Sgt. Scott Lamoreaux, Hughestown Police and Crime Watch advisor, briefs the attendees on the previous month’s activities.
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Avoca Chief of Police Dave Homschek, left, Sgt. Scott Lamoreaux, Hughestown Police, center, and Hughestown Chief of Police Jim Halford, listen intently to Luzerne Co. District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce during the Hughestown Crime Watch March meeting.
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Luzerne Co. District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce spoke at the Hughestown Crime Watch March meeting on the subject of cold cases. Seated, left to right are Crime Watch officers, Mareen Murphy, Dee Pesotine and President Lynda Hoban.
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Luzerne Co. District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce spoke before 40 attendees at the March meeting for the Hughestown Crime Watch program.
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Luzerne Co. District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce addressed the Hughestown Crime Watch March meeting on recently solving the 58-year-old murder case of of nine-year-old Marise Chiverella, the fourth longest cold case in U.S. history and longest in the state of Pennsylvania.
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HUGHESTOWN — Luzerne Co. District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce spent an evening discussing cold cases on March 7 at the Hughestown Hose Co. Hall sponsored by the Hughestown Neighborhood Crime Watch.
According to Lynda Hoban, Crime Watch president, District Attorney Sanguedolce’s appearance is a continuing effort to incorporate guest speakers into monthly meetings at the fire hall.
Pennsylvania launched a new effort to help solve cold cases such as recently solved 1964 homicide of nine-year-old Marise Chiverella, of Hazleton.
The Chiverella case was the nation’s fourth oldest cold case on record and Pennsylvania’s longest unsolved case.
The 58-year-old Chiverella case was solved by DNA technology showing James Paul Forte, also of Hazleton, was the murderer. Even though Forte died in 1980, the case remained open until solved last month.
Since being elected in November 2021 after taking over for former District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis in March 2021, Sanguedolce said he gets out at least twice a month into the public either to speak or to attend meetings or functions while letting residents know the district attorney’s office is present in the community.
Sanguedolce said funding is the key to solving many older crimes, which he said would be one of his main focuses during his administration.
With a backlog of 1,800 cases in Luzerne County, funding isn’t available to solve older cases. It was announced on March 1 the District Attorney’s Office along with the Pennsylvania State Police have partnered with Luzerne Foundation, headed by former Luzerne County manager Dave Pedri, to fund cold case investigation.
Because of the affiliation with the foundation, a tax-deductible program titled “Closing Cases Fund” has been set up to accept donations to support law enforcement efforts in solving cold cases.
Hoban said the intent of the meeting was to create awareness of the cold cases and the new incentive by the state to solve those cases. She also said it is important to keep a town crime watch program solid and active.
“There are families out there every day not knowing the answers to their loved one’s case,” Hoban said. “There are three reasons to solve these cases, the victims deserve a voice, the families need closure and the third thing is, nobody should be a forgotten statistic.”
Hoban said Hughestown’s crime watch program, established in 2017, has had an assortment of speakers in the past talking on topics such as drug abuse, domestic violence, self-defense course, school safety, fire safety, game safety, as well as several local Chiefs of Police.
Sanguedolce, a Hughestown native, was glad to be back at his hometown to speak to his former neighbors and relatives.
“I’m not that far from home. My parents live in Hughestown, my two brothers live in Hughestown, so I’m in Hughestown quite a bit,” Sanguedolce said. “I’ve known many of these people (at the meeting) since I was a kid and I played with the Hughestown Boys League right here behind this building, so if feels really good to come to a place where I grew up and knew everybody.”
