Jennifer Nowak of Westfield and her father, James D. Lusher Sr., are surrounded by reporters Monday morning as they speak with the press following a news conference where District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced that their brother and son, Jamie Lusher, was abducted and killed by convicted serial child murderer Lewis Lent. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)”
WESTFIELD – The family of James D. “Jamie” Lusher is closer to closure after Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced Monday morning: “We are identifying Lewis Lent as the person who abducted and murdered Jamie Lusher.” But the boy’s sister, Jennifer Nowak of Westfield, said “there’s no closure unless we have the person.”
Mastroianni said that Lent, imprisoned without possibility of parole for the abduction and murder of a Pittsfield boy and sentenced to other lengthy terms “to begin, technically, after his death”, has been the focus of an investigation which “has not stopped” since the 16-year-old boy’s disappearance in 1992 and has been led by State Police Lt. Stephen Griffin (Ret.) and Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe.
Mastroianni said that, after “significant” discussions with the investigators and after consultation with Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless, he agreed “that if Lewis Lent gave information that was accurate and led to the recovery of Jamie’s remains that I would not prosecute him in Hampden County for the murder of Jamie Lusher.”
“With the knowledge that Lewis Lent was serving life without parole and would die in jail”, Mastroianni agreed that the investigators, who had been engaged in conversations with Lent, could assure him that he would not be prosecuted for the boy’s murder.
Mastroianni said, as a result, “Lewis Lent has confessed to the crime. He has confessed to what he did with Jamie.” He said that Lent also gave the investigators a wealth of “very specific detail” about the events surrounding the crime that the investigators were able to corroborate.
With his confession, Mastroianni said, “The case, after years and years, no longer became about Lewis Lent. It really became about Jamie, about Jamie’s family… it became about closure, in trying to provide some peace to the family and to the community for what happened to that young boy.”
Mastroianni said that with Lent’s confession, as corroborated by Griffin and McCabe, “We have a belief, and we strongly believe that it’s accurate, that the remains of Jamie Lusher are located in Greenwater Pond in Becket.”
Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless speaks Monday morning at a press conference staged to announce that convicted serial child murderer Lewis Lent has confessed and is believed to be responsible for the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Jamie Lusher in 1992. Also participating in the news conference were State Police Maj. Barry O’Brien, Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe and Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
Col. Timothy Alben, the superintendent of the State Police, said that the State Police Underwater Recovery Unit has already surveyed the pond which he said is “up to 58 feet in depth” and covers 88 acres.
“This is an enormous challenge” Alben said and announced that the New York State police, who were involved in other aspects of Lent’s crimes, will provide divers and assistance to the search which will begin at the pond Tuesday.
“We remain hopeful. We remain optimistic but I think we have to be realistic, too” he said.
Jamie’s sister, Jennifer Nowak, said she was “blown away” by the twenty year effort by the Westfield police to solve the mystery of her brother’s disappearance but said that Lent’s confession will not give her full closure unless her brother’s remains are found.
She said that her mother, Joanne Levakis of Blandford, passed away two years ago without full closure and said that she believes that she died young in part because of the trauma caused by the mystery of Jamie’s disappearance.
Her father, James D. Lusher Sr., said “I couldn’t care less what happens to Lewis Lent, he can rot in Hell” but said that he is not completely convinced by Lent’s confession.
He pointed out that Lent had apparently given the family of a previous victim the same closure when he told police where he had buried their daughter but that victim was never found so he will not be fully convinced without “physical evidence.”
He called Lent “intelligent” and said “This man has nothing better to do then play games.”
However, he said that the details Lent provided in his confession which were corroborated by McCabe and Griffin leave him “99.9 per cent” certain that his son is in the pond where Lent says he left him.
If he is there, Lusher said, Lent inadvertently left him in the wild places he was so fond of.
“Unwittingly, Lewis Lent put my son where he loved to be” Lusher said.
