The Murder of Benjamin Amato
Warning, this case discusses mental health and suicide.
For this case, I watched an episode of Heart of Darkness. It’s season 1 episode 5, titled ‘Murder in the Poconos.’
A man is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his home.
Background
Benjamin ‘Ben’ Amato was born on September 19, 1949, and raised in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1980s, he gave up the fast paced life in New York, and moved to Pennsylvania.
In 1985, Ben met a single mother of two daughters. They got married, and were together for 13 years. Ben became very close to his stepdaughters, and remained close with them until his death.
After his divorce, Ben stayed busy with his construction business, and volunteering for the fire department. He was described as always nice and kind. His stepdaughters referred to him as ‘gentle bear or papa bear.’
Benjamin ‘Ben’ Amato
A New Romance
One day, Ben’s friends in the area had asked him for help. He met their 29-year-old daughter, Cheryl Kunkle. She was a single mom of a teenage son named Gregory.
There was an instant spark between the two of them, and he began visiting her almost everyday. They quickly fell in love despite their 20 year age difference.
Cheryl was described as self-efficient and strong. Cheryl was happy to have Ben around her son. Ben was excited to be a father figure again.
A year into the relationship, Cheryl announced that she was pregnant. Ben wasn’t as excited as many thought he would be. Ben had bipolar disorder and depression, and was afraid to have children. The relationship was strained after that. Cheryl really wanted another baby, and was going to raise the baby alone if she had to. Cheryl ended the relationship while she was pregnant.
Cheryl gave birth to their son in January 1998. Ben decided he wanted to be a part of their son’s life after he was born, but Cheryl didn’t want him around.
The Murder
In November 2001, the Monroe County police received a 911 call from one of Ben’s neighbors. The man told the dispatcher that he had knocked on the door, but there was no answer. They said they thought it could be an emergency, and wanted someone to do a welfare check. The Pennsylvania State Police went out to Ben’s home to perform a welfare check.
When the police arrived, no one answered the door. They were able to make their way inside through the garage. As soon as they walked inside, they were hit by the smell of death.
Inside a utility room, the police found Ben at the bottom of the stairs. He was deceased, and his body was in stages of decomposition. There was a lot of blood found at the scene, but no murder weapon was found.
Ben’s stepdaughter had arrived on the scene. She told the police that Ben had battled with depression for years. It also wasn’t the first time that police had been called to his house. Ben had attempted to commit suicide twice before. Ben’s stepdaughters just thought that he had killed himself.
The crime scene revealed that Ben most likely hadn’t committed suicide. There was a boot print at the top of the stairs. Ben had been wearing sneakers at the time of his death, so they weren’t from him.
On the walls, the police found an orange stain. The stain was from mace.
Ben’s autopsy revealed that he had severe heard trauma. His skull was fractured in 3 different areas. There were over 3 dozen impact spots on the walls. The police believed Ben had been beaten with either a baton or baseball bat.
Ben had been attacked as he came from the store. A CVS bag was found on the stairs. The police believed his attacker was lying in wait for him to come home.
A List of Suspects
There were no signs of a robbery. Ben’s wallet had been found in his pocket, and he had about $1,000 in cash still inside.
The police spoke to witnesses about if Ben had any enemies. Ben’s neighbor had called 911, and the police wanted to speak to him. They learned that he would often let himself into Ben’s home while he wasn’t there. The neighbor said he had never entered without Ben being home.
The neighbor had been found wearing boots, so the police were suspicious of him. They collected his shoes for testing. He was eventually ruled out as the boots were not a match.
The police learned that 3 years earlier, Ben’s ex, Cheryl, had given birth to their son. They went to speak to her. Cheryl said she had been at home with her kids at the time of the murder. Cheryl told the police about her relationship with Ben.
She said Ben had a dark side. She had felt threatened by him after she gave birth. She said Ben would show up at her house without her knowledge. According to her, he would also drive by and yell things out the window.
Cheryl said she had moved on, and was dating a local police officer. They had been dating at the time of Ben’s death. The police were suspicious as batons and mace are usually carried by police officers.
The police asked to see the police tools used by Cheryl’s boyfriend. It was clear that the baton hadn’t been used. He was cleared as a suspect, and he hadn’t been anywhere near Ben’s house.
The police turned their attention back to Cheryl. They remembered that she had been very stern after they asked to speak to her older son, Gregory. Cheryl never allowed the police to speak to Gregory because he was under the age of 18.
The Home Invasion
About 3 months before Ben's murder, Cheryl had reported a home invasion. In the report, she claimed that thousands of dollars had been stolen. She named two people in the report. The woman, April Steinhauser, had once been a close friend of Cheryl’s and had dated her brother. Cheryl reported the home invasion, but didn’t want to prosecute. The police found it odd that Cheryl didn’t want to prosecute because thousands of dollars had been stolen. They thought maybe she had been threatened to drop the charges.
The second person named in the report, Nathaniel Evans had been arrested for unrelated assault charges. The police visited him in prison. The police asked him if he knew why they were there. He said because that lady had paid them to kill Ben. He said Cheryl had shown them a picture of Ben, told them where he lived, and how she wanted it done.
Nathaniel said he and April had been paid a fee upfront by Cheryl. He said they had broken into Cheryl’s house to steal the rest of the money instead of killing Ben. Cheryl then called the police. Nathaniel said he threatened her into dropping the charges. He said he would tell the police that she had hired them to kill Ben.
Nathaniel had been in prison during the time that Ben was murdered. He was ruled out as being the killer.
The Motive
The police learned that Cheryl and Ben had been going through a custody battle. Ben was awarded overnight visitation rights, and their son would be allowed to stay overnight at his house. Cheryl was angry about this.
Cheryl was confronted by the police. She denied the story that Nathaniel gave them. She said she could prove her innocence. Cheryl went to April’s house and recorded their conversation.
Cheryl could be heard asking April if she had mentioned her name in revenge for her pressing charges. April said she had to come up with something because she had spent some of the money, and didn’t want to go to jail. April admitted to lying to the police to protect herself.
The police couldn’t find any further evidence to charge anyone for Ben’s murder. The case went cold until May 2004.
A Family of Murderers
In May 2004, The Pike County police were called to the scene of another suspicious death. The victims were Kristin Fisher, 17, and her 7-month-old daughter. Kristin had been found with a noose around her neck. Her daughter was found in the bathroom of their home upstairs. The death was ruled as a homicide.
The police asked Kristin’s mom who would’ve wanted to harm her daughter. The father of Kristin’s daughter was Gregory Rowe, Cheryl’s son. They were also going through a child custody battle. Gregory was arrested, and he became a person of interest in Ben’s death.
Gregory was 18 at the time of his arrest, so Cheryl couldn’t legally stop the police from talking to him anymore. Gregory admitted to being at Ben’s house on the day he was killed. But, he said Cheryl was the one who had beaten Ben to death.
The Convictions
Gregory had been 15 at the time. He drove Cheryl to Ben’s home. He was told to drive down the road and wait an hour. Cheryl went inside Ben’s house, and waited until he returned from the store. Cheryl maced Ben as he started on the stairs, and beat him with a baseball bat. She stood over him, and continue to beat him until he died.
Gregory picked his mom up an hour later. On the way back to their house, Cheryl threw away her blood soaked clothes and baseball bat.
The police learned that the recording between Cheryl and April had been a staged conversation. Cheryl had written a script, and April complied because she was afraid of her.
Cheryl was charged with the murder. Gregory testified against his mom. He referred to her as Cheryl, and described her as controlling and evil.
After 5 hours of deliberation, Cheryl was found guilty. She was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Gregory is serving two life sentences.
Gregory Rowe
Cheryl Kunkle
Other
Cheryl’s latest appeal was denied.
FINAL THOUGHTS
These are two very fucked up people. But, Gregory is definitely the way he is because of his mom. Cheryl tried to control everything in her life. She would take matters into her own hands if things weren’t going her way. It’s just so sad that two more people had to die for Ben’s case to finally get solved.
Sources
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110596386/benjamin-j.-amato
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/11/woman_who_beat_ex-lover_to_dea.html
https://www.poconorecord.com/story/news/2005/12/21/son-testifies-against-mom-in/52972919007/
