One would never imagine a teenager organizing a gruesome murder, would you? However, 16-year-old Cheryl Cuccio's circumstances left her in such deep distress that she decided to get rid of her own father.
Decades after the crime, Cheryl opened up about the murder and why she was left with no other option than to take the life of her dad. The woman revealed it was her only option to escape the sexual abuse she had suffered for years. "There was no saying no to him. There was no fighting it. The more I fought it or rejected him he would get angry or punch or slap me. It just got to the point where you’d just let him do it because the more you fought it the longer it took, the more aggressive he got, the more it hurt," said Cheryl in her book, Incest, Murder, and a Miracle: The True Story Behind the Cheryl Pierson Murder-For-Hire Headlines.
Recalling her past, the woman stated that her father James Pierson did not spend a lot of time with her as a child. However, when she turned 10 and her mother fell ill, her father started showing an interest in her. Little did Cheryl know that her father had other evil motives. On their trips to the hospital, Pierson began fondling her in the car.
Though Cheryl was young, she knew it was wrong. "But I just remember a point where it was just getting uncomfortable and I knew something wasn’t right," she recounted. Soon, Cheryl's mother passed away and the young girl along with her sister was left under the care of her father.
As days went by, the abuse progressed into rape. Cheryl was subjected to rape at least three times a day. When she did not comply, her cruel father threatened to abuse her younger sister. Further, he told the innocent girl that no one would believe she was being raped by her father.
After years of hiding it within her, Cheryl admitted it to her boyfriend Rob, who suspected it. The woman was a teenager then, even told her friend Sean Pica about the abuse at her home. She even agreed to pay him $1,000 to end her father's life. However, she then decided to hire a hitman and her boyfriend agreed to help her pay him.
"Rationally I don’t know what I was thinking if he [would] ever do it. I was hoping the problem would be solved," she said. On 6, February 1986, her father was killed. He was shot in the head and the chest five times.
Eventually, Cheryl along with her boyfriend and Sean was held responsible for the murder. The three pleaded guilty. Cheryl was sentenced to six months in prison while Rob was given probation. Sean, on the other hand, was sent to prison for 24 years.
Today, Cheryl is married to Rob and has two children. She is keen on sharing her story as she wants to support other victims of abuse. "I tell them never to blame themselves because it’s not their fault. Abuse and incest do not define them. It doesn’t have to ruin their life...There’s so much more good if you just keep going," she said.
References:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/4353745/mum-who-was-raped-and-beaten-by-her-dad-from-the-age-of-ten-hired-a-hitman-at-16-who-murdered-him/
