Ohio Man Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison in Cattaraugus Murder-for-Hire Case

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Randall Delbert Knight, 56, of Akron, Ohio, was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison and five years' supervised release by Chief United States District Judge William M. Skretny, following his conviction for traveling in interstate commerce and using facilities in interstate commerce in connection with a murder-for-hire. This represents the first occasion the statute has been prosecuted in the Western District United States Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Bruce, the lead prosecutor in the case, stated that Knight admitted during a plea proceeding to driving from Akron, Ohio to Cattaraugus County on July 3, 1994. Arriving in the Town of Yorkshire, Knight lured the victim, Andie Gasper, to the back lot of a department store and there stabbed Mr. Gasper to death. The government presented evidence that the murder grew out of an extramarital affair that the defendant had with the victim’s wife, Cheryl Gasper. Knight had previously been charged with the murder under New York State law, but acquitted by a jury following a trial in 1995.

During its investigation of this case, the United States Attorney’s Office worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Squad, and Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Reiman. This past May, a Cattaraugus grand jury charged Cheryl Gasper Jenkins with assisting in the murder of Andie Gasper. Gasper Jenkins pleaded guilty to that charge on October 4 and is awaiting sentencing. The government would have been able to utilize Knight in the prosecution of Gasper Jenkins had that case not ended with a guilty plea.

“This case is a great example of the cooperation between my office, the FBI, the Cattaraugus County District Attorney’s Office, and the Cattaruagus County Sheriff’s Department. The Assistant United States Attorneys in this case used all of the tools available to us in the federal criminal code, and the agents and deputies used exceptional hard work, all of their police skills and plain old determination to get to the bottom of this 16-year-old unsolved murder case,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “But this case is also a testament to the family of Andie Gasper—who did not give up on their hopes and prayers that whoever murdered their son and family member would someday be brought to justice. This sentencing will not bring Andie Gasper back—nothing could—but the entire Gasper family can now rest knowing those responsible for his death will be behind bars for a very long time.”  

Knights’ sentencing was the result of an investigation by special agents of the FBI under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James H. Robertson, and detectives of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Squad under the direction of Sheriff Timothy S. Whitcomb. In addition to Assistant United States Attorney Bruce, Mr. Hochul praised the hard work and legal acumen of Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Lynch.