Post by Scumhunter on Jul 15, 2013 11:08:19 GMT -5
Convicted murderer Lewis S. Lent Jr. has confessed to killing missing Westfield teenager James "Jamie" Lusher, telling investigators he left the boy's body in a Becket pond, law enforcement officials announced Monday.
Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said Lent, already serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of a 12-year-old boy and the attempted abduction of a Pittsfield girl, will not be prosecuted for Lusher's murder.
The news conference was held at South Middle School in town where Lusher was a student.
James Lusher, father of the boy, said he never entirely believed Lent was the killer. For a long time he suspected that his son got into a fight with other kids.
"I was never certain," Lusher said. "No believe 99 percent that this is what happened."
Lusher was described as a boy who loved his dog, his dirt bike and his time in the woods.
Investigators will launch a full search of Greenwater Pond in Becket Tuesday.
"It's a daunting task. It's an 88-square-acre pond that is as deep as 58 feet in places," said Timothy Alban, commander of the state police. "We remain hopeful. We remain optimistic. But we also have to be realistic."
Lusher was last seen by family on Nov. 6, 1992, riding his mountain bike toward his grandmother's Russell Road home in Blandford. He was 16 and living with his father, James D. Lusher, at 148 Ridgeview Terrace at the time of his disappearance.
"She asked him why he was hiding. He said he's afraid he's in trouble," Lt. John Camerota told The Republican at the time.
An intensive search of the area followed, with police initially believing Lusher was hiding and afraid to come home. Several days after he went missing, police interviewed a girl who lived in the neighborhood, who said she'd seen and spoken to Lusher.
But, a search involving K-9 units, helicopters, psychics, and the dredging of a pond near a wooded area where investigators found Lusher's bike failed to find the missing boy.
The case was featured in a January, 1993 segment on the show "America's Most Wanted", and investigators received 70 new tips in the days that followed.
Lent pleaded guilty in 1996 to the 1990 kidnapping and murder of Jimmy Bernardo, 12, of Pittsfield. He received a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole. He was later convicted in Herkimer, N.Y. for the kidnapping and murder of Sara Anne Wood, and sentenced to 25 years to life.
Investigators acknowledged Monday that Lent has often given conflicting accounts leading investigators down a lot of blind alleys. But Mastroianni said police have been able to cooberate many of the details in Lent's recent confession. Mastroianni believes Lent's account.
