"We have become a society filled with crime, bloodshed, hopelessness and despair."

August 21, 2007 9:12 AM

It has been three decades since the Summer of Sam. Since his conviction for the murders he committed as the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz has been imprisoned at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, NY. But he hasn't been idle. Through his website, he has been preaching the Word of God as well as conveying a public apology. But recently, alarmed by the murders in Newark, he wrote a letter[1,2] to amNewYork. "Perhaps," he writes, "it is time for us to go back to our roots and reexamine what America is all about. Greed or generosity? Unity or selfishness? Liberty or bondage? Love or hate? Life or death?"
posted by nasreddin (16 comments total)

[via gothamist; previously]
posted by nasreddin at 9:41 AM on August 21, 2007

AWESOME
posted by quonsar at 9:50 AM on August 21, 2007

Is there any way to read the letter?
posted by Western Infidels at 9:54 AM on August 21, 2007

Squint real hard.

Worked for me.
posted by nasreddin at 9:57 AM on August 21, 2007

Is there any way to read the letter?

Only by squinting...
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:57 AM on August 21, 2007

If this were 4chan, someone would be making lolsam macros. I thank the stars that it is not.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 10:47 AM on August 21, 2007

Word of God > word of dog, I guess.

Still, listening to a sermon preached by David Berkowitz must be a little like sitting through a business seminar taught by Ralph Kramden.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:47 AM on August 21, 2007

When you're done with his website you should check the Myspace page he put up for his reggae funk rock band. Teh awesome coolZ.
posted by Skygazer at 10:48 AM on August 21, 2007

Ron Rosenbaum has a worthwhile article on Berkowitz's conversion and subsequent career pimping Satanic-Panic videotapes here.
posted by Phlogiston at 10:49 AM on August 21, 2007

Berkowitz thus illustrates the worth of "death before dishonor."
posted by davy at 11:11 AM on August 21, 2007

Ugh. I bet every time the families of the people Berkowitz murdered hear about this shit they die inside a little. Nasty stuff.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:51 AM on August 21, 2007

Did anybody else ever think the Blind Melon song Galaxie might be about the Son of Sam? There are two other songs about serial killers/infamous murders on that album.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 11:52 AM on August 21, 2007

Anyone else read The Bronx is Burning by Jonathan Mahler? It's ostensibly about baseball, but it's also mostly during the "Summer of Sam" and gets into the mayoral race, the NY blackouts, the pre-AIDS disco scene, and of course the hunt for a serial killer... - a really interesting snapshot of a moment in history.
posted by mdn at 12:14 PM on August 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I received the following email this evening, for anyone curious about the letter linked to above...

Hey, you don't know me, but you posted a comment on nasreddin's post about David Berkowitz. As you may have read, a lot of people were having trouble reading the scans of the letter that David sent to amNY, so I took a couple minutes and typed up all that I could read from the tiny scans. Seeing as I don't have a MetaFilter account, I was wondering if you could possibly add a comment to that post, with the retyped text. You can take credit for it if you want, I just want the people who want to read the letter to be able to without squinting for half an hour. The translation is as good as I could get through adjusting color, contrast sharpness and some other fun settings in The Gimp, but there are obviously some words that I just couldn't get a definite reading of, so those are in parentheses. If you're interested, a link to the post, and the retyped text are below. If not, thank you for your time in reading this.
-MaicroDrop

David Berkowitz
Prisoner/Cell # etc.

Justin (S.?) Silverman

Dear Mr. Silverman:

I hope this letter finds you doing well. I am in receipt of your request to be interviewed by (amNew York?). You mention that you're doing a story about New York City and some of its history.

Thank you for the offer and for considering me. However at this time I wish to decline because I want to put the past behind me and move on with my life.

I am deeply sorry for the pain and grief I have brought to many families through my criminal acts. I would give my own life if I could (go?) undo the tragic past.

But while I cannot go back to change the past events, I can try as best as possible, with God's help, to make amends to society whenever possible.

As you know, presently I write an online journal as a small website that's owned and operated my my friends. I pray that my writings will bring hope and encouragement to my readers. The site (ariseandshine.org) is an inspirational site which emphasizes hope, mercy and forgiveness and I prefer to see this (means?) as a way of reaching out beyond the walls of this prison as opposed to giving interviews.

Mr. Silverman, you are welcome to quote from any portion of my journal should the need arises. As I have said, the website is about hope, although I know that not everyone will (not?) share in my religious views.

And on a side note, I'm sure you've heard about the tragic crimes in Newark, New Jersey, in which three college students recently lost their lives to gun violence while a fourth was seriously wounded. Unbeknownst to you, I and many others have been specifically praying for this city. Last year I wrote a short piece for my online journal called _Somewhere In America_, which I felt compelled to pen after learning of Newark's high murder rate. I thought about the hundreds if not thousands of Newark's residents who must be (mourning?) after a year's worth of record-breaking homicides and senseless urban violence. In my mind I saw a sea of sad, crying faces of family members and friends weeping for the dead.

To me it's a sad irony that in our great (nation?), the United States of America, which is supposed to be an example to the world of compassion and brotherhood, and of liberty and freedom, that we have instead become a nation filled with crime, bloodshed, hopelessness and despair. Perhaps, then, it is time for us to go back to our roots and re-examine what America is all about. Greed or generosity? Unity or selfishness? Liberty or bondage? Love or hate? Life or death?
Sincerely,
(signature)
David Berkowitz

More prisoner info, ariseandshine.org, date
(December 30, 2006), etc.

If anyone wants me to send a message in response to Maicrodrop for them of any sort, email in profile.
posted by mdn at 6:29 PM on August 21, 2007

listening to a sermon preached by David Berkowitz must be a little like sitting through a business seminar taught by Ralph Kramden foreign policy seminar taught by George W. Bush.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:45 PM on August 21, 2007

he's supposed to die in obscurity, only tools give serial killers publicity. just die, mr. berkowitz. cancer would be good, getting gutted like a perch by your cellmate would be better.
posted by bruce at 9:29 AM on August 22, 2007