Son of Sam Says He's Been Saved



    SCOTTSBORO, Ala. -- New York's "Son of Sam" serial killer David Berkowitz says devil worship made him a murderer.
    Nine years after he confessed, a pocket-sized Bible led him to Jesus. Now, he's a behind-bars Christian role model for criminals and wayward youth.
    This is the story told in two evangelical videos being rented, sold or donated to prison chaplains and youth counselors across the country.
    The message of Son of Sam/Son of Hope and The Choice is Yours with David Berkowitz is: If this guy can repent, so can you.
    "I took this (Son of Sam/Son of Hope) video to the prison in our town. I simply said, 'You saw the video of David Berkowitz. You saw what the grace of God could do for him,'" said the Rev. J.D. Golden of the Church of God in Scottsboro. "Every one of them stood to accept Christ."
    Son of Sam/Son of Hope was produced for ICN Ministries Inc. of Pensacola, Fla.
    The Choice is Yours was produced for Gospel Films Inc. of Muskegon, Mich., which distributes Christian movies around the world.
    The companies say Berkowitz makes no money from the tapes.
    Yet some wonder whether the man responsible for terrorizing New York 21 years ago, killing six people and wounding seven others, should be anyone's spiritual guide.
    "I think it's over the top," said Graceann Smigiel, victim assistance coordinator for the New York attorney general's office and the grandmother of a boy rescued from the home of child killer Joel Steinberg and his battered companion, Hedda Nussbaum.
    "These people aren't important. We give them importance by telling their tale, whatever their tale may be. What is important are the people who have been left in the wake of his horror," Smigiel said.
    Berkowitz, 45, admitted to the murders in 1978. His nickname came from a note he left at the sixth of eight shooting scenes, which read, "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam."
    Serving six consecutive 25 years-to-life prison terms at Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, N.Y., Berkowitz said he converted in 1987 after reading a Bible an inmate gave him.
    ICN spokesman Scott Volk said the benefits of telling Berkowitz's story outweigh the concern that the videos may be inappropriate.
    "I feel for the families who have been affected forever," Volk said. "But he's affecting lives of prisoners in the Bible studies. He's seen men literally changed when they bow to Christ."