by Scott Bonn
Berkowitz now calls himself the “Son of Hope” and he strongly believes that his redemption has come at a price. He told me that God saved him so that he could provide help and service to others, to the best of his ability, for the remainder of his time on Earth. Since his spiritual rebirth, he has worked tirelessly with fellow inmates who are physically and mentally challenged as a peer mentor, spiritual adviser, and friend. Most days, he works as a mobility guide, helping disabled inmates get around and assists mentally ill inmates who may need a hand with daily activities or those who have difficulty reading or writing. He has been the only prisoner at Sullivan permitted to perform such services. The prison chaplain allows him to open religious services with a prayer. He is considered to be a model inmate by prison authorities and the other inmates call him “Brother Dave.” He says that his work with other inmates brings great joy into his life.
David Berkowitz, the remorseful “Son of Hope” in prison. (photo credit: Associated Press)
My visit with Berkowitz, which occurred thirty-six years after his incarceration began, revealed to me that he has been anything but alone inside as well as outside of prison. In fact, he has attracted an array of individuals who, although they deplore his murderous past, have become acquaintances, friends, and in some instances, spiritual partners. His circle of friends and associates, to a great degree, is made up of evangelical Christians, including a Town and Village Courts judge in upstate New York, an attorney and a financial adviser both in Manhattan, New York, who have been moved by Berkowitz’s story of becoming a born-again Christian. Many of them have been inspired to promote his incredible journey of redemption.
Berkowitz has a spiritual and religious website that is maintained for him by a Christian friend in Texas. The home page displays a photo of Berkowitz smiling and wearing a white polo shirt in front of a hand-painted prison mural of a wooded lake area. The website promotes his memoir titled Son of Hope: The Prison Journals of David Berkowitz, published by Morning Star Communications, in which he expresses deep remorse for his crimes and professes a devotion to helping others and serving God from prison. The website also includes a personal apology from him, as well as a narrative in numerous languages about his earlier life and religious experiences behind bars. To date, it has received more than 250,000 visitors from around the world. Berkowitz receives no money from his memoir and a portion of the proceeds go to the New York State crime victims board for distribution to the victims of his crimes.
The politically powerful Christian group Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs conducted a radio interview with Berkowitz in 2003 about his troubled childhood, the Son of Sam shootings, and his religious conversion. The producer of the interview, Scott Welch, told the New York Times that the segment with Berkowitz was broadcast on more than 2,000 stations in the United States and also broadcast in more than fifty foreign countries. Scott Welch has maintained a written correspondence with Berkowitz through the mail since their 2003 interview. Another long-time friend, RoxAnne Tauriello, a minister and evangelist who resides in New Jersey, speaks and visits regularly with Berkowitz. They met when he appeared from prison in 1995 on a Christian TV talk show that she produces and hosts. Tauriello told me that Berkowitz’s correspondence with a Christian evangelist and several pastors in Ghana who were in need of bibles in the mid-1990s led her to establish a ministry that has since sent thousands of bibles to that poor West African country.
Berkowitz explained to me that he writes about two dozen letters a week to individuals and organizations on an old-fashioned electric typewriter (he says he is illiterate on a computer and has no access to one) along with spending time with people who visit him at Sullivan Correctional Facility and talking to others on the telephone. One of his frequent visitors, RoxAnne Tauriello points to a steady stream of letters that Berkowitz receives from people around the world as evidence of his broad appeal and sizable following. Of his global kinship network, Berkowitz said:
These friendships, relationships, are a precious and priceless gift from God. Here I am, a convicted felon, a murderer, a man undeserving of anything that is good and wholesome. Yet, there are people who have found it in their heart to love me and have concern for me. Also, these friendships help to connect me with the church, and with society. It’s not a one-sided relationship but one of mutual giving.71
There are numerous others who have been drawn to Berkowitz for reasons that are not religious, however, such as Daniel Lefkowitz, a Bronx teenage acquaintance of Berkowitz’s, who interviewed him in 2009 on local cable TV in Westchester, New York. Lefkowitz told the New York Times he invited Berkowitz to speak on his cable TV talk show because he thought that the average person, regardless of religious persuasion, might benefit from Berkowitz’s message of hope and positive thinking. Also, the chaplain of a state youth development center in Somerville, Tennessee, wrote to Berkowitz in 2007 to ask him for help in dealing with students who were experimenting with Satanism. As reported by Serge Kovaleski in the New York Times, the chaplain wrote, “Berkowitz, I am asking you to write out for me your warnings as to the study of the satanic bible. Please be thorough but also concise. I may even forward your warnings to the commissioner of the department.”72
In addition, Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel was killed in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, has visited Berkowitz several times in prison. The two men struck up a friendship after Mr. Scott learned that Berkowitz was moved by a book that he and his ex-wife, Beth Nimmo, had written about Rachel. “We [Berkowitz and I] met on one occasion [and talked] about bullying in schools and the effects it has on kids,” Mr. Scott told the New York Times. According to Scott, “He [Berkowitz] said that he wished he could go back and change things he had done because he felt that some of the people he bullied in school still carried the hurt with them.”
Berkowitz’s Critics and His Reaction to Them
There are legions of people who are rightly skeptical about the truthfulness of Berkowitz’s spiritual conversion and the sincerity of his expressions of remorse about his crimes. In particular, some of those connected to the criminal case express profound doubt that Berkowitz is truly a born-again Christian and speculate that he is just using religion to present himself as a changed man for his own selfish reasons. For example, Joseph Coffey, a police sergeant who took Berkowitz’s initial confession in 1977, said the statements about his religious convictions were as believable as the claim that members of a satanic cult were responsible for some of the Son of Sam shootings. Mr. Coffey, who retired from the New York Police Department in 1985, told the New York Times, “It’s a total charade [designed] to promote himself and nothing more.” Coffey added, “I have had people who I sent to prison or put in the witness protection program find religion because it suits them by providing them access to the outside world.” The veteran journalist Jeff Kamen also expressed deep skepticism about Berkowitz’s conversion. He told me, “There is so little thought to the living hell these night crawlers leave behind for the survivors of their victims—such a turn-around is almost unimaginable.” In addition, Joseph Borrelli, a homicide captain involved in the original Son of Sam manhunt, said, “These people around him [Berkowitz] may be decent folks but perhaps some are looking at him to see if they can get some notoriety for being part of his [alleged] conversion to a good guy.”73
In person, Berkowitz seems humble and accepting of his skeptics. During our prison visit together I asked the former Son of Sam to explain who David Berkowitz is today. He told me that he loves God and all people. He expressed deep remorse for the horrible crimes of his youth, including the numerous killings and many acts of arson he committed. Berkowitz wishes that he could undo all the harm he has done to others but knows that he cannot. He understands and accepts that many people, especially the families of his victims, will never accept his apologies or forgive him. He would like to be forgiven by society for his actions but he has come to accept that it will not happen in his lifetime. To the families of
his victims, skeptics, and those who continue to despise him, he says, “I understand and I am deeply sorry for my actions. I ask God to relieve their pain.”
I asked Berkowitz if he hopes for parole. He has been eligible for parole but was rejected by the New York board on several occasions—most recently in 2012. He explained to me that he neither seeks nor expects parole in the future. In fact, he wrote a personal letter to former New York Governor George E. Pataki some years ago in which he said that he did not deserve parole. He understands and truly believes that he is exactly where he belongs. Berkowitz told me that he would love to be able to meet with young people outside of prison and warn them not to bow to temptation, commit horrible crimes, or destroy lives as he has done. However, he understands and accepts that he is not likely to be given that opportunity. Of his life in prison, Berkowitz said, “Although I’ve been in prison for nearly four decades, I no longer see the prison bars. My eyes are focused beyond that to see Jesus who is the author of my faith. My freedom is found in one word: Jesus.”
Contrary to popular opinion, Berkowitz is not mentally ill, and he neither receives treatment nor takes medication for any mental or psychological disorders. He will never be released from prison and he knows it. He claims that his only desire is to serve God and ease the suffering of others from behind bars for the remainder of his life in any way he can. He knows that he can never undo the harm he has done in this world. In many ways, I believe that Berkowitz is like a recovering addict today although he claims that neither drugs nor alcohol were ever a problem for him. He seems to be recovering from a malady of the spiritual variety. I believe that for most of his troubled youth, Berkowitz was trying to fill a spiritual void and overcome debilitating fear, rage, self-loathing, and loneliness. He turned to Satanism and the occult for answers but his obsession with it and desire to please Satan drove him to commit murder that he believed, ironically and tragically, would set him free. At Sullivan Correctional Facility, Berkowitz is paying for his horrible crimes. At the same time, he has finally discovered meaning and purpose in his life and he is now serving others to the best of his ability.
Berkowitz gets no material compensation or incentives of any kind for his service to others inside or outside of prison. He claims that his daily work and correspondence with his network of friends provide joy and meaning in his life—the very things that he could not find outside of prison walls. Could it be that Berkowitz is sincere about his religious convictions, as well as his expression of sorrow and remorse for his crimes? I have personally witnessed his humility, remorse, and the service he provides to other people. I have also seen his peaceful demeanor and the apparent joy he receives from helping others. Could it be that no one, not even the former Son of Sam, is beyond redemption? Perhaps even the worst among us has the capacity to do some good in this world. As our prison visit was ending, I asked him what message he would like me to deliver to the public. Berkowitz said, “Tell them, with God there is always hope. If He can save someone like me, then He can save anybody.”
Conclusion
In this chapter I have described my interactions with David Berkowitz and discussed the unique insights I have gained into his background, personality, criminal life, and current way of thinking. My discourse with Berkowitz has produced revelations about both his past and present. I have come to believe that certain aspects of the popular Son of Sam legend—including key elements that are now taken for granted—are myths that were created and perpetuated by law enforcement authorities and the news and entertainment media over the years. In reality, Berkowitz became obsessed with Satan and very much like a drug addict was driven to kill by burning needs and desires that he could neither understand nor control. In many ways Berkowitz was the principle author and promoter of the Son of Sam legend, although it has been modified, rewritten, and sensationalized by others.
Berkowitz is paying for his terrible crimes through his loss of rights and freedom in this world. I believe that he is exactly where he belongs. The serial killer who has come to personify evil in our society is now a born-again Christian who spends most of his time working one-on-one as a peer mentor, spiritual adviser, and mobility guide for troubled and disabled prison inmates at the Sullivan Correctional Facility. Berkowitz reaches out from his prison cell through personal letters and a website maintained for him to comfort physically and emotionally sick people around the world. In his own way, Berkowitz is now a contributing member of society behind bars where he will remain for the rest of his natural life.
CHAPTER 7
THE UNREPENTANT SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH KNOWN AS “BIND, TORTURE, KILL”
Perhaps some people are simply born “bad to the bone” as blues-rocker George Thorogood sang in his 1982 song of that title. Thorogood’s hit could have been inspired by the exploits of Dennis Rader, the serial killer better known by his self-assigned pseudonym of “Bind, Torture, Kill” (BTK). Rader killed ten people, including men, women, and children, between 1974 and 1991. He loved to play a game of “catch me if you can” with authorities and sent them numerous taunting letters. He avoided detection and capture until 2005, when he was finally tripped up by his own egomania and narcissism. In between murders, Rader lived a remarkably normal-looking life with his wife and two children. He was perceived by acquaintances to be a pillar in his Wichita, Kansas, community. Inwardly, however, he was secretly satisfying his sexual needs and delaying his compulsion to kill for months and even years at a time by engaging in autoerotic fantasies until the need to commit murder became overwhelming once again. Now in prison and serving ten life sentences in isolation, he remains as unrepentant as ever.
If the story of David Berkowitz presented in the last chapter offers some hope that even the worst among us can be transformed, then the horrifying tale of Dennis Rader reminds us that some acts of evil defy comprehension and some stone-cold perpetrators scoff at the idea of redemption. This chapter presents the unsettling story of a man who considers himself a natural born killer driven by compulsions and instincts that even he could not comprehend. Reflections on my personal correspondence over several years with Rader provide important new insights into the motivations of a classic power/control killer who has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorders, including psychopathy and malignant narcissism. Based on the actual words and actions of BTK, I provide unique insights into how he contributed to the construction of his horrifying public image as a serial killer. This is his story.
The Evolution of a Serial Killer
By all accounts, the childhood of Dennis Lynn Rader was normal and unremarkable. He was born on March 9, 1945, in a quiet corner of Kansas, close to where it, Oklahoma, and Missouri all come together. Rader was the first of four sons born to William and Dorothea Rader. He was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsburg, Kansas. His father was in the US Marine Corps, and later worked for the Kansas electric utility KG&E following World War II. Rader joined the Boy Scouts as a youth and participated in group activities at the Lutheran church. He attended Riverview Elementary School, where he was an average to below average student, and exhibited an introverted and withdrawn personality. He spent most of his time alone.
By his own admission, Rader developed fantasies about domination, bondage, and torture at a very early age—while still in grade school. Dr. Tony Ruark, a forensic psychologist who evaluated Rader following his arrest, believes that something happened early in Rader’s life to spawn the BTK Killer. He said:
If Rader was completely honest [which he is not] I am sure that what we would find would be some sort of childhood event that Rader immediately associated with feelings of sexuality. Somehow, very early on, Rader encountered an event where he immediately linked sexual pleasure with watching a living creature suffer and die. And after that first encounter, Rader probably began to work very hard to nurture those feelings.
Rader admits to having killed cats and dogs by hanging and strangling them as a youth. By puberty he already dreamed of tying girls up and h
aving sex with them. Rader says that his fantasies were “almost like a picture show” that he wanted to direct and produce, no matter what the cost. Actress Annette Funicello, a “Mouseketeer” on the original Mickey Mouse Club TV show in the 1950s, was one of his favorite targets for imaginary bondage. He realized that he had to keep his developing inner world of bondage, killing, and sex a secret from everyone and he was able to do so effectively.
Despite his developing inner demons, those who knew him during adolescence describe a quiet and polite young man who preferred to keep to himself.74 It is said that Rader was not a joiner or known to be very socially active in high school. He did not attend school dances and he showed no interest in the popular music of the early 1960s. One high school friend described him as completely lacking a sense of humor.75 The same friend considered the young Rader to be very serious, determined, and highly focused. He was described as a person who chose his words carefully before speaking and when he spoke he was fully focused on his listener.