week after James was killed, Cher-
yl, Sean and Rob were arrested for
his murder. But the story was just
beginning to unfold. At the first
court hearing on the case, Cheryl’s
attorneys dropped another bomb-
shell, claiming Cheryl had been repeatedly raped
by her father for years and that she had come to
believe killing him was her only option after he
threatened to start abusing her 8-year-old sister
JoAnn. When Sean had voiced his willingness to
serve as a hit man, Cheryl had confessed her se-
cret to him and discussed the possibility of killing
her father—although she insists she didn’t know
he was actually planning to go through with the
murder. Still, when he did, she says, she and Rob
pieced together $400 in partial payment.
In the end, Sean, 18, pleaded guilty to man-
slaughter and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Rob, 20, pleaded guilty to criminal solicitation and
was given probation. And Cheryl pleaded guilty to
manslaughter and was sentenced to six months in
jail, serving about three and a half months before
she was released early for good behavior. At thetime, Cheryl says, she would have rather spent a
lifetime in prison in exchange for no one discov-
ering her “dirty secret.” “I was ashamed and em-
barrassed,” she says. “I didn’t want anyone to find
out why I did it.”
Now she wants everyone to know. After three
decades Cheryl, 47, is finally ready to tell her en-
tire story for the first time and start helping others
who have been abused. In their new book Incest,
Murder and a Miracle: The True Story Behind
the Cheryl Pierson Murder-for-Hire Headlines,
Cheryl and Rob—who proposed the day she was
released from jail, Jan. 19, 1988—recount the sto-
ry of the abuse she endured, their life with their
two daughters, Samantha, 25, and Casey, 22, and
a near-death experience Rob went through that
once again tested their strength. Today Cheryl
frequently talks to abused women, giving them
advice and support. “It’s not an easy life to live
when you’ve endured that pain,” says Cheryl. “I
just want people who have gone through [sexual
abuse] to know that it doesn’t ruin your life.” The
days of thinking she’s “damaged goods”
and feeling shameful are over. “I need
t try and turn part of this into some-
hing good,” she says. “I want to find
meaning in it. I have to.”Cheryl’s nightmare began when she
was 10 years old and her mother,
Cathleen Pierson, fell ill with kidney
disease, leaving Cheryl to take care
of both JoAnn and their father. “I
had to take on the wifely duties as far
as the house but also the intimate
things you do with your wife,” she
r r Cathleen’s death in February 1985,
Cheryl says, her father forced her to have sex two
to three times a day. James—known for being
aggressive and foulmouthed—threatened to kill
her if she told anyone. “The more I fought it, the
more aggressive it became,” says Cheryl. “I
thought if I just let it happen, it’d be quicker and
easier. I blamed myself for that.” During her hear-
ing after her arrest, neighbors and friends testified
that they had their suspicions about what was
going on between Cheryl and her father—but no
one ever came forward to report it. Her older
brother James Jr. recalled how strict their father
was. At the dinner table the children weren’t
allowed to drink water until they had completed
their entire meal, and they had to eat in silence
unless he spoke to them. It wasn’t until Cheryl was
at Suffolk County Jail that she finally felt safe. “I
was locked in a cell behind bars, and no one couldWatchPeople Features:
The Cheerleader and
the Hit Man, available
now on the newPeople/
Entertainment Weekly
Network(PEN).Go to
people.com/PEN, or
download the PEN app
on your favorite devices.62 April 24, 2017 PEOPLE
12to
th
mC
w
C
drecalls. After3FAMILY SECRETS
1.“We’ve been
through a lot
together. She’s
everything to me,”
says Cheryl of her
sister JoAnn (with
their father, James,
in the 1980s).
2.“The media
was relentless,”
Cheryl says of
the coverage of
her story. “It was
very hard staying
on Long Island
because of the
publicity.”
3.Cheryl’s
husband, Rob
(with her in a
high school photo),
calls his wife
“a giving person
who puts everyone
else first.” Says
Rob: “I look up to
her every day.
She’s a survivor.”COURTESY CHERYL PIERSON CUCCIO(2)