Jess: 0:15

Hello Wanderers, I'm Jess and I'm Hannah, and welcome to Wicked Wanderings. Hello Hannah, hello Jess, I don't know why I just say your name, weird like that all the time, I don't know, but I think we need a new producer.

Hannah: 0:31

Yeah, he's going a little crazy, having a little too much fun with the buttons over there. He is Just.

Jess: 0:37

Hey, hannah, stop swearing. Alright, we're back at it again after our Thanksgiving break. Woo, welcome back, wanderers, even though we didn't really disappear in your life, which is what we want we want to be there for you always, always. I have to give a shout out to my friend, bridget. She listens. Thanks, bridget.

Hannah: 0:57

Thanks, bridget.

Jess: 0:59

She was the one that brought this case to my attention and I don't know if you've noticed, minus the Salem witch trials, I like to do cases that are lesser known. Yes, and so today we are doing an episode about Lewis Lent, who is a serial killer from Massachusetts.

Hannah: 1:22

Oh see, I know nothing. I like going in blind, so bring it on.

Jess: 1:25

I knew nothing until I researched him, obviously, but I had never heard of him before and he kind of gives me Larry Hall vibes.

Hannah: 1:35

Really. Yes, of course, larry Hall was our last episode. You did Last episode.

Jess: 1:38

I did, and so I'm just going to be chilling in the 90s for a couple episodes, because my next episode will be in 93 as well.

Hannah: 1:48

And a lot of girl. You got theme going.

Jess: 1:50

Apparently. I didn't even mean to do it. I'm giving a trigger warning at the beginning of the episode because this involves children and a douche canoe that killed and did naughty things to children. Fuck him, yeah Right, so let's begin, shall we? And I think I say that every time that's okay. On October 22nd 1990, jimmy Bernardo arrived home from school at around 245. He dropped his stuff off at home and then grabbed his bike and left home and went to the Pittsfield Plaza, that's about a half a mile from his house. The Plaza was a place that all the kids and teens would hang out after school. There was a furniture store, video rental store, pool hall, laundromat you know the typical strip mall. But the main attraction was the Pittsfield Cinema Center and it provided an expansive parking lot for kids to ride their bikes, hang out, play video games, pinball machines, play pool, etc. And they could sometimes sneak into the movie theater with the aid of the theater's janitor.

Hannah: 2:54

Oh yes.

Jess: 2:55

So Jimmy usually hung out at the Plaza with boys a bit older than himself and he had a reputation of being a little mouthy, but he got along with everybody pretty well, like he was an issue. He wasn't a bad kid, he just had a mouth on him. But that afternoon he came to play games alone. He was in the laundromat where the arcade games and pinball machines were and he left to use the pay phone at the movie theater, came back to play the game a little longer and then he returned home again between 420 and 430. He ate an early dinner with his family, did his homework, then returned back to the Plaza to meet up with a friend at 530. They had planned ahead to meet up at 530.

Jess: 3:37

Shortly after 5pm the woman who ran the laundromat saw Jimmy coming from the direction of the movie theater. He sat down in the chairs outside and was drinking a root beer waiting for his friend. And how old is this kid in? 12.? Oh, ok, I did not. Did I say that? I don't know? But yeah, he's 12 years old, which I think almost every kid in this story is around 12 years old. He has an MO.

Hannah: 4:00

Yes, he has a type.

Jess: 4:02

Jimmy's friend left his house at 530 to go to the Plaza. Took him about 15 minutes to get there and when he got there he didn't see Jimmy. So he waited around and at 6pm he called Jimmy's house and Jimmy's mom answered and told the friend that Jimmy was still playing outside. The friend waited till around 630 and then he went home because he hadn't gotten there. Jimmy did not return home for his curfew, which was unusual for him, and his parents began to worry. They called his friends and drove around the Plaza looking for him. When they couldn't find him there, they went to a few other places around the Plaza to see if they could find him and when they couldn't find him anywhere, they contacted the police.

Jess: 4:42

An officer was dispatched to the home and took a report and the family provided the police with a picture and a missing person Bolo was issued. Jimmy's picture was circulated throughout Massachusetts and across the country and at this point there was no evidence to suggest foul play. And despite that, officers were asking around the Plaza. There were no leads. There was no bike, no clothes. The police had nothing. On November 2nd, america's Most Wanted broadcasted an episode on Jimmy's disappearance, but even that didn't provide any new leads, which also made me think, if Larry Hall saw this episode.

Hannah: 5:18

Yeah.

Jess: 5:19

Because he loved America's Most Wanted. Anyway, interesting because it's around the same time. It's a small world too. Almost a month after Jimmy's disappearance, on November 18th, two boys discovered a mint green BMX Mongoose bike partially submerged in Silver Lake. That was across town from the Plaza Center. And three days later, on November 21st, some deer hunters found a body approximately 200 feet off of a one lane road in rural Newfield, new York, some 200 miles away from Pritzfield. So another one of those cases where the kid was taken across state lines, which makes it a federal crime yeah.

Jess: 5:58

The naked body was first believed to be a female due to the lack of body hair, but it would eventually be identified as Jimmy Bernardo. He lay face down at the base of a sapling tree with a quarter inch clothesline rope tied around his neck in a slipknot and the other end tied to the tree. His clothes were found 200 feet from the body and the lack of scratches on Jimmy's legs indicated that he had walked through the brush before being stripped at the scene of the murder. Also, I just want to include that the source that I use for this among some websites is Hidden Demons Evil Visits a Small New England Town by Marjorie Metzger, and this came out this year, so most of this information is from that. The New York Medical Examiner ruled Jimmy's cause of death as asphyxiation by strangulation. There were no defensive wounds or evidence of a struggle or beating. Although he wasn't found restrained, there was residue around the wrists and ankles that would suggest that he was restrained. At one point there was tape over his eyes that had a paper towel wadded up underneath the tape on his eyes. This was either for comfort or to make a better blindfold. After his body was found, a massive search was conducted around the plaza where Jimmy went missing, as well as in Newfield, new York. Reward money was set up for any information and the detectives in charge of the case McGuire and McGellagott, I think I don't know checked out every lead for three years. And for three years there was absolutely nothing. That is until January 7, 1994.

Jess: 7:44

So that morning, 12 year old Rebecca Savarise was walking to school, to Notre Dame Middle School in Pittsfield. Unbeknownst to Rebecca, she had been spotted walking by Big Y, the local grocery store, by a man who felt like he had a relationship with the preteen. The man had often seen the comings and goings of Rebecca and her friends. He had followed them, cataloged their movements, but on that day Rebecca was walking alone and he was ready to make his move. No, it's not creepy, nope. The scruffy looking man approached Rebecca and said Do you see the gun I have? Rebecca thought he was joking and said he seemed kind of like a nerd. He approached her with a yellow shirt over her arm and coaxed her up the street with a gun pointed at her ribs. He then said Do everything I say and everything will be all right. See that black pickup. I want you to get in it.

Jess: 8:40

Rebecca remembered the words her mom had told her Stay on the main road Walk, where it is well traveled. If anyone is behind you, duck into a business, kick, bite, scream, punch, spit anything to get attention. Badass Becky here knew that if she were to get into that truck she would never see her mother again. So she began to hyperventilate, faking an asthma attack, and asked the nerdy attacker if she could sit down for a minute. And that was just enough to catch the kidnapper off guard. And as she began to sit down she was able to wiggle free of her backpack that the man was holding. And Rebecca took off running and ran into Kenneth Card, who worked for a management company close by and was out shoveling the sidewalks. He took Rebecca inside and contacted the police. Russell Davies was parked at the intersection and witnessed the whole interaction. He had originally thought it was a father and daughter, but when Rebecca had freed herself he became suspicious and looked directly at the man, who then realized that he was being watched.

Hannah: 9:49

Oh, guess who's being watched now.

Jess: 9:51

Yeah, the man walked back to his truck and Russell was able to get a partial license plate. Russell attempted to follow the man, but he was unable to keep up because he blew through two red lights and so he stopped somewhere to call the police.

Hannah: 10:07

Remember 1994, no cell phones yet Right, no cell phones. That was actually a thought. I'm like dude, why did you stop? Like you could have called, but obviously in time period.

Jess: 10:16

Yeah, he actually stopped at the corner mobile station, the gas station, and ran into Officer Delmont Keyes and told him what he had just witnessed. Rebecca was taken to the police station and was questioned by Detective Joe Collias and he remembers that she seemed like a bright and happy kid. She was smiling during the interview and wasn't crying. She was able to give a pretty good description of both the man that attempted to kidnap her as well as the truck he was driving. She also reported that she had seen the truck before as she was walking home from school with friends and around the cinema center, with the composite sketch that Rebecca was able to do and the partial license plate provided by Russell Davies.

Jess: 11:04

The police put out a Bolo with this description. All detectives were called in to conduct grid searches for the truck in the surrounding area. Detective Boyington headed to Lanesboro and was going to check in with the Lanesboro PD to let him know he was in the area and what he was doing. After speaking with the officers there, he decided to head back to Pittsfield because it was snowing. It was like a really bad storm that day and all of this was going on.

Hannah: 11:32

So was he maybe accounting for the fact that there probably wouldn't be that much people around.

Jess: 11:36

Yeah, because he wanted to go search some more, but it was snowing, people were not on the roads and the weather was getting worse. But on his way back he stopped in an intersection and just happened to look up to his left. And wouldn't you know it, across the lane of traffic up Summer Street in Pittsfield and in the driveway of the second house on the north side of the street sat a dark blue truck with a white cab over the bed. Boyington turned around and headed to that house and discovered that the license plate number was 878-735. And the partial plate number that Russell Davies provided was 878. So Boyington returned to Lanesboro PD to have them run the plate and the truck was registered to a Phil Shallies of Summer Street. So keep in mind all of this is happening on the same day. Rebecca was headed to school at 7 am and detectives were knocking on the door of Phil Shallies by 2.15 pm that afternoon. That's pretty good, yeah, especially in a blizzard, especially in a blizzard Small town.

Hannah: 12:45

they got nothing else to do. Also true.

Jess: 12:48

In the home were two elderly women, sarah Shallies and Eleanor Turner, and an elderly man. I mean, you all know how I am with words nowadays, I should just not say anything anymore. Just move on. Chester Forfa, along with two younger men, phil and his friend. They were all confused as to why the police were there, but also went on to say they knew why they were there, which is weird, creepy. Why are you here? But we know you're here. But they had heard about the attempted kidnapping on the radio.

Jess: 13:21

Boyington thought that Phil's friend looked a little like the description that Rebecca had provided, but asked if anyone had been using the truck that morning. Phil's friend mentioned that he had used it and he asked to speak to the friend outside, which the friend agreed. So they went outside and he asked him some basic questions where he lived and worked. Detective Boyington asked him for his ID, which the friend obliged, and they now had a name Louis Lent of North Adams, massachusetts. It wasn't until Lent had mentioned that he worked at the movie theater for seven years but was currently unemployed that a light bulb went off in the detective's head.

Jess: 14:04

Boyington's mind went straight to Jimmy Bernardo, who went missing from the movie theater three years earlier, the unsolved case that continued to haunt the town and the detectives working the case Lent was brought in to the police station for questioning of the attempted kidnapping of Rebecca, and McGuire, who worked at the Pittsfield PD who was on Jimmy's case, contacted New York PD to let them know that they might have a suspect.

Jess: 14:31

So because the body was found in New York and he was from Pittsfield, they had both departments working on the case. Makes sense. A background check showed that Lent had a previous address in Burdette, new York, which was just 12 miles away from where Jimmy's body was found. During the interview Lent presented himself as friendly and he loved to talk. He was not yet being questioned about the day's events and he was not under arrest, and Boyington informed him that since he was not under arrest he was not obliged to talk and that he could leave whenever he wanted. But Lent chose to stay and talked about his day and it seemed that he enjoyed being the center of attention.

Hannah: 15:15

Oh yeah, that's a common denominator with these guys?

Jess: 15:18

right yeah, Lent had made it clear that he had left his house in North Adams around 6 am and drove directly to Phil's house in Lanesboro, which I Googled and it's about a 30 minute drive. But the detectives didn't believe him and were given the green light to question him about Rebecca. Lent was then read his rights, which he acknowledged that he understood his rights as well. He was sticking to a story about heading straight to Phil's house until a lieutenant came in and asked Lent if he had a license to carry or a federal identification card. Lent said he did and handed it over to the lieutenant and said he didn't own a handgun nor had he ever shot one. But like, isn't that a little suspicious to randomly offer up that information?

Hannah: 16:09

Yeah, that's very strange. But also, don't you have to go through a training in order to get your license to carry? So obviously you've handled a gun, that's very strange.

Jess: 16:22

Yeah and main, this was in the 90s. I don't know how different it was back then. True, here's my license to carry, but I don't own a gun and I've never touched one. And I've never shot one. Yeah, I just okay buddy, we believe you.

Jess: 16:38

As the Lieutenant walked out of the room he mumbled under his breath you'll never see this again, which was loud enough for Lent to hear, and the seriousness of the situation seemed to hit Lent as he refused to talk after that. Later that afternoon, both Rebecca and Russell Davies came into the police station for a photo lineup. They both picked the same picture but could not say with a hundred percent certainty that it was the right man. The police decided to do a physical lineup, which Lent consented to do, and the shitty thing about this lineup is that the Pittsfield PD didn't have a room with a double-sided mirror, so they lined everybody up in a hallway, each holding a number, and Rebecca was supposed to come out of a room and get them out oh yeah.

Hannah: 17:27

There's something wrong about that, Right oh?

Jess: 17:31

that's just. Did you imagine?

Hannah: 17:32

No, yeah no.

Jess: 17:36

But once again 12-year-old badass Becky was able to do it Go.

Hannah: 17:40

Becky.

Jess: 17:41

And she understood her role. She was nervous and Boyington was with her, and the moment she walked out the door she stopped and grabbed Boyington's arm when she saw Lent standing there and she knew without a doubt that he was the man that tried to kidnap her.

Hannah: 17:57

It should have been done like that, though I feel like that's breaking a law of some sort Right At least it should be yeah, Because that could be intimidation too, you know.

Jess: 18:06

And we will take a short break. We just want to thank Lynn from Springfield, Heather from New Jersey, Courtney from Massachusetts and Chelsea from Utah. Thank you all for your contributions monthly so that we can keep going Well, yeah, eat and continue with the wonderful things that are wicked wanderings, Thank you. A sincere expression of gratitude to our esteemed patrons Lynn from Massachusetts, heather from New Jersey, courtney from Massachusetts and Chelsea from Utah for their generous monthly contributions. Their support fuels the engine of our investigative endeavors here at Wicked Wanderings.

Hannah: 18:57

You too can become a valued patron and unlock a realm of exclusive content by supporting our mission for as little as $3 a month. Your contribution sustains our commitment to delivering high quality content.

Jess: 19:09

Visit wickedwanderingspodcastcom and click on the support tab to join the ranks of dedicated patrons like Lynn, heather, courtney and Chelsea. Your investment not only keeps our podcast thriving, but also ensures you are at the forefront of intriguing discoveries.

Hannah: 19:26

Thank you for considering this opportunity to deepen your engagement with Wicked Wanderings. Your support is paramount in enabling us to continue our journey into the realms of mystery and true crime.

Jess: 19:36

And now back to the shit show. Lynn was a little shaken up after the lineup because, remember, he saw her and he remarked to officers how fearful Rebecca looked when she saw him. It was then that Lynn happened to mention that he suffered from blackout spells during which he had no memory. Convenient, yeah right. He tried to explain that his personality would split and his alter ego, stephen, would appear and Lent would have no control over him. How convenient, lou Convenience. Rebecca's ID resulted in Lent being arrested. He was, he's such a dumbass. He was searched and this dumbass still had the receipt for the gun he purchased in his wallet. Wow, you know the gun that he said he never possessed or touched or touched or shot or whatever. They asked Lent again if he had a gun and he denied again owning one. So then they showed him the receipt to his wallet and he was like, oh, that must have been Stephen, I don't remember.

Hannah: 22:29

You know we don't laugh at mental health here. I would go wondering, but this just sounds like just making it up and being convenient.

Jess: 22:38

So to ensure they had an ironclad case, they recorded Lent being read his rights again and being interviewed. He still wanted to talk, if only it was to avoid being alone in the jail cell in the basement Like. He even complained when he was in there, saying that there were bugs and he didn't want to stand, he was going in the dark Poor guy Night night You've been kids freaking nightmare.

Hannah: 23:02

Nope sympathy for you.

Jess: 23:03

Right Police ended up talking to Lent until 3am and they wanted to make sure he felt comfortable so he would let his guard down. Sorry, I love you, teddy bearer You're sitting there with your arms crossed and you're just angry, Anything like kids.

Hannah: 23:21

I'm like yeah.

Jess: 23:23

He was calm and cooperative and he knew after he was arrested that there was no hiding his involvement. The interviews continued the following day, saturday, january 8th 1994. Lent mentioned that he remembered some things that he didn't remember the previous day, like Lee Story Lou, he said that the scared look on Rebecca's face during the lineup it was like he had seen her before. Well, no shit. He also remembered not going straight to Phil's house, like he had previously mentioned, but he must have been headed to Pittsfield. Once again, no shit.

Jess: 24:05

And then he also remembered that he owned a shotgun, a.22 rifle and a pellet pistol, but continued to deny owning the revolver. Wow. He also said that he didn't remember going to the sporting goods store and buying a gun. Man, he really is going for the split personality thing. What a joke. While New York detectives were waiting their turn in line to interview Lent for the disappearance of Jimmy Bernardo, they interviewed his family and friends. His arrest had hit his family hard, understandably, and they were shocked and claimed that he would never do such things and he's a Christian, because you know people who are Christians never do anything wrong.

Hannah: 24:52

Well, let's look at past episodes that suppose Christians never did anything wrong. Huge Iroll.

Jess: 24:58

Yep. But let's get into the background of this douche canoe, right. Even though he doesn't deserve any more attention than the victims, it kind of helps to get an insight into who this guy was. Lent was born in Reynoldsville, new York, in 1950, and he was a middle child and only son of Lois and Lewis Lent. So Lewis Sr was a huge dick, basically, and he ended up getting divorced, leaving Lois to raise Lewis Jr and his two sisters. And what's funny at least I think it's funny is Lois did end up marrying a friend of Lewis Sr, mr Alfred Wood. Lewis didn't like visiting his father and would scream and cry and cling to his mom and asking to stay home. Some people contribute this to his relationship with his mom and being clingy, but there was a lot going on at his dad's house that may not have been a healthy environment for any child.

Jess: 25:53

In 1954, in true dick fashion, lewis Sr began a relationship with a 14-year-old girl named Charlene. Oh God, she was a family friend who lived on and off with him for 15 years, wow, yep. But also that same year he fathered a daughter, deborah, with an Ellen Venetian, and they eventually got married. They had Deborah and her older brother, frank. So Ellen's son from a previous relationship go live with Ellen's mother. Then they had another child, a son they named Ronald, and when Ellen's mother died, deborah and Frank came to live with them and Lewis Sr decided he didn't want the burden of two more children, so he left Ellen. This guy was a class act. He would go back into the arms of Charlene, who continued to be his go-to Hootie throughout his marriage.

Hannah: 26:52

The girl that was 14.

Jess: 26:53

Yeah, Around the same time, lewis Jr appeared to be struggling. He dropped out of high school in his sophomore year and resented his parents for their divorce. There was little to no parental guidance. His relationship with his father was inconsistent. He didn't fit into school. He was bullied in school for his coke bottle glasses and following Lewis Jr's arrest, relatives began to recount stories of abuse by the hand of Lewis Dick Sr.

Hannah: 27:26

He's his male name.

Jess: 27:27

Dick, or you just said that Cause he's a dick. Good touch, yes, thank you. He was physically, emotionally and sexually abusive. It wasn't until Lewis Jr's arrest that Lewis admitted that Lewis Sr had molested at least one of their daughters and possibly the other one as well. Wow, there is no account of him molesting Lewis Jr.

Jess: 27:51

But if you look at the cycle of abusers, especially sexual offenders, they have usually been victims themselves. So it makes sense to me that Lewis Jr was molested by someone, if not his father, lewis Jr, who I refer to as lent for most of those episodes. So I'm just trying to keep him and his father separate. But lent arrived in Pittsfield in 1986 after living in New York and Florida for a short time.

Jess: 28:23

He became involved in the local church of Christ, which is interesting, cause detective Boyington's wife was a member of the congregation and would say that there was something off about Lewis. So the detectives wife knew him. But I mean, I guess small town Lewis always managed to find ways to be around children. He would offer to drive them around for church outings and would befriend single mothers that were thankful to have a male presence in their children's lives. There were a few times when he just became part of the family and he had a lot of access to children all of the time. So I am willing to bet that there are more incidents of sexual assault that never surfaced.

Hannah: 29:07

It's really unfortunate, because the church is such an easy place for predators to come in and, yes, take advantage of situations because they're always looking for volunteers. They're always looking for new members and it's really the unfortunate thing because some churches don't. If you're going to volunteer for something you know you don't get a quarry check. Or even if you had a quarry check, I mean lent didn't get caught until the nineties, so I mean, so who knows how many victims are?

Jess: 29:39

out there. Right, right, yeah. He remained active with his church activities for about four years but abruptly stopped in 1990. I wonder why Lent was. Lent was able to get his job at the Cinema Center. Upon a recommendation from a member of the church congregation, richard Baumann hired Lent to work part time at the church, at the cinema. He worked mostly nights, but had keys to the movie theater and could go in to the building whenever he wanted. Even after seven years of employment, baumann stated that he hardly even knew the man. His daughter, however, was lent supervisor and he did not like her. And so tell me if this isn't shady. She caught him camping out with a young man in the theater one night. Heather told her yeah, heather told her father about it, and Lent was giving a warning and was told that this type of behavior was unacceptable and would not be tolerated. And he was like, oh, but I told him I was take him camping and the weather's bad, so who knows this is heavy.

Hannah: 30:58

It is. It's heavy and I I feel like most of our episodes I've been fine with, but I think it's because it has to do with kids, yeah, and I was thinking about that as well, but I also noticed your change in your body language and your so in my mind of my God. Sorry, Hannah, oh no, I mean it's no, it's, it's fine, it's part of history. Unfortunately, these bastards are out there and for whatever, reason.

Jess: 31:25

this is a little more, it's more creepy than Louis Lent, cause I mean just more. More, yeah, more creepy than Louis Lent, isn't this? Aren't we talking? I?

Hannah: 31:35

mean Larry Hall. Sorry, I'm like, are we?

Jess: 31:37

wait, wait, awkward Cause. Those girls were like 12 to 14 years old and older.

Hannah: 31:45

I don't feel like this is more detail.

Jess: 31:47

I don't know it just well, so this will be a good side note. In the book hidden demons it gives Lent's confessions, yeah, and what he did, and I actually have kept a lot of things out just for the sake of we don't need to know that.

Hannah: 32:05

Yeah.

Jess: 32:06

But if someone, a wicked wanderer, is curious, go ahead and check out the book. But yeah, there was a lot I left out for this. So, sarge, it's heavy. Hey, the trigger warnings in the beginning, that's true. Continued trigger warnings people, listeners, wanderers. So finally, in 1993, lent was fired. Due to many warnings of his sloppy work, lent threatened Bomin, saying I know where you live and I know all about your family, creepy. Bomin attempted to call the police but dialed the wrong number and Lent had taken off and he had never heard anything from him again.

Jess: 32:48

Lent, like I said earlier, always found his way to the younger crowd and the apartments he lived in became hangouts for local teens who wanted to place the party during can-do drugs. During this time, lent's moods were described as erratic and he would be nice, polite, generous and funny one minute and then instantly flipped to being irrational and violent. Lent's relationships with women were also awkward. He proposed to four women who were surprised, considering they were never in a romantic relationship with him. Oh my God, he was 17 when he asked the first girl to marry him and her refusal devastated him. His next proposal wasn't until he was 26 and out of nowhere he asked his 14 year old friend to marry him. First of all, why is there a 26 year old that has a 14 year old friend? Yeah, yeah, gross. A few years later, he was working on his car with a 16 year old cousin and randomly asked her to marry him. His 16 year old cousin Gross.

Hannah: 33:58

This guy is he's not right in the head, no, and thinking about mental health. He's looking for this attachment, but he's obviously looking in a lot of wrong places. But he's looking for that connection and he wasn't able to get it as a child. He's looking to be accepted, which obviously does not condone anything that he did, but there's there's a lot of trauma involved with that.

Jess: 34:24

But he's also going very young which is very concerning.

Hannah: 34:29

Yes, yeah, but his father also.

Jess: 34:32

Yeah, I mean, he had an outstanding role model, gross Yep. His last proposal was when he was at the Bible college. He went for the daughter of one of the ministers who taught at the school. Her name was Brenda Muller. She was a single mother of three children and they became friendly and started having dinner at each other's houses. When he proposed, she told him that she was not ready to marry and that it was too soon after her divorce. He became upset so she left the house and she kind of told her dad about it and was like hey, talk to this guy. Like what the hell, what the hell, dad? What kind of school are you running? Just kidding. A month later he confronted her randomly in the library asking her how she could do something like that. The sad thing about the story is that Sarah Ann Wood, who we'll learn was another victim of his, was the daughter of a minister, and so Brenda thought that Lent went after Sarah to get back at her. That's a lot of unnecessary guilt for Brenda and Kerry.

Jess: 35:45

So after that confession, lent wasn't done. There was another confession to make, and I don't know if you've caught on yet, hannah, but Lent is super fucking creepy Really. Yeah, and he had this master plan to continue this bullshit. Lent admitted that in his room he had built like half a wall to separate a portion of his room where he was going to be building these boxes that were long enough to put a person in Hell. He might even keep two people in there foot to head, and like coffins yeah, like coffin size probably and he would keep them in there until he was ready to have sex with them. Oh my God. Then, when he was done, he would just put them back and keep them as his little slaves. I'm sorry, hannah.

Hannah: 36:39

If you guys could see my face right now. I'm like my lunch dinner is coming back up.

Jess: 36:46

That's why I said people who, needless to say, the police got a warrant to search Len's apartment and they discovered maps with notes and logs of the girls he had been following. They discovered the beginnings of Len's master plan. And there was another bombshell, however. The first weekend Len was in custody, len told investigators that he held the key to the disappearance and murder of Sarah and would, who went missing from Frankfurt, new York, in August of 1993. So that was five months before Rebecca's attempted kidnapping. Sarah was riding her bike, and maybe this is why he reminds me of Larry Hall, because most of his victims were riding bikes. Anyway, she was riding her pink and white bike from Norwich Presbyterian Church, where her father was a pastor. She was riding while carrying a few boxes from Bible school on her way home, which was only like a half a mile away. She was struggling to carry everything and was going slow, and Len had pulled up in front of her, jumped out of his van and confronted her with a knife.

Hannah: 37:59

Sorry, go back to the bike thing. Yeah, didn't that girl from Massachusetts near Palmer? Her last name was Pyrrhanon. Remember I told you Holly Holly, didn't she ride a?

Jess: 38:13

bike. She was kind of young, though. Yes, they actually mentioned her in this book, that hers is one of the cases that they want to link to him, but he is not confessed to hers. Okay, so that's, that's who I thought of yeah, okay, interesting.

Jess: 38:27

So Lent had pulled up in front and jumped out of his van and confronted her with a knife. She dropped the boxes and took off running, but Lent was able to catch up to her quickly. He threatened her with the knife and forced her into the van and once inside he taped her hands and he drove around looking for a quiet sorry Hannah dirt road, where he got in the back of van and sexually assaulted her. He then made her walk into the woods and when she wasn't looking, he hit her in the head with a large branch. He thought that she was dead because she wasn't moving and he grabbed a shovel, dug a hole and buried her. He covered the grave with sticks and branches and he reported that he wasn't sure if she was dead or not, because he doesn't like to touch dead bodies.

Hannah: 39:16

Wait a minute.

Jess: 39:17

What a fucking dick I thought he wanted to keep dead bodies in his room. No, he wanted to keep them alive in his room.

Hannah: 39:24

Oh well, not that it really makes sense, yeah.

Jess: 39:26

Yeah.

Hannah: 39:27

But I okay.

Jess: 39:29

So who knows if she was really dead when she was buried or not, which I hate thinking about, but I mean really he didn't. It's just a fucking dick. Lent never provided the family with the exact location of her body and her body has never been found. He took the police out to various places and told them where to look, but, like I said, her body has never been found and part of me thinks that he was just driving around aimlessly and can't really remember.

Hannah: 40:01

Yeah.

Jess: 40:02

But I don't know. But what's interesting is, as recently as November of 2023, police are still conducting searches for her body. They recently searched 29 acres in the Vermont woods after developing new information it was a three day search in the Green Mountain National Forest, but you'll did no results. They had canine out there and helicopters.

Hannah: 40:24

He just hoped that her soul's at rest and her poor family.

Jess: 40:29

Lewis will go on to confess to one more murder, that of 12 year old Jamie Lusher, who went missing in 1992 from Westfield when he was riding his bike to Blandford, to his grandma's house. And officials are hoping, hoping to tie at least 10 more unsolved cases to Lent.

Hannah: 40:48

like Holly, I know my mom mentioned to me when I was doing research on Longo and she had mentioned the Holly period in case, and she's like yep when that came out. That's why I wouldn't let you guys out of my sight. And now, talking about all these other murders that happened in the Western Massachusetts area, yeah, I can see why she kept us pretty close back then, because there was definitely a maniac on the loose.

Jess: 41:13

Right On Friday, january 6, 1995, just one day shy of a year from the date of the attempted kidnap of Rebecca jury selection began and after a four day trial they found Louis guilty of kidnapping, assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to 17 and a half to 20 years in a maximum security prison. A year and a half later, lent actually pled guilty to first degree murder of Jimmy Bernardo the first time that happened in Berkshire County and the only the third time for that to have happened in Massachusetts. In 1997, in Herkamore County, new York, lent was also sentenced 25 years to life for the kidnapping of Sarah Wood, even though he never revealed where her body was buried. So this douche canoe will definitely be dying in prison.

Jess: 42:14

And that, my friends, is the horrible story of the douche canoe Lewis Lent. Do you know where he is? Burn and hail. I think he's in jail in New York. He was doing some time in a seater somewhere I can't remember the name, and then he was having a hard time. He was afraid to leave his cell because he was getting beat up. So we did some time in this psychiatric prison too. Yeah, so that is Lewis Lent. Well, that happy note Right, this episode is over. Sorry, not sorry, but we should just never let your kids out of your house Right and we're going to remember those victims and hope they find Sarah Wood's body?

Hannah: 42:56

Yes, hopefully.

Jess: 42:59

And that is that.

Hannah: 43:00

Thank you, jessica, for ruining my night night.

Jess: 43:04

Oh right, and thank you, wanderers, for showing up and listening again. Have a wonderful night, love you.

Hannah: 43:12

Bye. Thanks for listening today. The show wouldn't be possible without our amazing producer and editor, Rob Fitzpatrick, who works tirelessly behind the scenes to bring you the best content.

Jess: 43:22

And a special thanks to Tyga Soundprod for providing the captivating intro music. Cinematic Intro 24.

Hannah: 43:29

And of course, we can't forget the hauntingly beautiful outro music, Rhino's Theme, composed by Kevin MacLeod.

Jess: 43:35

If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to leave a rating and review on our favorite podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple and YouTube. Your feedback means the world to us.

Hannah: 43:47

Also be sure to follow us on Instagram for behind the scenes glimpses, updates and more thrilling content. You can find us at Wicked Wanderings Podcast.

Jess: 43:55

Thank you so much for listening and being part of our Wicked Wanderings community.

Hannah: 44:00

We appreciate each and every one of you Stay curious, keep exploring and always remember to keep on wandering.

Jess: 46:08

Since you guys are here listening, you must be a fan of the podcast, and if you want to show your support, head over to WickedWanderingPodcastcom, click on the support tab and choose a monthly subscription starting at just $3 a month. Your contributions will directly fuel our podcast production and, as a thank you, we'll give you a shout out in every episode.

Hannah: 46:32

And you know what might be fun too if we will say your name and your favorite haunting place. Murder mystery or serial killer, Do you love to go?