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It’s unsettling having a neighbor accused of being a serial killer. It is frightening knowing that down the street lived a man police claim tried to abduct one child, successfully abducted and murdered an other, and is suspected of killing others. It is a mixed blessing that a suspect was caught. Local residents can be thankful an alleged se rial killer is in police custody, without going through the agony of having one of this commu nity’s own turn up missing. But it is downright unnerving to discover — provided only some of the charges are true — that this man has been stalking people in the Berkshires and has spent the past year living in North Adams. Lewis S. Lent Jr., 43, of 18 Hudson St., was charged Monday morning by New York State Police with the abduction and murder of 12- year-old James Bernardo, who disappeared in October 1990 and whose body was found a month later near Ithaca, N.Y. Lent had spent the weekend in the Pittsfield Police Department lockup after being charged with trying to abduct a 12-year-old Pittsfield girl Friday morning. Before dwelling on the ramifications of hav ing a suspected serial killer take up temporary residence in North Adams, a truckload of credit goes to a heads-up young girl, citizens who chose to be involved, and good police work. The 12-year-old Pittsfield girl had been stopped at gunpoint by a suspect who ordered her into his truck. Thinking quickly, she broke away from the man and ran. Had she complied and gotten into the man’s truck, it is possible Pittsfield would have a replay of the Jimmy Bernardo tragedy. The girl set a good example for other children to follow. Parents should immediately teach their children how not to become a victim. _ Aiding the girl Were two others, a man .Watch ing the incident from a vehicle and another us ing a snowblower nearby. The witness in the car was concerned as he witnessed the incident, un sure what he was seeing until the girl broke and ran. He followed the suspect’s truck long enough to get a description and partial license plate number. The girl found the man clearing snow and the man quickly contacted police, as did the witness. Both helped warrant a fast po lice response. Later the truck and suspect were located in Lanesboro by an officer there. As for the reaction locally, there is shock someone accused of an attempted abduction and implicated in a kidnapping and murder — and possibly more — quietly lived on a small street in this city. Lent apparently moved around, liv in Florida, then New York, and then in Pitts field since 1986. He moved to North Adams about a year ago. There are plenty of things to fear, even in a small city such as North Adams. But there had been a semblance of confidence such a heinous crime being visited upon a child here was a re mote possibility. City residents, alas, residents the Berkshires as well, are seeing their comfort levels drop significantly because of one man. Police are looking into links with the Sara Ann Wood case in New York, the Hol ly Piirainen case in Sturbridge, the Robert Gutkaiss case in Stephentown, and beyond. It is rational, now, to assume the potential of victimization could have easily spread beyond Pittsfield and into North Adams or one of the other small communities. And that will not be an easy fear to cope with. It will mean an increased wariness of strangers and even closer scrutiny of acquaintances, maybe even friends. A local mother who trusted Lewis Lent with her son is in mental anguish over that trust, now that Lent has moved from benign neighbor to suspected serial killer suspect. Not all local residents will have as intense a reason to feel this new anguish, but it is certain varying degrees of it will sweep through this city for the foreseeable future.
Newspaper Details
North Adams Transcript
North Adams, Massachusetts, US
Tue, Jan 11, 1994
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Jamie W.
USA 12 Aug 2026
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North Adams Transcript
