In the winter of 1979, a 49-year-old man named Peter A. Levato's life was violently cut short in what would become known as the 'Kill for Thrill' murder spree. On December 29, 1979, his body was discovered in a wooded area near the Loyalhanna Dam and reservoir close to Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. An investigation later revealed that two men, John Travaglia and Steven Lesko, had abducted Levato from outside the Edison Hotel in Pittsburgh days earlier, on approximately December 27th.
They forced him to drive to the remote area where the grim discovery was made.
The details of Peter Levato's final moments were brutal. His assailants bound his hands and feet and struck him in the head before pushing him over a bridge into the lake. Discovering that he was still alive, Travaglia shot him once in the chest and twice in the head. This act of senseless violence marked the beginning of a terrifying crime spree that would claim three more lives in the days that followed, including a young mother, a church organist, and a rookie police officer.
The perpetrators of this horrific crime, John Travaglia and Steven Lesko, were apprehended on January 5, 1980. They were subsequently tried and convicted for the murders. Both men were sentenced to death for their roles in the 'Kill for Thrill' slayings. For decades, they remained on death row, their sentences tied up in numerous appeals. Michael Travaglia, one of the convicted killers, died of natural causes in prison in September 2017 at the age of 59. His accomplice, John Lesko, remains on death row, with his appeals continuing as of recent years.
