Kriti Mehrotra
When 16-year-old Theresa Fusco suddenly disappeared not far from her home in Lynbrook, Nassau County, on November 10, 1984, it left the whole community baffled to the core. An extensive search ensued, as explored in Hulu’s ‘IMPACT x Nightline: The Last Straw: Solving Theresa Fusco’s Murder,’ but she was found dead nearly a month later. What followed was a search for her assailnt/s and answers to precisely what transpired and why, but alas, her case still remains wide open owing to suspicions, claims of innocence, and pending legal proceedings.
Theresa Fusco’s Remains Were Found in the Woods Less Than a Mile From Home
It was on January 18, 1968, when Theresa Fusco was born to Connie Napoli and Thomas Fusco as their only daughter and thus the apple of their eyes. She grew up in a loving, supportive household surrounded by two brothers, John Fusco and Michael Fusco, who also adored her to absolutely no extent. Her parents sadly divorced at some point, but she managed to have a great relationship with both. Therefore, by the time 1984 rolled around, she was a typical teenage girl who enjoyed hanging out with friends, talking about guys, and just having fun while also preparing for her future. She was determined to find her path in this world and be an independent young woman, which is why she was even working at the local rollerblading rink, Hot Skates, to save up money to buy a car for herself.
According to records, Theresa left her mother’s home in Windsor Place at around 5:30 or 6 pm on November 10, 1984, to go to her job, and she made it on time. However, just before 10 pm, the junior at East Rockaway High School left in tears upon being fired, only to suddenly disappear, never to be heard from or seen alive again. When she didn’t come home at the expected time, and her half-packed bag was found in her bedroom the next morning, her mother reported her missing. The fact that the teenager was packing wasn’t strange since she had plans to visit her father in Queens that morning, but the fact that it was still at home, on her unmade bed, was worrisome.
Initially, authorities suspected Theresa could be a runaway since she had just lost her job, but her family asserted the 16-year-old would do no such thing. They hence organized search parties for her with the help of volunteers from across the community, but sadly, it was her remains that were discovered on December 5. The young teenager was found nude under a pile of debris and leaves in a wooded area along the railroad tracks near Hot Skates, between Park Place and Rocklyn Avenue. She was less than a mile away from her workplace and her home. Her autopsy confirmed she had been sexually assaulted before being strangled to death, and placed her time of death just 1-2 weeks before she was discovered.
Investigations Into Theresa Fusco’s Murder Initially Raised More Questions Than Answers
Mere five months before Theresa went missing, one of her closest friends, named Kelly Morrissen, had also vanished from the same area, but she has sadly never been found. The latter was initially believed to have been a runaway, too, but opinions changed once the 16-year-old’s remains were recovered, and another girl went missing a few months later. According to records, 19-year-old Jacqueline “Jackie” Martarella was last seen in her neighborhood in Oceanside and was discovered strangled to death almost a month later at a golf course. Although officials at the time maintained there was no connection between the three cases, the community was understandably terrified and was demanding answers more than ever.
Investigators were doing their best to leave no stone unturned, so they ensured to recover as much evidence as they could from Theresa’s remains, not long after she was found. The DNA from the sperm inside her was their biggest lead, yet they were unable to ascertain anything or identify a suspect from it, owing to a lack of technology and matches back then. Nothing came up when they ran it through the system, and there were no matches among the 86 individuals they tested, including Theresa’s associates, loved ones, and supposed boyfriend.
According to records, on the night the victim disappeared, a local man had dialled 911 to report that his vehicle had been stolen from where it had been parked near Hot Skates. The Oldsmobile was found with its windshield smashed and its licence plates changed a week later, roughly 2 miles away, along the railroad tracks close to Woodfield Road in Lakeview. After Theresa’s remains were found, the man contacted officials again because there had been a pair of women’s jeans under his passenger seat, and the rope he had left behind seemed used. He worried the two crimes could have been connected, so he even agreed to have his vehicle processed.
Three Men Were Wrongfully Convicted for Theresa Fusco’s Murder
As per police reports, when the once-stolen car was carefully forensic tested, it yielded hair strands that were ”more than 50% similar to the deceased and less than 100% similar.” However, nothing came of it since there was no direct link or evidential tie to Theresa’s brutal homicide, especially as the rope could not be tested, as it had unfortunately gone missing. It was not long after that officials identified three locals as their suspects: 31-year-old contractor Dennis Halstead, moving company owner John Restivo, and 21-year-old landscaper John Kogut. They hypothesized the trio worked together to kidnap, rape, and then murder the teenager.
Dennis, Restivo, and Kogut were taken into custody at different points in 1985, with the latter eventually confessing to their involvement in the crime 18 hours into his interrogation. According to the aforementioned show, he even signed a 7-page confessional written by a police officer, and a search of the vehicle Dennis owned allegedly yielded further evidence. There were hair strands recovered from the car, so these two aspects became to core on which the three men were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of murder before being sentenced to 33 years to life in prison.
All three men appealed their 1986 convictions, but it was only in the 1990s that it came to light that none of their DNA matched the DNA that had been recovered from the victim’s remains. A decade later, in June 2003, the verdict was overturned, and Kogut was tried again, largely on the basis of his confession, which concluded with his acquittal. The charges against Dennis and Restivo were then also dismissed for good, and they eventually sued authorities for their wrongful conviction before settling the case for $18 million each. Kogut later sued as well, but was unsuccessful.
With Suspect Richard Bilodeau Currently Awaiting Trial, Theresa Fusco’s Case Remains Open
After Dennis Halstead, John Restivo, and John Kogut were released from prison and cleared of any possible involvement in Theresa’s murder, the case went cold owing to a lack of additional leads. That is, until 2023 rolled around and local authorities decided to reopen several old cases upon understanding the advancements in DNA technology as well as Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing. They sent the sperm evidence they had collected from the victim to Othram Inc., and they were not only able to map a genetic profile of the killer but also identify Richard Bilodeau as a suspect.
Officials subsequently placed a now 62-year-old Richard under surveillance, learning that he lived alone in a small town in Long Island’s Suffolk County. Upon looking into him, they further discovered that in 1984, he was 23 years old and living with his grandparents in Lynbrook, less than a mile from Hot Skates. So, in February 2024, when investigators saw him leave a cafe with a smoothie, drink it, and then toss everything in the garbage outside his house, they seized the opportunity to retrieve it for testing. The DNA from the saliva on the straw proved to be a match to the unidentified male DNA inside Theresa, so Richard was arrested on the charge of murder on October 14, 2025. He has since maintained his innocence as well as pleaded not guilty, but he likely remains detained in a county jail. Yet, it’s imperative to assert that is innocent until proven otherwise in the court of law.
