10, 1977, Berkowitz has become a born-again Christian and now goes past the proper name Son of Hope. In fact, the Evangelical Church building has adopted Berkowitz "and he'due south become a minister backside bars" says Bonn.
"The prison interview that I had with him, which lasted about iv and a half hours, at Sullivan Correctional Facility — this was in 2013 — this transpired subsequently two years of lengthy correspondence with him, and I felt I got to know him pretty well through the mail. And and then meeting him was — it was shocking. The images that I had were this sullen swain, brooding young human being who was terrorizing New York, and the David Berkowitz today looks almost like an elf, similar a gnome-like grapheme with bulging blood-red cheeks, and he came bounding in," he explained.
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"He gave me a huge hug. He insisted that we pray together because he now calls himself Son of Hope. That's his new moniker. For those of you who may not know, he went through a cocky-alleged Christian rebirth, built-in again Christian, in 1987, and he now says his primary purpose is to serve God in the best way that he can. And he believes that he's been fully redeemed and God has forgiven him for his crimes."
Standing, "And so, his whole demeanor was very unlike than any of the images that you would see looking back to '76 and '77. And the ane thing he said to me, he said, "Scott, I truly was an evil man. I know that. But God has forgiven me, and if God can forgive someone like me, and then anything is possible."
Bonn added, "And he's become somewhat of a darling of the evangelical Christian customs. They've adopted him, and there'south actually a website that they dedicated to him He'southward become something of a minister behind bars."
He besides noted that "For Berkowitz, equally a serial killer, he loved to kill and needed to kill. Information technology was like a drug addiction, and it'southward different from the demand to go out with a bonfire of glory."
When one reporter asked: "Why did he do it?" — Dr. Bonn explained:
"I remember nosotros can trace information technology back to his babyhood and fearfulness. He was — he had been abandoned and adopted every bit a child. We found out that he had been abased by his nascency mother, and he grew up to be a frightened and ultimately angry and rageful individual. So, he was striking back at club is the way I would express it, and he did it in a fashion that held the entire urban center of New York convict, hostage for a year. So, in his own listen, he was an insignificant individual who had been shunned and victimized by gild. This was his style of saying, "You lot will respect me. You will see me as someone of purpose." So, it was a very twisted way of acting it out. I believe that was his motivation."
(Source: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Northward America)
It was certainly fascinating to hear Berkowitz survivor Carl Denaro recall his experience with the infamous killer.
"Dorsum so I felt information technology was merely bad circumstances, incorrect place, incorrect time. I had no idea who shot me," he said. "The working theory was it was a drug deal gone wrong, and I wasn't a drug dealer, but I couldn't tell the cops who shot me. Then, for nearly six months, I was kind of victimized twice."
Information technology wasn't until NYPD matched his bullet with those of two prior victims that they were finally able to connect the dots.
"I approximate in March of '77, the bullet — NYPD ballistics were able to compare I believe it was the first shooting and the fourth shooting. They knew — I believe they knew it was .44 that shot me, but information technology was also mangled to practice any real testing, simply the commencement and 4th bullets, they were able to make a match. And so, and then information technology was kind of like, "All right. Now game'south on." Now it's the Son of Sam, the .44 Quotient Killer. No longer was it a drug bargain gone awry."
Many investigators that worked the case would debate the issue but Denaro doesn't believe the Son of Sam acted alone.
"I truly believe that he was involved in a cult and at that place was more than one shooter. I've spent basically the terminal 28 years researching, talking to cops, doing whatever I tin can to get to the bottom of the instance, and I recall there'southward probably well-nigh 150, 200 pieces of coexisting evidence that proves that he didn't human action lonely."
He added, "Well-nigh of this information came to me much later. I started with Maury Terry'due south "Ultimate Evil" book and led me to interviewing and talking to nearly 50 or threescore retired NYPD detectives and other researchers, and I'm convinced that he didn't act alone."
If you missed the docuseries, get caught up at the Investigation Discovery website.
"Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz recently sat down with CBS News for a special on the 40th anniversary of his abort, check out a preview here.
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Source: https://eurweb.com/2017/08/20/son-of-sam-killer-david-berkowitz-reborn-and-adopted-by-evangelical-church-eur-exclusive/
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