Nine years later and three district attorneys on the case, two families are still searching for answers.
Sherry Leonard and Jason Specht were killed November 25, 2007 in their mobile home along Rt. 522 just outside of Lewistown. After being murdered, the suspect set the home on fire.
“Every day has been really hard,” said Karen Hunter, Jason Specht’s mother. “We’re just hoping to get a chance for a jury because these kids, they deserve that much.”
The family said a few years back, they thought it would all be over. The D.A. was working to get a grand jury together so questions would have to be answered, but that fell through.
“We’re kind of still at the same place we were this time last year,” said Michele Huntsman, Sherry’s sister. “Actually, we can say this time four years ago. We’re in the same exact place.”
Emotionally and literally in the “same exact place.” Families, friends, and co-workers gathered for the 9th year at the Mifflin County Courthouse to keep Sherry and Jason’s memory alive with generations of support.
“I think about Sherry almost every minute of the day it seems like,” said Sherry’s mother, Mary Hancock. “When I pick up the phone and call her, I think of her and her smile and the way she tilted her head. …She was a wonderful daughter, sister, aunt. She was just a wonderful person.”
With the good memories comes the bad in this unsolved case.
“The really hard thing is the way they were murdered. That’s why it’s so hard to endure this,” Hunter said. “They were struck over their heads and fractured their skulls before they were set on fire.”
In recent years, evidence has been retested and new leads have been investigated, but there have been no breaks yet.
“We’re frustrated, but we can only wait,” Huntsman said.
A new DA, Chris Torquato, will be the third to take on this case. Meanwhile, he has another double homicide to take to trial, but both families have hope he will see their case through.
“I have to believe that there’s justice out there, Hunter said. “We don’t let a killer kill two people and run free. I mean, he could kill again. For Jason and Sherry, they can’t speak for themselves, we need justice.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact State Police in Lewistown.
