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Teen Who Knew His Mom Murdered Her Ex-Boyfriend Later Kills His Own Ex-Girlfriend and Baby Daughter
Years after Cheryl Kunkle's ex, Ben Amato, was found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of his basement staircase in Effort, Pennsylvania, her son's ex and baby were also murdered.
Ben Amato was discovered in a pool of blood at the bottom of his basement staircase in Effort, Pennsylvania after a concerned neighbor called police, Before long, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, Cheryl Kunkle, was suspected of his murder.
“Ben told me several different times that he was getting threatened,” Timothy Talbot, a friend of Amato, said on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins, airing Saturdays at 8/7c p.m. on Oxygen. “He was afraid of Cheryl.”
As authorities worked to prove that Kunkle committed the vicious attack on her ex, they were soon shocked to learn about a separate, gruesome double murder in her family: that of Kunkle’s son’s ex-girlfriend and his baby daughter. The primary suspect was Kunkle’s son, Gregory Rowe.
“I thought, ‘How awful. Just like Cheryl and Ben. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,’” Debby York, a retired Magisterial Judge for Monroe County, Pennsylvania, said on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins.
Eventually, it was discovered that there was a failed plot to kill Amato months before his death, and that two child custody battles played a part in the murders.
Ben Amato and Cheryl Kunkle's rocky relationship
In 1997, Twice-divorced Amato, 48, began dating Cheryl Kunkle, 28. Amato also formed a relationship with Kunkle’s son from a previous relationship, Greg Rose, who was 12 at the time.
“Cheryl’s like, ‘Wow, look at this. I have this guy that loves kids, and if I have a baby with him, this is going to be everything I’ve ever wanted,’” Peggy Bohmann, Amato’s stepdaughter, said on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins.
In February of 1998, Kunkle became pregnant, but Amato was souring on the relationship at the time and wanted to break it off with Kunkle.
“Ben wasn’t really happy about it,” Bohmann said. “I was kinda surprised, because I knew how much he loved children, but he’s like, ‘You don’t understand, Peggy, if she has this child, I will never get her out of my life.’ He said they weren’t getting along. She would call him and yelled at him the entire time.”
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Ben Amato killed just days before custody hearing over his son
Amato and Kunkle ended their relationship when their son, Jonathan, was born in November of 1998. When Jonathan was a toddler, the couple got into a custody battle over him. On November 16, 2001, just days before a custody hearing in court, Amato was discovered murdered in his home.
In addition to blood on the floor, blood splatter was found on the walls of the stairwell. There were also dozens of dents in the stairwell that looked to be caused by a blunt object. A bloody footprint at the top of the stairs also indicated that another person was there.
“It was very clear that someone had to hit these stationary objects like the drywall or the door with some type of tool,” Shawn Williams, a criminal investigator with the Pennsylvania State Police, said on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins.
A medical examiner ruled that Amato’s death was caused by blunt force trauma with a weapon like a baton or bat.
Police learned there was no love lost between Amato and his ex-girlfriend. Kunkle also could not provide an alibi for where she was at the time of Amato’s slaying.
“Cheryl said she didn’t like the kind of parent he was,” Tom McAndrew, a former corporal with the Pennsylvania State Police, said on Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins. “She didn’t like the kind of person he was. She didn’t want anything to do with him. And you could see her hatred towards the victim.”
Discovery of police report leads to shocking accusations
While combing through Kunkle’s possessions, police discovered a police report for a burglary at her home in August of 2001. Strangely, Kunkle chose not to press charges against the suspects, April Steinhauser and Nathaniel Evans. Evans was in a nearby county jail on unrelated charges when officers spoke to him.
“He threw this out about Cheryl paying him to murder Ben Amato,” Williams said. “I didn’t expect him to say that, I expected him to talk about this burglary. But he said that his girlfriend, April, was approached by Cheryl a few months before Ben was actually murdered, and said, ‘Hey, do you know anybody that would help me out? I have this problem, Ben Amato, and I want him killed.’”
Evans said that Kunkle provided a picture of Amato to help them kill the right target. Evans also provided a motive for Kunkle to want Amato dead. “Nate said it made Cheryl furious that Ben was attempting to gain custody of their son, Jonathan,” Williams said.
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Evans told police that he and Steinhauser decided to play along and collect $1,500 up front from Kunkle, without actually following through with the murder. Once they knew she kept cash in her home, they broke in and stole $6,000 more from her.
“When Nate is faced one on one with Cheryl, he says, ‘Listen, I’m the one that you paid to murder the guy. I got the picture that you gave April,’” Williams said. “And she gets very nervous and scared, and says, ‘I want it dropped.’”
Kunkle was arrested on July 23, 2003 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder for her role in the alleged murder for hire plot against Amato.
Cheryl Kunkle's son's ex and baby are killed
In May 2004, as police continued to try to prove that Kunkle murdered Amato, they were notified of a double homicide in a nearby town. Kristin Fisher, 17, and her 7-month-old daughter Kaylee Fisher, were discovered murdered on May 4, 2004. Fisher’s ex-boyfriend, and the father of her child, was Greg Rowe, Kunkle's son, who was 18 at the time. Rowe and Fisher were set to have a child support court hearing one day after the murder.
“It felt like history was repeating itself,” Williams said.
Fisher had been killed in what police believed to be a staged suicide by hanging. Her baby had been drowned in a bathtub. When police looked at Rowe’s computer, they saw his search history included the phrase, “how to tie a hangman’s noose.” When police questioned Rowe, he surprisingly admitted he was there when his mom's ex, Amato, was killed.
“He said, ‘I didn’t know what my mother was going to do. One day when I was 15, we drove down to Ben’s place. She told me, hey come back in like an hour,’” Williams said.
Rowe then confessed that his mother was responsible for Amato's murder.
“Greg said when he came back, she jumped in the back of the car with a bloody baseball bat, and she had on bloody clothes,” York said.
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On January 25, 2006, Rowe was convicted of the murders of his ex Kristin and their baby, Kaylee, and sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole. He was never charged in connection with Amato’s murder. He testified against his mother at trial, and on February 6, 2007, Kunkle was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole.
“It became clearer and clearer to us that Cheryl Kunkle stops at nothing to do what Cheryl Kunkle wants,” McAndrew said. “Cheryl was gonna stop at nothing until Ben Amato was dead.”
Watch all-new episodes of Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins on Saturdays at 8/7c p.m. on Oxygen.
