Once known as the notorious “Son of Sam” killer, David Berkowitz now calls himself “the Son of Hope,” a title that reflects a dramatic transformation made possible, he says, by the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.
In a gripping interview with deliverance minister Don Dickerman and shared with Charisma Media, Berkowitz opened up about the darkness that plagued his early life, his time in prison and the supernatural peace he discovered through Christ. “I was completely uncontrollable,” he recalled. “This tremendous force used to just come upon me and urge me to do destructive things. Sometimes I’d foam at the mouth or lock myself in a closet for hours.”
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The symptoms eerily mirrored those found in Mark 9, a passage Berkowitz says resonated with him deeply after his conversion. “I see myself mirrored in that,” he said, referencing the story of a demon-possessed boy. “There were so many times when I saw my mom and dad cry for me… They just had no control of me.”
Dickerman, who has ministered to inmates for decades, first reached out to Berkowitz in 1978 after his arrest. “I just stopped my car, got out a little tablet and wrote him a letter,” Dickerman told Charisma. “Basically said, ‘David, God still loves you and Jesus can save you.’” The response was chilling: “If I get out of here, I’ll kill you.”
It would take ten years before they met face-to-face. Preaching at the prison, Dickerman was approached by an inmate who thanked him for bringing the gospel into dark places. “By the way,” the man said, extending his hand, “my name’s David Berkowitz.”
Berkowitz had surrendered his life to Christ two years earlier while incarcerated in New York’s Clinton Prison. “After I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I felt a tremendous force of evil just kind of lift up off me,” he shared. “The depression, the hopelessness—it just seemed to lift.”
Berkowitz explained how his transformation didn’t mean life became perfect. “From time to time I still have periods of depression,” he said. “But now I know the solution—and that’s to call on the name of Jesus.”
Dickerman, author of Death Row Redemption, emphasized that Christians, too, can experience oppression. “Every Christian can be oppressed,” he explained. “Jesus healed all those who were oppressed of the devil. There’s a difference between possession and oppression.”
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Despite the evil of his past, Berkowitz has found peace in a Savior who redeems. “Even if a person commits the most horrible crimes,” he said, “it doesn’t matter to God. The door of repentance and mercy is still open. Whoever will may come.”
David Berkowitz’s story is a powerful testament to the transformative power of grace and redemption. Even with a past marked by darkness and violence, his journey demonstrates that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
