"It's Beautiful to Be Forgiven": David Berkowitz on CBS 2 New York, 2007
Thirty years after his arrest, David Berkowitz told CBS 2's Scott Weinberger about his faith and about being forgiven by Neysa Moskowitz, the mother of his last victim, whose letters the report quoted.
- Subject
- David Berkowitz
- Recorded
- about 2007
- Runtime
- 2:12
Content warning: Concerns the Son of Sam murders, including the murder of Stacy Moskowitz; one archival line refers to victims "shot twice in the head".
The Interview
In 2007, thirty years after his arrest, David Berkowitz was interviewed in prison by Scott Weinberger of WCBS-TV, CBS 2 New York. This two-minute report, posted by the station to YouTube in 2017, combines short passages of the interview with Weinberger's narration. Berkowitz describes the despair and the "powers of darkness" to which he says he surrendered, his time as a self-described follower of Satan, his life as a born-again Christian, and his reconciliation with Neysa Moskowitz, the mother of Stacy Moskowitz. Berkowitz is heard for about a minute in all.
Historical Context
Between July 1976 and July 1977 a gunman with a .44-caliber revolver shot young people in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, killing six (Donna Lauria, Christine Freund, Virginia Voskerichian, Alexander Esau, Valentina Suriani and Stacy Moskowitz) and wounding seven. Stacy Moskowitz, 20, shot in Brooklyn on July 31, 1977, was the last person killed. Berkowitz was arrested on August 10, 1977, pleaded guilty, and on June 12, 1978, was sentenced to 25 years to life for each of the six murders.
Circumstances of the Interview
The report's hook was what it called the first public airing of letters that Neysa Moskowitz had written to Berkowitz. In 1993 she had addressed him on camera through Inside Edition. According to the report she later wrote to him, they spoke by telephone, and they corresponded for years. She died in 2006, the year before this report.
What the Interview Covers
Berkowitz says he was "totally lost, totally in despair" and "dedicated myself to Satan", using the Satanic Bible and rituals that, he says, "sealed my fate". He describes living "a whole new life" in prison through his faith, and says God "does forgive sin". Weinberger's narration calls him a model prisoner who spends most of his time sharing the gospel. Of Neysa Moskowitz, Berkowitz says he "apologized to her profusely" and that she told him he was forgiven. Weinberger reads from two of her letters ("I truly don't hate you"; "I don't hate anymore. All it got me was sickness"). Asked what that forgiveness was like, Berkowitz answers, "It's beautiful to be forgiven."
What Makes the Recording Significant
The report records Berkowitz's own account of the reconciliation with a victim's mother, an unusual episode in the case, and puts her written words beside his. It complements the 1993 Inside Edition programme in which Neysa Moskowitz addressed him on camera.
Archival Importance
The report shows how Berkowitz presented himself at the thirty-year mark of his sentence: as a Christian minister to other prisoners rather than the "Son of Sam". With the 1993 and 1999 Inside Edition footage and his interview with Larry King, it forms part of a small body of television interviews he gave from prison.
Important Caveats
Berkowitz's account of being under the control of "powers of darkness" and of his conversion is his own. The description of him as a model prisoner is the reporter's. The report is a short, edited news package, not the full interview, and the station's word "exclusive" is its own. The letters are read by the reporter; Mrs. Moskowitz's voice is not heard. Two brief lines of archival 1977 news audio are only partly intelligible in the machine transcription.
David Berkowitz: I was just totally lost, totally in despair. I had no reason to live. I just surrendered myself to those powers of darkness.
Scott Weinberger: Locked away for thirty years now, David Berkowitz recalls life as the notorious Son of Sam, a man who held New Yorkers hostage and in fear, warning he would strike again.
Archive News Audio: [unclear: "Both shot twice in the head" / "Shot twice in the"] ... already killed five people.
David Berkowitz: I dedicated myself to Satan, and [unclear: "it became" / "I became"] a soldier, and I had the Satanic Bible. I went through the stupid rituals, and it was just that, kind of sealed my fate. After that it was all downhill.
Scott Weinberger: This is the Berkowitz of today, a self-professed born-again Christian.
David Berkowitz: I'm living a whole new life today, even behind prison walls, because God is not limited by anything. He's not limited by prison walls.
Scott Weinberger: Berkowitz is considered a model prisoner who spends most of his time sharing the gospel with other inmates and Christians all over the globe.
David Berkowitz: I'm a man who doesn't even deserve to be alive, but it's God who delights to show mercy. He's the one who I believe [unclear: "chosen" / "has chosen"] me for this time that we're living in, to let people know that he does forgive sin.
Scott Weinberger: And you feel in God's way he can forgive a killer?
David Berkowitz: Oh, sure, absolutely.
Scott Weinberger: Forgiveness also came from a very unexpected person: Neysa Moskowitz, the mother of Berkowitz's last victim, Stacy. She wrote to Berkowitz, and eventually they spoke on the phone.
David Berkowitz: I apologized to her profusely, and she said that I was forgiven, and she wanted to get to know me.
Scott Weinberger: For years Berkowitz and the grief-stricken mother communicated with each other.
David Berkowitz: Her letters to me were very precious.
Scott Weinberger: For the first time publicly, her words revealed: "Hello David, I hope this finds you feeling good. I truly don't hate you, I promise that." And another letter said: "As I told you before, I don't hate anymore. All it got me was sickness."
Scott Weinberger: So having that conversation and having that forgiveness, what was that like for you?
David Berkowitz: Oh, that was very beautiful. It was, it's beautiful to be forgiven. [02:11 to 02:12: no speech; clip ends.] ---