Nearly 40 years after the wrong men were sent to prison for the brutal rape and murder of 16-year-old Theresa Fusco, prosecutors say DNA found on a discarded straw has led to a long-awaited breakthrough — and a new suspect.
According to The Associated Press, Richard Bilodeau, 63, of Center Moriches, was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of murder in Fusco’s death. The high school junior vanished in November 1984 after leaving her part-time job at a roller-skating rink in Lynbrook, Long Island. Her nude body was discovered weeks later, buried under leaves in a wooded area near the rink.
Three men were convicted in the case and spent years behind bars before DNA evidence cleared them in 2003. They later sued for wrongful imprisonment, with two receiving $18 million each in damages.
Fusco’s father, Thomas, attended Wednesday’s hearing in Mineola as Bilodeau pleaded not guilty and was remanded to county jail.
Afterward, he called it “heartbreaking” to relive his daughter’s death “over and over again,” but expressed cautious optimism that the arrest marks the end of a decades-long ordeal.
“I loved her and I miss her. She lives in my heart, as you can see,” Fusco said, holding up a photo of his daughter. “I never gave up hope. I’ve always had faith in the system.”
Prosecutors said Bilodeau was 23 and living with his grandparents at the time of Fusco’s murder. If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
Authorities began monitoring Bilodeau last year after developing “multiple investigative leads.” In February 2024, investigators recovered a cup and straw he had discarded at a smoothie café in Suffolk County. DNA extracted from the straw matched genetic material collected from Fusco’s body in 1984.
“The past has not been forgotten,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said during a press conference. “We will never stop fighting for victims. My office is determined to see justice for Theresa and her family.”
Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt told the court that after investigators matched the DNA, they confronted Bilodeau at his workplace. When they did, Rosenblatt said, Bilodeau remarked, “Yeah, people got away with murder, back then.”
“Well, Mr. Bilodeau, it’s 2025, and your day of reckoning is now,” Rosenblatt said in court.
Fusco’s murder drew intense attention in 1984, as two other teenage girls disappeared in the same area around the same time. Kelly Morrissey, 15, was never found, while 19-year-old Jacqueline Martarella’s body was discovered the following year at a nearby golf course.
The three men wrongfully convicted in Fusco’s death — who worked together as movers, one of whom had dated Morrissey — were later exonerated by DNA testing unavailable in the 1980s.
In a civil trial, a federal jury found that the lead detective in the original case, who had since died, fabricated hair evidence and hid exculpatory information from prosecutors.
