Williamsport cold case gets re-evaluated by police:
A 30-year cold case murder investigation is getting another look by investigators.24-year-old Gail Matthews and her five-year-old daughter Tamara Berkheiser were murdered inside their Williamsport home in September of 1994 over the decades several suspects were interviewed and properties searched but the killer remains on the street.
The Lycoming County District Attorney Tom Marino tells 28/22 News his detectives are reviewing evidence in the case.
I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick reports on the efforts to solve the cold case and also talks with the families of the victims who say they will never stop seeking justice.
It’s a cold case 30 years in the making.
The brutal murders of a mother and her young daughter in Lycoming County, but now that cold case is getting another look from investigators and it is long-awaited news for the family of the victims.
The images below are pictures many people in northeastern and central Pennsylvania will never forget: The bodies of 24-year-old Gail Matthews and her five-year-old daughter, Tamara Berkheiser, were removed from their home on Centre Street in Williamsport.
It was September 2, 1994, the mother and little girl were brutally stabbed, strangled, and beaten to death.
Tom Marino was the Lycoming County District Attorney at the time and says this case still haunts him.
“It just shocked me and makes me sick to think that the most horrendous homicide I’ve ever seen and that we haven’t solved,” stated Marino.
Marino left the District Attorney’s office in 2002, was appointed as a US Attorney, and then ran a successful campaign for Congress, but says the crimes have never left his mind.
“I said ‘I want the case opened.’ We’ve done some digging around and found some things that we would like to have that are being tested,” explained Marino.
Over the past three decades, suspects have been questioned, properties searched, and the families have held vigils and informational pickets to keep the case in the public eye.
$5,000 reward in missing case of Phylicia Thomas
However, the killer remains on the street, and the family of the victims have never stopped seeking justice.
“It’s been quite difficult. The family really strives to get justice for Gail and Tamara. It’s almost like you hit a roadblock everywhere you turn. You don’t know where to go,” voiced Julie Stroble, sister and aunt of the victims.
“Do you think you know who the murderer is?” Mehalshick asked.
Stroble replied, “Yes.”
“Did you pass that information onto law enforcement?” Mehalshick questioned.
“Yes, we have,” Stroble stated.
D.A. Marino is asking that if you have any information about the murders of Gail Matthews and her daughter Tamara, to contact his office or Williamsport Police. You do not have to give your name.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
