Last updated: Sunday, January 14, 2001 1:00 AM EST

A nationwide all points bulletin is out for a Shiremanstown man who allegedly stabbed his mother to death and left four other victims, including three family members, in critical condition early Saturday morning before vanishing.

Yellow crime scene tape and police officers standing guard are the visible reminders today of stabbings that took place at 12 and 16 E. Front St. before 1 a.m. Saturday in the neighborhood of aging two-story brick and frame homes sandwiched between Simpson Ferry Road and the Quaker Oats Co.

Robert Leon Cassel III, 27, is considered armed and dangerous, says Cumberland County Detective Jeff Franks, who was among more than 20 homicide investigators at the crime scenes after the 1:30 a.m. call to 911.

An arrest warrant issued for Cassel charges him with one count of criminal homicide in the death of his mother, Diane Cassel, of 12 E. Front St.

The arrest warrant also charges him with four counts each of attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault in connection with the multiple stabbings of Robert Leon Cassel Jr., his father; Courtney Cassel, his sister; Michael Cassel, 14, his brother; and Richard Rynard, Ms. Cassel's boyfriend.

The four victims are listed in critical condition in area hospitals.

"No information is being released about the victims' whereabouts; security has been alerted at all hospitals," he adds.

At least two victims, Michael Cassel and Rynard, received life-threatening stab wounds, district attorney's office officials say in a press release.

Police still are investigating and did not know Saturday night what prompted the outburst and subsequent stabbings.

"The family is the source of what happened," and none of the victims could be interviewed, Franks says.

The family lives at 12 E. Front St., and the suspect lives next door at 16 E. Front St.

Shiremanstown police were dispatched to East Front Street after Cassel's sister, Courtney, "collapsed outside in front of an apartment building at 11 E. Front St. The neighbors rendered aid," Franks says.

Neighbors at the apartment building declined to comment Saturday evening.

The press release from the DA's office says that according to court documents, "When officers arrived, Courtney was lying on the ground bleeding from the right side of her neck and abdomen." Court documents say Ms. Cassel told authorities she had been stabbed by her brother, Bobby, and "she did not know why he did this."

She told authorities her brother also stabbed their father and she was concerned about her mother. She asked police to find her mother at the suspect's residence, the press release says.

"They found Diane Cassel lying on her back on the floor at 16 E. Front St. in Shiremanstown. Her shirt was soaked with blood and there was blood on the floor around her. Mrs. Cassel was unresponsive and had no pulse," a district attorney's office spokesman says.

Mrs. Cassel was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m. by the Cumberland County Coroner's Office.

Franks says more than 20 homicide investigators from Dauphin and Cumberland counties were at the scene until about 7 p.m. Saturday collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses.

Les Freehling, a detective with the Cumberland County criminal investigative division of the district attorney's office, is in charge of the investigation.

He says Cassel was released recently from prison after serving time on drug charges.

According to newspaper accounts, Cassel, a 1992 graduate of Mechanicsburg High School, was arrested July 14, 1997, on charges of four counts of possession with intent to deliver and one count of criminal conspiracy. He and 11 others were apprehended in a drug bust that State Attorney General Mike Fisher called "a body blow to the central Pennsylvania drug trade" that was operating in Cumberland and York counties.

Cassel was accused at the time of serving as a courier, picking up marijuana in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York for a Lower Allen Township drug "kingpin."

Robert Leon Cassel III, 27, is described as a heavyset white male who is 5-foot-11, 320 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and fair skin. He also goes by the names of "Bobby" and "Country."

He has no known tattoos or scars. Authorities do not know what type of clothing he was wearing when he fled.

An anonymous witness saw Cassel leave the East Front Street, Shiremanstown, area in a 1979 Chevrolet S-10 black pickup truck with red visors. The license plate number is Pennsylvania ZJ-64423.

Authorities ask anyone who sees the suspect or has information about him to call 911 immediately.

"Do not act yourself; get to the nearest telephone and contact 911 immediately," says Detective Jeff Franks of the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office.

NAACP joins local man in fight against Cracker Barrel

A black man living in Carlisle, who filed a discrimination complaint against his former employer, is now part of what may turn into a federal class action lawsuit against the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed the suit in which Sidney Ewell of Lincoln Street is now becoming involved.

"We are representing him," lawyer David Sanford of the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Gordon, Silverman, Wiggins & Childs said Friday.

The firm is representing the NAACP in the lawsuit filed in Rome, Ga., against Cracker Barrel on July 30, 1999. Robert Wiggins, a partner in the firm, says the NAACP's case is being "actively pursued."

Sanford expects Ewell will be "very much a part of the federal lawsuit."

But first, he says, "We have to evaluate his case and speak with him more. My understanding is that a lot of things happened in Carlisle that gave rise to his concerns. We just need to investigate what those facts are."

Ewell, 31, was a cook at Cracker Barrel in Carlisle from June through Dec. 14.

Earlier in December, Ewell filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, stemming from his receiving a "written reprimand" for wearing a purple ribbon at work on Sept. 22.

The ribbons were distributed throughout the Carlisle area in support of a Unity Day rally held at Dickinson College on Sept. 23 to counter a Ku Klux Klan rally at the Old Courthouse on the Square on the same day.

Ewell, who says he was one of two blacks working at the restaurant, says his boss said he could wear the purple ribbon at work and encouraged Ewell to bring in more purple ribbons for other employees to wear.

However, when he showed up wearing the ribbon on Sept. 22, Ewell says he was told to remove it or be fired. He didn't remove it, but was not fired. He received the written reprimand instead. Later that day, Ewell says Cracker Barrel withdrew the reprimand. Two days later, an article about what had happened to Ewell appeared in a Harrisburg newspaper.

In an Oct. 3 letter, Cracker Barrel Employee Relations Specialist Bridget Turner apologized to Ewell.

"Your decision to wear the purple ribbon was not wrong," she wrote. "You will not be subjected to retaliation of any kind for your decision, nor will the company allow that a hostile work environment be created over this incident."

Nevertheless, Ewell says he increasingly felt as if he was under "a microscope" at work. In his complaint to the PHRC, Ewell says he was "subjected to a hostile work environment" at Cracker Barrel after Sept. 22 "because of my race, African American."

Ewell says he then was contacted by Ann Van Dyke, a specialist with the PHRC, who was active in Carlisle's Unity Day event, and received a letter from the NAACP.

Ewell's complaint with the PHRC refers only to his own situation at Cracker Barrel. But in a Dec. 11 letter to Paula Diane Harris of the Greater Harrisburg NAACP, Ewell referred to an alleged pattern of discrimination against all black employees at the local Cracker Barrel.

"At the Cracker Barrel I work at, there are only three blacks and two other minorities. Only one out of that five is actually seen daily by the guests. Since I've been working there the one black dishwasher has asked repeatedly to be cross-trained or moved to grill cook," Ewell writes.

"Management said when an opening became available he would be moved. He has never been moved, but at least four new white grill cooks have been hired. When we were short staffed I asked numerous times myself to be cross-trained so I could be a better asset to the company, but I was shot down also," Ewell says in the letter. Ewell says a few days after he filed his PHRC complaint he was fired for "inappropriate and sexually offensive language" to a female associate manager.

Ewell denies making the remarks. After his firing, he amended his complaint to the PHRC, which also was filed with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

The manager at Cracker Barrel in Carlisle referred questions to Julie Davis, corporate communications director for the chain. Ms. Davis says Ewell's allegations are "untrue" and firing him was appropriate. "We did a thorough investigation. We stand by the termination."

She faxed The Sentinel a copy of Cracker Barrel's equal opportunity employment policy, which says, "Cracker Barrel is committed to providing equal employment based solely on experience, aptitude and abilities. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind toward any individual or group."

"We take all charges of discrimination seriously," Ms. Davis says. She says she knows of Ewell's complaint with the PHRC only through reporters.

Ewell says he found out about the nationwide suit through conversations with Ms. Van Dyke and the NAACP. He got in touch with Sanford and the Washington law firm.

At first, Ewell says he only wanted the chain to update its policies and for him "to be left alone." But when he ran into the NAACP action, he realized, "This is bigger than me." He does not plan to abandon his state complaint, but believes things will be resolved "faster" in federal court.

The action against Cracker Barrel alleges the chain discriminated against black employees in hiring, firing, pay, promotions and terms and conditions of employment. Moreover, Sanford's law firm filed a companion case alleging violations of the wage and hour laws.

"The evidence in this case is overwhelming and the allegations appalling," Wiggins is quoted in a October 1999 press release.

"The evidence suggests that Cracker Barrel has not only permitted, but sanctioned an atmosphere and workplace culture that discriminates, denigrates and humiliates."

Wiggins told The Sentinel this week more than 100 plaintiffs are involved. Formal status as a class action is now being sought.

If Ewell becomes a plaintiff, it can only make for a stronger case, Sanford says. If the evidence shows the problem exists in different states, cities and Cracker Barrels, "It obviously presents a more compelling argument that these are not isolated incidents."

Ms. Davis says, "We're under a court order not to discuss that lawsuit."

Carlisle hires African-American police officer

Carlisle Borough Council announced Thursday the hiring of a black police officer -- the first since 1993.

David Rogers, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native and Navy veteran, starts Feb. 3, bringing the 33-officer department to its full complement.

Rogers previously was an officer with Westchester City police department and Westchester's housing authority, Mayor Kirk Wilson says.

The new officer now works part time at Mt. Holly Springs Police Department.

Borough officials had recruited heavily for minority officers, Wilson says, sending letters to colleges and universities known for large minority populations and making personal visits to area colleges and universities.

An Hispanic officer was hired about a year ago, the mayor says.

"I truly believe we need a force that can represent the entire community. Patrolman Rogers will be a perfect fit within the department," Wilson says.

"If you've got a good police officer, you've got a good police officer. I don't care if he's black or white ... green or yellow," former officer Wilson says.

The former police officer also says hiring minorities is "not all that easy for a variety of reasons. Either they didn't want to come to this area, or they had other jobs available to them that they didn't want to get into law enforcement."

Urban League leader calls to keep King's dream alive

Working toward the fifth great surge of African Americans into mainstream society is one way of keeping Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream alive.

That was the message Rodney N. Brooks sent to members of Bethel African American Episcopal Church in Carlisle Saturday during the church's 11th annual commemoration program.

The president of the Urban League of Harrisburg told the congregation economic power for African Americans and entry into the middle class is the next civil rights frontier.

"That is job No. 1 for America, job No. 1 for African Americans, and job No. 1 for the Urban League of Harrisburg," he said. "We must commit to be a vigorous community that inspires our young people to excel in school... We must keep battling against the discrimination and indifference that keeps us from entering into the mainstream."

Brooks took the congregation on a journey through time, identifying each of the four pushes that have helped move African Americans toward incorporation into mainstream society.

"Right after the Civil War, we saw (African Americans) starting their own companies, going to college and being elected to the House and Senate," he said. "Given just a whiff of opportunity, we went for it and made rapid progress in a single generation."

Migration to the "promised land" in the early 1900s led to the creation of urban leagues across the country to help migrants from the south adjust to the rigors of an urban environment. Brooks said after World War II, African Americans "flocked to communities like Carlisle and landed some of the good manufacturing jobs."

The most recent wave of economic mainstreaming came with the advent of affirmative action, which opened the door for African Americans to land white collar jobs and enter some of the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities.

"The growth of the black middle class was due, in large part, to affirmative action," Brooks said. "Affirmative action is under attack now, but it did make a difference."

Brooks urged members of the congregation to push forward to combat police brutality, bring down the confederate flag, stand up for fairness and justice and promote healthy race relations.

"We (in the Urban League) believe we are in the business of building bridges of understanding between the various races that make up a neighborhood," he said.

Brooks said he hopes the 21st century will bring equal employment rates, poverty rates and home ownership rates for both whites and blacks.

"That is my interpretation of the dream and the path we must follow to enter into the economic mainstream of the 21st century," he said.

Sandels gets award

Rev. Lawrence Henryhand, pastor of Bethel A.M.E., presented the 10th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. award to Mary Sandels of Carlisle for "her willingness to work with all people" and for "going out of her way to help children learn to read and make sure they have books."

Ms. Sandels volunteers her time to help with the after school program run by the church.

"(Ms. Sandels) doesn't mind going out of (her) way to help someone else... doesn't mind crossing barriers... and is always helping someone but always passing up recognition," Henryhand said.

He urged the Carlisle community to work together to make Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream a reality, and to never give up the struggle to make things better.

Joan Harrison acknowledged all those in attendance in hopes of letting them know "how important you all are in this community," and added, "Whatever you do will help the dream stay alive. It takes all of us to make a difference."

Vets turn out to thank other vets

Vets said thanks to vets Saturday at Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Vietnam veterans from across the state gathered to pass out clock radios and shake hands with the 43 veterans who live at the nursing home in Middlesex Township.

"One vet to another, thank you for your service to your country," Gary Hoyaux of Middlesex Township told one veteran as 11 members of In Country Vets Motorcycle Club strolled from bed to bed. The resident responded by reminiscing about Pearl Harbor: "There was a U.S. outpost in Japan ..."

Trading war stories was part of the action in the multipurpose room before the club members' presentation to 12 of the Claremont veterans, who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

The presence of the black leather jackets, vests and berets with patches, insignia and medals pinned on them brought back motorcycle memories, too.

One veteran traded a story about a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for his clock radio.

"One year we bought an old Harley. Went out to an old softball field. We got scuffed up until we learned to ride it."

The gift-giving was a first for the Pennsylvania chapter of the club for Vietnam veterans who ride motorcycles. Founded about five years ago, the chapter last year gained official status from the Alabama-based national organization, which has chapters in 22 states. Part of the bylaws is a fund-raiser and donation to veterans.

A vote among Pennsylvania bike club members placed the give-away in the Carlisle area. A phone call to the nursing home determined clock radios would be welcome.

Next year the group will vote again on whom the recipients will be, said Hoyaux, who served with the 25th Infantry Golden Dragons in Vietnam. Hoyaux, known as "Dragon" in the club, rode his orange motorcycle a short distance from his home to the event.

"It's pretty cold for everyone to ride," he said. Members came from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Lancaster, York and Cumberland County.

The group makes an annual trek to Washington D.C. on Memorial Day for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle observance and members traveled to Cocomo, Ind., last year for the motorcycle club's national meeting.

Selling hand-made bracelets and necklaces raised $800 for the Pennsylvania chapter at those events, said Brenda Bartlett of North Middleton Township, who coordinated the fund-raiser with her husband, Willis "Indian" Bartlett, who served with Americal Division at Duc Pho.

Among the wives and supporters of Vietnam veterans, who make up no more than half the membership of the motorcycle club, were Jacob and Tana Cassell of Plainfield. Cassell said he takes part in the group out of "gratitude to all the vets from way back when." Lisa Hoyaux said she's there because, "I'm proud to be married to a vet."

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Man arraigned for his part in McDonald's robbery

Henry Ferrer was arraigned Friday in the July 9 robbery of a Lower Allen Township McDonald's.

He is charged with robbery, criminal conspiracy, simple assault, aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking or disposition and criminal mischief.

Ferrer, 23, of the 600 block of Cumberland Pointe Circle, Mechanicsburg, allegedly participated in the robbery with Michael Hill, 18, of an address in the same apartment complex; Kira M. Goss, 18, of the first block of Central View Road, Dillsburg; and Michelle P. Farley, 18, of the 100 block of Bauserman Lane, Stuarts Draft, Va.

Ms. Goss and Ms. Farley had their trials continued until March at the request of their attorneys. Hill faces the same charges as Ferrer and is expected to go to trial soon.

A police affidavit says Ms. Farley gave a voluntary statement claiming she, Ms. Goss, Hill and Ferrer hatched the plan earlier July 9 to rob the restaurant.

The affidavit says Ms. Farley told police it was her idea for the men to use clown masks to hide their identities. She also allegedly said Ms. Goss drove the men to a motel parking lot near the restaurant shortly before midnight.

Hill and Ferrer then allegedly crept up behind McDonald's manager Derrick Willis, who was placing items in a trash bin outside the restaurant. The pair then allegedly grabbed Willis, held a pistol to the back of his head and ordered him to walk to the back door. Once inside, they searched two employees and struck one of them on the head.

The robbers then obtained $1,265 in cash from the safe, along with several bank bags, one of which contained about $150 in McDonald's gift certificates.

As the men fled, Ferrer allegedly fired a shot into the restaurant's rear door, apparently injuring himself. Ms. Farley told police Ferrer returned to the car claiming he had accidentally shot himself in the hand.

The same affidavit says Ms. Goss corroborated Ms. Farley's story during her interview with police.

Ms. Farley and Ms. Goss are charged with robbery and criminal conspiracy.

The Cumberland County District Attorney's Office filed notice of a mandatory five-year prison term because a gun was used.

Community disaster training held

Methodists, Lutherans and even atheists came together Tuesday to learn how they can work as a team to serve the community in the event of a crisis.

Approximately 30 members of the local clergy gathered at the Family Worship Center in New Kingstown to get tips and training from Shippensburg University's director of health and emergency services.

Tom Moriarty talked to members of the clergy about how they could respond in the event of school violence, a natural disaster or any other traumatic occurrence that affects the community.

The training session came about after Shepherd's Staff Pastoral Services in Mechanicsburg joined forces with Cumberland Valley School District to discuss what kind of role members of the clergy might have in helping deal with the aftermath of a traumatic event.

Clergy from Catholic, Jewish and other faiths responded to the call to join forces, and Carlisle and Mechanicsburg school districts jumped on board the effort as well.

"Everybody's thinking about school violence, and certainly that was the catalyst for this, but we're also talking about what happens if a tornado comes through, or there is a serious school bus accident," Moriarty explained.

In addition to identifying the types of events that could have an emotionally traumatic impact on the school district or larger community, Moriarty gave tips on how responders to a crisis can pinpoint how victims are affected.

The focus was not on spiritual counseling, but rather a nondenominational, inter-faith response to tragedy. "People will be asking you where was God and why did God let this happen," he warned the group. "You can deal with that later, but you don't deal with that in your initial response."

Renovation estimates skyrocket for Vo-Tech

Revisions to renovation and expansion plans for Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School show project costs that total more than $1 million higher than original estimates.

Architect Vern McKissick of McKissick Associates of Harrisburg presented an updated project narrative to members of the school's joint operating committee at their most recent monthly meeting held Dec. 18.

The increase in total project costs will mean the 13-member school districts must come up with an additional $519,318 contribution. The rise in the project price will bring an additional $556,611 in state aid funding to the school for the building expansion and renovation.

"There's no single item that's jumped up (in price)," McKissick told the JOC. "The changes are really sprinkled around in a variety of different areas."

Preliminary costs for the entire project were estimated to come in just under $4 million, but the project is now expected to cost more than $5.2 million.

McKissick said that is still low compared to renovation and expansion projects he has designed for other Vo-Tech schools in the area.

"You don't see the extreme numbers here because they've put money into it each year, so we're not going into a building that is falling apart," he said. "That's to their credit."