By Karenlyn Barone
John Kogut, 22, of Island Park; John Restivo, 27, of Lynbrook; and Dennis Halstead, 31, of Lynbrook were released from Nassau County Jail on June 11 after their murder and rape convictions were reversed by Court of Claims Justice Victor Ort.
Fusco was an attractive 16-year-old student at East Rockaway High School in the winter of 1984. When she left her job at Hot Skates in Lynbrook the night of December 10, 1984, it was the last time she was seen alive. Her nude body was discovered three weeks later in a wooded area off Rockland Avenue in Lynbrook.
After an intense year-long investigation, the three men were tried and convicted of Fusco's rape and murder in 1986.
Solid evidence against the three was weak. Although Halstead's phone was taped for over 70 hours, only 20 seconds of the tape was admitted as evidence. In that span, Halstead was asked by his sister if he had anything to do with the crime. His reply was, "Yeah." The defense argued that his answer was meant to be sarcastic.
Two strands of the victim's dark hair were found in the van the men reportedly forced Fusco into that fateful night, according to the prosecution. The defense argued that the strands were planted by the police. The police denied the charges.
But it was a written and videotaped confession given by Kogut to the police that solidified the prosecutor's case. The defense argued that the statement was coerced after an exhausting 18-hour interview. That argument was not heeded by the jury, who returned with a verdict of guilty for all three men. Restivo and Halstead were given 33 1/3 years to life, while Kogut received 37 1/2 years to life, because of a prior conviction. For the district attorney, the case was over. For the defense, there was still arguing to be done.
Enter modern technology -- in the form of DNA testing -- which aided the defense in unraveling the case and eventually unlocked three cell doors.
In November 1993, new DNA testing on blood and semen from Fusco's body excluded Halstead as a contributor to the crime. However, the test did not exclude Kogut or Restivo. But in November 1994, another independent lab test excluded all three men, reporting that none of them contributed to the fluids taken from the victim.
Remarkably, it wasn't until last fall, while the defense was re-investigating the case, that an intact sample of semen taken from the victim was found while sorting through boxes of trial evidence. The DNA test on that seminal fluid not only excluded the three from having contributed, but more importantly, it pointed to another, unknown man. Only after those test results came back did District Attorney Denis Dillon concede and ask for the convictions to be overturned. The men walked out of prison on June 11.
The Fusco family has declined to comment on the case.
Nevertheless, Kogut, Restivo and Halstead stand convicted until Dillon decides whether or not to retry the case. But for now, however, the men, who could not be reached for comment, will return home and try to make up for precious lost time.
