Killer Relationships with Faith Jenkins: Where is Cheryl Ann Kunkle now?

The brutal murder of Ben Amato in 2001 led to a lengthy investigation before it led to the arrest of his ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Ann Kunkle. Cheryl had smashed Benjamin Amato's head with a baseball bat after she sprayed him with mace. The couple had been having issues over custody of their child, Jonathan Kunkle.

As the case went cold, a stroke of luck with a double murder case led the detectives to Cheryl's son, Gregory Rowe, who alleged that his mother had killed Ben years ago. Cheryl was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is presently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution Cambridge Springs.

The Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins episode titled Unlucky In Love showcases the murder of Ben Amato as it airs on August 31, 2024. The official synopsis reads,

"Firefighter Ben Amato is callously murdered, but the case goes cold; a jailhouse snitch, critical clue and seemingly unrelated homicide expose a sinister plot as investigators stay on the trail of a heartless killer."

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Why was Cheryl Ann Kunkle arrested?

Ben Amato was discovered in a pool of blood at the foot of his staircase at his Chestnuthill Township home in Effort on November 16, 2001. While the investigators suspected an accidental fall at first, the evidence led them to suspect a perpetrator in the case.

The autopsy report showed that Ben had suffered blunt force trauma. The authorities checked his bank accounts and found his money untouched. Soon, the suspicion fell on his ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Ann Kunkle, who had laid a failed murder-to-hire plot for Ben.

The murder case went cold till May 2004 when the double murders of Kristin Fisher and Kaylee led to Gregory Rowe who then confessed to having information about Ben Amato's murder.

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Where is Cheryl Ann Kunkle now?

Cheryl Ann Kunkle was sentenced for tampering with evidence and obstructing police in 2004 and she remained in prison while her son, Gregory Rowe, was being investigated for the murders. Gregory went on to take a stand at his mother's trial in December 2005 wherein he revealed that he had been the driver on the fateful night.

Gregory had waited in the woods while Cheryl finished her job and returned after an hour to change her clothes inside the car. She disposed of the soiled clothes and the bloodied baseball bat on the road on Route 715 but made another man, Gerard Terlesky, drive her back to the spot to collect the items.

She put the evidence in a plastic bag and lit the clothes on fire behind Ben's house and the bat in the woods close to Hypsy Gap Road in Chestnuthill Township. Besides, Cheryl had reportedly admitted to Gregory to killing Ben Amato as Pocono Record reported,

"After the police left, I asked her what was going on and that's when she told me she killed Ben. She said she waited for him in the house and, when he came home, she sprayed him with the mace and then beat him with the bat. When she told me that, I just broke down crying and locked myself in my room."

Per Pocono Record, Cheryl Ann Kunkle was found guilty of murder and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June 2007. Cheryl appealed the verdict but it was dismissed in 2016.

Cheryl Ann Kunkle is presently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution Cambridge Springs.

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Catch all the details of Ben Amato's murder as the new episode of Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins airs on Oxygen on Saturday.