Cheryl Jenkins Gasper was charged Monday in the death of her husband nearly 16 years ago.

But law enforcement officials said the cold case investigation is far from over.

Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb said he believes the man acquitted in the 1994

slaying, identified as Gasper's lover, was involved in a plot to kill her husband. FBI agents

are cooperating with the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office in a murder-for-hire

investigation that could result in federal charges against Gasper, 47, and other unnamed

individuals.

"Our office is working very closely with the FBI and the Sheriff's Office, and there are

possible federal charges that could be pursued," U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. said late

Monday. "There is no statute of limitations on bringing a federal murder-for-hire case. ...

There could be other people involved."

The Sheriff's Office said Gasper, of Forks Road in Yorkshire, is charged with second-degree

murder in a sealed indictment issued several weeks ago.

She is accused in the slaying of her husband, Andie K. Gasper, 32, who was found dead July

3, 1994, in his pickup truck, parked behind Ames Plaza on Route 16 in Yorkshire. The Air Force

veteran, who worked as a salesman, died from stab wounds to his heart.

Randall A. Knight, then 41, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was charged with the murder in what

police called a love triangle.

During his trial in 1995, the jury heard a letter he purportedly wrote to Cheryl Gasper

sometime before before the slaying.

"You'll never know how much I want you in my life ... It's been a living hell without you,"

said the letter read to the jury. "Andie will be dead, or I will be dead, or locked away. ...

You can't love someone who has killed. ... I'm releasing you to the life you chose."

Cheryl Gasper testified at the trial that she and Knight — who met in Texas while

both were in the Air Force — did have an affair that ended in late 1993, about eight

months before her husband was killed.

The trial ended in Knight's acquittal. One juror said the verdict was based on the

prosecution's failure to prove Knight was in Yorkshire the day of the killing.

After the acquittal, Knight walked out of the courtroom and headed back to his wife and

children in Ohio.

John V. Elmore, who represented Knight at the trial, said Monday that he is "not surprised"

that, after all these years, Cheryl Gasper has been accused of the murder.

"During the trial, I portrayed her as the "Black Widow,' Elmore recalled. "She was having

multiple affairs, and there were serious questions about her conduct. She once displayed a

knife at a party, and she once threatened to kill her husband."

Cheryl Gasper also admitted during the trial that she was able to pay off many debts with

insurance money she received after her husband's death, Elmore said.

Elmore said that, despite the letter attributed to him, Knight always insisted that he had

nothing to do with the slaying.

"[Knight] always told me, "I'm not taking the blame for something I didn't do,' Elmore

said.

A Delevan woman who testified in the trial said she and Cheryl Gasper were together all

afternoon and evening on the day Gasper's husband was killed.

Authorities said new information recently came to light that indicates someone might have

been hired to kill Andie Gasper.

The Buffalo News asked Hochul if police arrested an innocent man when they charged Knight

with the murder.

"He was found not guilty after a jury trial. That is a historical fact," Hochul said.

Hochul declined to comment when asked whether Knight is among the people who are under

federal investigation.

"Speaking in generalities, it is possible for a person who has been acquitted of state

charges of murder to later be prosecuted on federal charges of murder-for-hire," Hochul said.

"I'm not commenting in specifics on this particular case."

But Whitcomb said his office is working with the FBI and U.S. attorney's office to

determine whether Knight can face federal charges related to the murder.

"We are now going to roll forward with federal charges, as Knight can't be arrested again

on local charges of murder. It would be double jeopardy," the sheriff said.

Cheryl Gasper pleaded not guilty after arraignment before Cattaraugus County Judge Larry M.

Himelein.

She is being held without bail in the county jail and has been assigned a public defender.

"The family of Mr. Gasper has been waiting a long time for answers to what happened to him,

and I am glad that this arrest should at least give them some measure of closure," Hochul

said. "I know the Sheriff's Office and the FBI are committed to seeing this investigation

through to the end."

Whitcomb said Cattaraugus County's cold case team — which includes former Trooper

Thomas Stofer; Michael Malak, a former district attorney investigator; and Undersheriff

William Nichols — broke the case.

Cattaraugus County officials said they believe Knight still lives in Cuyahoga Falls.

"I want him to know we arrested her. I want him to know we're coming after him. He's been

free for 16 years," said Whitcomb, who expressed hope that his agency could play a role in any

arrest in the case.