Caught in the Act

In July 2008, we were informed that Adam Leroy Lane was finally going to be transferred to a jail in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, to await trial for Monica Massaro’s homicide.

I really didn’t know how I was going to feel when I actually received the word, but I was not expecting to break down the way I did. The tears just started flowing and I could not stop them. A message had been left on my voice mail, and I was at work when I listened to it. It actually took my breath away, and I had to sit down. I put my head on my desk and started to cry. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to get it all out of my system before anybody saw me. But it was really only just the beginning.

No transfer date had been specified at that time, only that it was “in the works” and “could happen at any time.” Nancy Compton, of the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, had assured me early on that I would be notified as soon as there was any information at all regarding Lane’s extradition, and she made good on that promise. Though she may not have fully understood why this was so important for me, I appreciated her consideration very much. It was official, at least, that Lane would finally be going to trial, and hopefully the Massaro family would get some degree of resolution. I knew I would.

Ultimately, the transfer actually occurred on July 29, 2008, exactly one year after Monica was murdered. I remember receiving the news that we had all been anxiously awaiting just before noon that day. Tom Gigliotti, the victim advocate from the Massachusetts Department of Correction Victims Service Unit, called to tell me that Lane had been picked up and was going to be transported to New Jersey sometime that same day.

I think I screamed at first, and then said to Tom, “This is big!” I filled him in on the significance of the date, and he agreed, “Yeah, it sure is.”

As soon as I got off the phone with him, I called the Massaros. Frank answered, and he confirmed the news I had just received. I learned that they had been given the same information just a short while before. I could barely contain my excitement, and Frank sounded equally enthusiastic.

I wanted to share this joyous occasion with Fay, and I called her immediately on her cell phone, but she was actually still on the line talking with Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes, who had just told her that Lane was on his way to New Jersey to face trial for Monica’s death. Fay called me back a couple minutes later, and we spoke at length, sharing our emotions and ultimate hope that Lane would pay the harshest penalty the justice system would allow.

Later that afternoon, I also received a phone call from Detective George Tyros. He left a message for me stating that he had spoken to Detective-Sergeant Geoff Noble, of the New Jersey State Police, and wanted to convey to me the information that Adam Leroy Lane was now officially in the custody of the New Jersey authorities, and had just crossed the state line.

Lane was placed in the segregation unit of the prison because of his attack on Shea, a minor. Given the code of ethics inmates tend to live by—they will often beat or kill prisoners who are known to abuse or murder children—the segregated area kept Lane from being harmed by other inmates.

Although the extradition made some of us want to stand up and cheer, the date of the trial had yet to be determined, and I was told up front that it could still be quite some time before it went to trial. Despite the fact that Lane was in custody in New Jersey, this new wait would be every bit as frustrating as waiting for him to be moved from Massachusetts had been.

I had been in constant communication with Fay Massaro during this period, and I heard the dismay in her voice upon learning that the preliminary hearing had been postponed at least two weeks, possibly as much as a month or more—we’d been informed that the trial might not begin until sometime in September. Fay and I both wanted to scream at the top of our lungs in frustration. It just couldn’t come fast enough.

Delays were one thing, but considering how much many of us might have liked to see Adam Leroy Lane put to death by the state, some of us were glad that it was not an option. New Jersey lawmakers had voted to abolish the death penalty in December 2007, becoming the first state in more than forty years to outlaw capital punishment. The bill was introduced in November after a state commission concluded capital punishment does not prevent violent crime, and could lead to innocent people being executed, so on October 31, when Lane was arraigned for murdering Monica, the death penalty was never on the table. Fay Massaro and I were both aware that if the state of New Jersey had still had the death penalty and sought it against Lane, it would be years, not months, before the case against the killer was ultimately resolved. Given the lengthy appeals process sure to follow a capital-punishment conviction, the forty-two-year-old trucker would likely sit on death row for decades until he died of natural causes in prison anyway.

Although we were all disappointed by the delay in holding Lane responsible for his crimes, preferring swift and harsh judgment for this monster, we believed that justice would prevail and the eventual outcome would be satisfactory.

In Pennsylvania at this time, the death penalty was still being considered, and although they had time to decide while they waited for the conclusion of the New Jersey murder trial, prosecutors in the state were busy preparing their cases against Adam Leroy Lane for the murder of Darlene Ewalt and the attack on Patricia Brooks. On July 31, 2008, Northern York County Regional Police in Pennsylvania were so confident they had sufficient evidence to secure a conviction against Lane that they officially charged him with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault and burglary in the slashing attack on Patricia Brooks in her Conewago Township home just over a year before.

“It was the appropriate time to charge him,” Chief Carl Segatti told the media after the charges were filed before District Judge Scott Gross in Fairview Township, York County. “We have a set of facts we feel are very strong. We can put [Adam Leroy Lane] in the area, his DNA was on clothing found near the scene, and we have a positive identification from the victim.”

On Sunday, August 3, 2008, a bench was dedicated to the memory of Monica Massaro at the Borough Park in Bloomsbury in remembrance of the one-year anniversary of her death. I’d sent a flower arrangement to the dedication ceremony, but I wished I could have done so much more.

Just a couple days later, on August 5, 2008, Adam Leroy Lane finally appeared in a New Jersey courtroom, shackled and wearing a bulletproof vest over yellow coveralls. His appearance had changed once again. This time not only his facial hair, but his head, too, had been shaved. He looked softer and weaker than at any time since he’d been taken into custody. He had lost considerable weight, and certainly muscle mass. In appearance, he was no longer the gruff, burly trucker who had been arrested in our home the previous summer. It was as if he had been wearing a costume when we first encountered him, and now it had been stripped away and we were seeing him as he really was. Despite his diminished stature, there was still something frightening and dangerous about him. He seemed completely detached from everything and in his own world. His eyes just seemed to be swimming in their sockets, not focusing on anything, and it gave the impression that his thoughts were just as disjointed. It was frightful. Lane entered a not-guilty plea to the eight counts against him, including the first-degree murder of Monica Massaro. The plea was actually entered on his behalf by his court-appointed attorney on the case, Peter V. Abatemarco, who confirmed that he had not yet had a chance to outline a defense for his client. Abatemarco asked to be given at least four weeks to read through the voluminous discovery files, some seven thousand pages’ worth, which he had not yet seen. He added that he might even need to ask for extra time when all was said and done. First Assistant Prosecutor Charles Ouslander confirmed that the material the defense required would be boxed up and brought over to Abatemarco’s office that afternoon, and the judge set aside the date of September 4 for a status conference.

If convicted on the first-degree murder charge, Lane could face anywhere from thirty to sixty years in prison under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, with additional years if convicted of any additional charges.

That next day, August 6, 2008, back in Pennsylvania, charges were officially filed against Adam Leroy Lane for first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Darlene Ewalt. It had been more than a year since she’d become the first known victim in Lane’s July 2007 multistate killing and slashing spree, and this indictment came as the result of cooperative efforts by law enforcement in all three states. The sharing of evidence collected in the jurisdictions following each crime and the strength of the DNA testing were more than enough to bring these charges against the North Carolina trucker.

Lane, however, who was being held at that time in a New Jersey prison, would not be returned to Pennsylvania to face the charges, which included not only first-degree murder but possessing instruments of crime and loitering and prowling at night, until the case in New Jersey was resolved. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo made that very clear at a subsequent news conference. The announcement indicated that the Pennsylvania district attorney was going to let New Jersey extract its pound of flesh from Lane and not interfere. It did not mean, however, that authorities in Pennsylvania were not going to pursue Lane with everything they had once he was in their custody. Because of the violent and sadistic nature of the Ewalt killing, Dauphin County District Attorney Edward Marsico said he was considering pursuing the death penalty.

“It is terrifying to think a woman like [Darlene Ewalt] was struck down in her own backyard like this,” said Marsico. “He is a dangerous individual.” Marsico also expressed concern that because of the transient nature of Lane’s work as a truck driver, and the manner in which he had randomly selected his victims, there might still be other unsolved violent crimes that he was responsible for.

When asked to speculate what might have been Lane’s motivation to commit such acts of violence, Marsico responded that police had no real viable answers at that time. “I think he hates women,” the prosecutor added bluntly. “He is targeting women.”

A month later, the killer was back in court. On September 4, 2008, wearing his yellow prison jumpsuit and ubiquitous bulletproof vest, Lane was escorted into New Jersey Superior Court by Hunterdon County sheriff’s officers for a brief status conference. He sat quietly at the defense table with his attorney. The public defender, Peter Abatemarco, addressed the court, confirming that the state had provided him with discovery material for the case, including the Hunting Humans DVD and the statement that Lane had made while incarcerated. He then asked the court for more time to discuss the material with his client, a request to which First Assistant Prosecutor Charles Ouslander agreed and State Superior Court Judge Roger Mahon granted, ordering another hearing for Lane on September 29.

It might have been just another few weeks to the court, but to the Massaros, it was hell. It was twenty-five more days they would have all this hanging over their heads.

Before Lane’s next court date, Shea turned seventeen. It was a gloriously beautiful crisp and clear fall day, not unlike the world-changing September 11 seven years before. Just as it is for all Americans, for me this date will forever be marked by tragedy and the reflection of how in an instant our nation was stripped of its innocence and sense of security. For me, however, it will also be a day of celebration. On that day in particular, I looked at my daughter with overwhelming gratitude that her life hadn’t been snatched away, and with a sense of awe that she continued to stand before me strong and resilient. No doubt, I will always take pause on this day for all those innocent lives that were taken on 9/11, and with my next breath, I will give thanks to God that this day will also be celebrated by my family for the immense joy that it brings to our lives by marking Shea’s entrance into the world.

Kevin and I also had two reasons to celebrate on September 29 that year. Not only was it our wedding anniversary—we had gotten married exactly twenty-three years before—but it was also the day that Adam Leroy Lane changed his plea to guilty for the July 2007 murder of Monica Massaro.

We were not in the courtroom for this announcement, but I was glued to my computer, checking the Internet for up-to-the-minute trial updates all day long.

Monica’s family was all there, along with many of her friends. Fay Massaro sobbed throughout the proceedings, which were at times graphic. It was extremely unsettling for me to think about them being subjected to this kind of torment, and reliving the agony of losing a child.

I had previously become aware of Lane’s gruesome admissions through the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and from Detective Geoff Noble, but Monica’s family was now being forced to endure the details of their daughter’s murder in a public courtroom, some of it directly from the mouth of the killer himself.

Lane admitted to parking his truck at a nearby truck stop off Interstate 78 and then walking into the quiet Hunterdon County neighborhood where Monica had lived, forcing his way into her home and purposely killing her. Monica’s mother completely broke down when Hunterdon County First Assistant Prosecutor Charles Ouslander confirmed that the victim’s throat had been slit, and that Lane had sat and watched her bleed to death.

“You did take a knife and cut her throat from ear to ear?” Lane was asked.

“Yes, sir,” he answered, his southern-accented voice completely devoid of emotion. Lane also said that there had been a lot of blood after he cut her throat, and that he’d watched her die before inflicting further injuries upon her body.

Throughout the proceedings, Lane sat calmly before Hunterdon County Superior Court Judge Roger F. Mahon, with four court officers surrounding him. Clad in a yellow jumpsuit, bulletproof vest and shackles, he never once turned to face his victim’s family. Nor did he look at the investigators who had caught him and were present in the Flemington courtroom. He gave no final statement.

“Putting him to death would be too good for him. I hope that he will suffer every day for what he has done and never taste freedom again,” Fay Massaro told the packed courtroom in one part of a prepared statement that was read for her in court by a victim advocate. “My husband and I will never have another happy day for the rest of our lives. Life has lost its meaning for us.”

First Assistant Prosecutor Charles Ouslander stated that Lane had intended to kill that night, and he had shown Monica no mercy. “I ask that the court show no mercy toward the defendant now,” he said, in a comment clearly directed at the judge.

Judge Roger Mahon agreed with the prosecution’s assessment, noting that he had seen no remorse whatsoever from Adam Leroy Lane, except for the fact that he had been apprehended. Mahon commented that he did not understand how Lane, a father of young girls himself, could inflict such “evil” upon women. Lane’s own lawyer, Peter Abatemarco, admitted that he could offer no explanation either, though the public defender said that his client’s guilty pleas had been entered to spare “everyone involved the trauma of a trial.”

Under the terms of the plea deal, in exchange for his admission to murder in the first degree, Lane was spared the possibility of serving a life sentence. However, attorneys on both sides expressed confidence that Lane would not outlive the state’s recommendation of a fifty-year state prison sentence, which would be served consecutively with the twenty-five years he had already been given for his conviction in Massachusetts. Lane’s lawyer said his client had resigned himself to spending the rest of his life in jail, with the understanding that his diabetes and other health issues would likely cut his life drastically short. Regardless of Lane’s health issues, Judge Mahon accepted the plea agreement that was on the table. Lane also agreed to waive his right to an appeal in exchange for the prosecution agreeing to dismiss seven other counts related to the murder. Furthermore, New Jersey’s No Early Release Act required that Lane would need to serve 85 percent of his sentence, or forty-two and one-half years, before becoming eligible for parole and without probation. Along with the twenty-five-year term he had already begun serving for his crimes in Massachusetts, this meant that Lane would spend at least the next sixty-seven and one-half years in state prison. He would be eligible for parole when he was one hundred and eleven years old.

With the plea bargain all worked out and accepted by both sides, all that was left was for the judge to consider the deal and either impose the sentence agreed upon or recommend his own. The sentencing date was scheduled for October 23, 2008.

I planned to go to New Jersey for Lane’s sentencing hearing. Kevin agreed to join me, knowing how deeply committed I was to lending support to the Massaro family. I was greatly anticipating the satisfaction of seeing this evil, coldhearted killer brought to justice.

Fay Massaro credited the law enforcement officers for the effort they put into building a case against Lane. “Without them, he might still be hunting humans,” she said, referencing the DVD movie found in Lane’s truck.

That same evening as Lane’s September 29, 2008, New Jersey trial, as our family returned from a dinner out together, Fay called me. I told her that she and Frank had been in our thoughts all day. I had almost called her several times earlier, but refrained, not wanting to have her recount the tormenting events that occurred in the courtroom that day. When she told me that she had been fielding calls from family and friends nonstop since they’d returned from court, I was glad not to have added to her burden, though I was relieved to hear her level and composed tone of voice. She said she very much wanted me to be aware of the outcome, and I didn’t mention to her that I already knew what had happened.

Something that I found equally disturbing was a comment posted online in response to an article that highlighted the killer’s guilty plea:

“He’s my father. He’s a loving and caring man, he just made a few mistakes. He’s human. Why can’t we just forgive and forget. Everyone makes mistakes. God be with you, dad. May you get out soon.”

It had supposedly been posted by one of Lane’s daughters, though it was also suggested that it might have been the work of a troll. If it had been from one of his children, perhaps she was too young to understand the magnitude of her father’s crimes. Either way, the statement left me in a state of emotional turmoil. Although I was not without empathy for what Adam Leroy Lane’s family must have experienced, particularly his innocent daughters, the casual and dismissive tone of this comment utterly floored me.

But the justice system was not through with Adam Lane just yet. Brad Winnick, Lane’s public defender in the Darlene Ewalt murder trial, reminded everyone that the Dauphin County district attorney in Pennsylvania was still leaning toward seeking the death penalty against Lane if he was convicted of murdering Monica Massaro.

We could only hope so.