The trial had dragged on for months. When the final verdict was read, the last holdout on the jury voted “guilty.” Bruce stood in silence as the judge’s words landed like a hammer: life in prison. His mind flooded with images of his crimes.

Bruce’s journey to that moment had begun decades earlier. Raised in a home marked by his father’s drunken rages and his mother’s helplessness, he grew up in an environment where love felt absent and security elusive. Rejected and angry, he fled to California, chasing fulfillment in possessions, relationships, and drugs. LSD became a doorway into what he now describes as “a dark spiritual presence - an ‘angel of light’” that pulled him deeper into rebellion.

In 1968, Bruce met Charles Manson. "The Family,” as they called themselves, offered him what he had long craved: a sense of love, respect, and belonging. But that belonging ended in violence. The group’s crimes left a trail of blood, and Bruce became a fugitive. Despite his attempts to outrun justice, he could not outrun God. In December 1970, he turned himself in.

Four years into his sentence at Folsom Prison, Bruce experienced a moment that would change everything. “You will never get high again,” the thought came, unshakable. Soon after, as he looked out over the prison yard, God showed him a sobering truth: the death that covered the yard was also in his own soul.

Desperate for answers, Bruce picked up a book, The Late Great Planet Earth. As he read about biblical prophecy and the message of Jesus’ salvation, the words confronted him. One night, in what he calls a sarcastic and defiant prayer, he said, “If You can do anything with me, go ahead.” He awoke the next morning with a peace he had never known.

Bruce’s life began to transform. He was born again, freed from the addictions that had defined him. Shame gave way to forgiveness. He immersed himself in Scripture, led worship in the prison, and taught others about the hope he had found in Christ.

Today, Bruce is serving the remainder of his sentence in San Quentin State Prison- a place that has recently become a stage for God’s mercy. Earlier this year, God Behind Bars hosted a revival event inside San Quentin, where dozens of men surrendered their lives to Christ and were baptized. Bruce watched as the same grace that had changed him decades earlier washed over men just like him. Click below to see all God did!

“It’s incredible to see God’s mercy reach into a place like this,” Bruce says. “If He can change me, He can change anyone.”

Bruce shares his story with a simple question: “Do you have God’s peace? Admit your sin. Believe that Jesus died and rose for you. Receive Him as Lord. His love is greater than your past, and His power can change everything.”

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” – Proverbs 16:25

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