A discarded straw leads to murder charges in 1984 killing of New York teen

The lower Manhattan skyline is seen from Little Island park, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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MINEOLA, N.Y. — Four decades after prosecutors sent the wrong men to prison for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old Long Island girl, DNA obtained from a discarded straw has led to the indictment of a new suspect.

Richard Bilodeau, 63, of Center Moriches, was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of murder in the death of Theresa Fusco.

The high school junior disappeared after leaving her part-time job at a Lynbrook roller-skating rink in November 1984. Her nude body was found weeks after the assault, buried under leaves in a wooded area near the rink.

Three men were convicted in the killing and served several years in prison before they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2003. They sued for wrongful imprisonment, and two were each awarded US$18 million.

Fusco’s father, Thomas, was among those in the Mineola court as Bilodeau pleaded not guilty and was remanded to the county jail.

After the hearing, he said it was “heartbreaking” to relive her daughter’s death “over and over again” but expressed hope that the arrest was a “finalization” in the ordeal.

“I loved her and I miss her. She lives in my heart, as you can see,” Fusco said as he produced a photo of Theresa from his jacket pocket during a news conference with prosecutors. “I never gave up hope. I’ve always had faith in the system.”

Bilodeau’s lawyer, Jason Russo, declined comment, saying he had just met Bilodeau shortly before the court hearing.

Bilodeau was 23 and living with his grandparents when Fusco was killed, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

County authorities started watching Bilodeau last year after developing what they said were “multiple investigative leads.”

In February 2024, investigators recovered a cup and straw they said Bilodeau had used and discarded at a smoothie cafe in neighboring Suffolk County. DNA extracted from the straw matched a sample taken from Fusco’s body in 1984.

“The past has not been forgotten,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a press conference after the hearing. “We will never stop fighting for victims. My office is determined to see justice for Theresa and her family.”

During the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt said investigators went to speak with Bilodeau at his workplace after matching his DNA with the crime scene evidence.

At the time, he said, Bilodeau told investigators: “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 killing drew wide attention in 1984, partly because she disappeared around the same time and area as two other teenage girls, one of whom was a friend of Fusco.

Kelly Morrissey, 15, went missing earlier in 1984 and was never found.

The body of Jacqueline Martarella, 19, of Oceanside, turned up the following year at a nearby country club golf course.

The three men who were wrongfully convicted of killing Fusco worked together as movers and one of them had dated Morrissey. DNA testing that was not available in the 1980s later proved someone else raped and killed her.

Attorneys for two of the men, in a lawsuit seeking compensation, argued they were victims of police misconduct.

A federal jury agreed, finding the lead detective in the case, who by then had died, had both fabricated hair evidence and hid other evidence from prosecutors.