On January 7, 1994, 12-year-old Rebecca Savarese was the victim of an attempted kidnapping on her way home from school in Pittsfield, MA. She was held at gunpoint and her kidnapper tried to get her into his van. But Rebecca faked an asthma attack and was able to escape, her attempted kidnapper ran off when he noticed a man had witnessed him trying to go after her. Police were given a plate number and were able to track down Lewis Lent Jr. who at first claimed he only borrowed the van sometimes from a blind neighbor, but inside the vehicle the police found Rebecca’s backpack, a gun, duct tape, and a rope…enough evidence to bring Lent in. But Lent isn’t just a kidnapper, but a possible serial killer as well.
Once in police custody, Lent admitted to the murder of 12-year-old James Bernardo of Pittsfield, MA. Jimmy had gone missing on October 22nd, 1990 and his body was found several weeks later by hunters in the woods in Newfane, NY. Lent had lured Jimmy into the Pittsfield Cinema Center where he worked, abducted him, brought him to his apartment where he tried to sexually assault him, and then drove him to New York where he hanged him. But Jimmy wasn’t the only murder Lent would admit to.
Sarah Anne Wood had been missing from Herkimer County in NY since August 18th, 1993. She had been riding her bike, delivering papers, and vanished. All they found was her bike and some of the items she had on her. Lent claimed he threatened her into his van, drove to the Adirondacks, sexually assaulted her, bludgeoned her with a tree branch, and then buried her without even knowing if she was dead or not. Though he did give an idea of where he’d buried her, investigators were never able to find Sarah and he didn’t give them the exact location because apparently, someone else is buried close to her. Which gives the impression that Lent has most likely killed more children.
It wasn’t until 2013 that Lent admitted to another murder. In November of 1992, 16-year-old Jamie Lusher went missing and his remains were also never found. Lent claimed he abducted Jamie in Westfield, MA who was riding his bike home. Though there aren’t many details, it’s likely Jamie was also sexually assaulted before his death, and Lent said he disposed of Jamie’s body in Greenwater Pond in Becket, MA. An 18 person dive team composed of Massachusetts and New York state police was sent to the pond, but nothing was found. It had been 13 years after all and parts of the pond are 58ft deep. But Jamie’s family is hoping they might someday recover parts of his shoes, which were advertised to last 30-40 years. Lent only agreed to give any information if he wouldn’t be charged with Jamie’s murder, though he was already serving life in prison for Jimmy Bernardo’s murder and the attempted kidnapping of Rebecca Savarese.
Police believe that Lent could be attached to multiple missing persons cases across Massachusetts and New York. Possibly even Vermont since a young girl identified Lent as the man who tried to grab her in a K-Mart. He could even have abducted children in Florida because he lived there for years before returning to the Northeast where he grew up. There is a chance that he could be guilty of the kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen, who is one of the most well-known missing children from Massachusetts. Many people believe that her murder is connected to the murder of 16-year-old Molly Bish, who went missing in Warren, MA in June of 2000. But this is only a theory. If Lent did murder Holly, he would’ve been in jail by the time Molly was killed. Holly does fit Lent’s victim type, he claimed he was interested in ‘girls between 12 and 17 who were just beginning to develop.’ He didn’t like girls who acted too ‘adult’ and was looking for a ‘successful sexual partner.’ The Devil You Know podcast gets into this deeper, saying that his goal was to turn a room in his apartment into a series of cubbies to keep children locked inside until he wanted to use them for sex.
On August 5th, 1993, Holly was visiting her grandmother in Sturbridge, MA when her and her brother Gregory went down the street to see some puppies at a neighbor’s house. But only 5-year-old Gregory returned. He said that Holly had told him to ‘go home’ and when her father Richard went to look for her, all he found was her shoe. Despite a large search, nothing was found until October 23rd in Brimfield, MA when her body was discovered in a wooded area. The cause of death was unknown. Former Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni eventually named Springfield man David Pouliot as a potential suspect. DNA evidence linked David, or someone close to David, to where Holly was found. He also frequented the Brimfield area. But he isn’t technically considered an official suspect, so was the DNA not valid enough to convict him of anything? Lent is a strong suspect as well however, since it’s known that he traveled around a lot. Jamie was abducted in Westfield, which is 40 minutes from Sturbridge and both towns are located along Route 20. If he did murder Holly, it would mean that he killed Sarah 13 days later, but I think it would definitely be possible. But there’s a good chance we won’t know for sure unless Lent admits to it, or more concrete evidence could convict another suspect.
For more info, you can check out some of my sources. The Murderpedia info on Lent, AP article, WAMC article on Jamie Lusher, Stories from the Shed podcast on Youtube, and these articles in the Boston Globe and Grafton News on Holly Piirainen. The Devil You Know Podcast was a great resource on Lent’s background as well.
If you have any information on Holly’s murder, please contact the Hampden County DA’s office at: (413) 505-5993.
You can listen to the episode directly on Whooshkaa if you don’t have Spotify or Apple Podcast.
The theme song for the podcast was made by Kevin Mcleod.
Wicked Crime 