Woman Assaulted, Robbed

Abortion In America Is Morally Wrong, Historically Incorrect 
Congress Declared On July 4, 1776: ``we Hold These Truths To Be Self-evident, 
That All Men Are Created Equal, That They Are Endowed By Their Creator With 
Certain Inalienable Rights, That Among These Are Life, Liberty And The Pursuit 
Of Happiness. That To Secure These Rights Governments Are Instituted Among 
Men.'' 
Thus, Government's First Duty Is To Secure The Right To Life Of Those It

By JENNIFER LEARN; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, February 11, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1 





HAZLETON -- For nearly two decades, the killer who ordered the deadly
firebombing at the Boyarski home has remained a mystery. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Robert Gillespie has not given up hope. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I hope the investigation continues. Cases like these should never, never
be closed," said Gillespie, a Luzerne County assistant district attorney when
all five members of the Boyarski family were killed in their home. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Valentine's Day 1976, just before dawn, a gasoline-filled Louden Hill
milk bottle crashed through the Boyarski's living room window, touching off a
blaze that spread quickly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Firefighters who investigated said escape appeared impossible. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Boyarski, 36, a Luzerne County deputy sheriff, was found huddled in a
bedroom with his wife Lorraine, 34, and the two oldest children Daria, 7, and
Eugene, Jr., 11. One-month-old Gene cq was found in a crib in her bedroom. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Three Hazleton area men were convicted in connection with the deaths, and a
fourth man from Johnstown admitted involvement but was granted immunity from
prosecution. Authorities say someone paid $200 to the men to do the
firebombing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But who? Why? Authorities are not sure. They say they have theories but are
keeping them to themselves. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 View from prison &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 James Sandutch, 72, convicted of murder in the case, remains in the State
Correctional Institution at Graterford. James Vincent Mastrota, also convicted
of murder, was 35 at the time of the firebombing and died in prison in 1990.
Ralph Smith, convicted of arson after being accused of driving a group of men
to the Boyarski home, served about five years in prison and lives in Western
Pennsylvania. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The man granted immunity, Henry John Mangum, 55, lives in Denver and could
not be reached because he has an unlisted number. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some police officers speculated at the time -- and still do -- that the
deaths came as part of a string of firebombings in Hazleton in the 1970s that
were ordered by organized crime bosses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Attempts to reach Sandutch in prison failed. Smith, 76, reached at his home
in Johnstown, insists he was playing cards at the time of the firebombing and
had nothing to do with it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, Smith said he heard in prison that the firebombing was ordered by
crime bosses, but that the bombing was designed to scare -- not kill. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Smith said investigators should have devoted more energy finding out who
paid for the bomb instead of wrongly accusing him in the case. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "That's what the DA should've pressed on," Smith said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gillespie and then-District Attorney Patrick Toole say they tried hard to
pressure those involved in the firebombing to reveal who paid for the arson. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think I have an idea of who did it -- we all do. But I made a point
never to identify the person without more proof because I didn't think it
would be fair," Gillespie said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He also stressed the case is still open if anyone can provide new
information. There is no statute of limitations for murder or conspiracy to
commit murder, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Organized crime blamed &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A cousin of Boyarski, Gloria Pesock of Conyngham, said she believes the
firebombing was paid for by a powerful criminal who knew Boyarski was
investigating graft in the Hazleton School District. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The county did not assign Boyarski to investigate crimes because he worked
in the civil division of the sheriff's department. But Pesock said Boyarski
was investigating the district on his own time. Boyarski also was active in
Democratic politics. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pesock, a registered nurse, was called to identify the corpses after the
fire. She said she will never be able to erase the images of the bodies,
especially of the baby, who had been baptized only two weeks earlier. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Since then, Valentine's Day, a holiday symbolizing love and happiness,
brings Pesock only sadness. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I pray to God that something like this never happens again. I wouldn't
want anything like this to happen to anyone," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pesock wants to believe the investigation of the Boyarski's death is still
open. But she does not think the person who paid for the firebombing will ever
be found. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pesock said she worries about her own safety at times but will not let the
fear stop her from remaining active in school district activities and other
local affairs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She ran for the Hazleton Area School Board as an independent last year and
lost, but she plans to run again. She also helped form the Tri-County United
Taxpayers group and speaks often at School Board meetings. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Other relatives of the Boyarskis declined comment, saying they are still
pained by the deaths. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The family arranged a 20th anniversary memorial mass for March 9 at St.
Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Hazleton, said The Rev. Louis Garbacik. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Garbacik said the mass is offered for the repose of the souls of the dead.
The Boyarskis' funeral was held at St. Stanislaus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A petty anger &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 William Kridlo, Pittston, remembers the funeral well. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kridlo, who worked as a deputy sheriff with Boyarski for four years, helped
carry one of the four caskets. The baby was buried with her mother. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It was terrible and so, so sad because there was nothing you could do
about it. They were all dead," Kridlo said. "Gene was a very, very nice man. A
hard worker and a good family man." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The day after the firebombing, Kridlo said, he found Boyarski's handcuffs
and papers that Boyarski was slated to serve for the county. Kridlo said he
does not remember whose name was on the papers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A common theory circulating in Hazleton today is that an organized crime
figure became angry when Boyarski served him papers to appear before a federal
grand jury investigating job buying and kickbacks in the school district. It's
not clear how long before the deaths that the papers were served. Toole and
Gillespie declined to comment on that possible connection. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Toole, now a Luzerne County Common Pleas Court judge, says he has a theory
about the case. But he said he will not discuss it because he does not have
enough evidence to prove it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I always felt that if someone did order it, that it was a revenge type of
thing," Toole said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But revenge for what? By whom? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Those answers might forever lie buried with the charred remains of the
young family under their large tombstone at St. Stanislaus Cemetery. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 James Sandutch &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ralph Smith &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 James Mastrota &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

After 20 Years, Search For Justice Continues