Saturday, November 8, 2025
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly unveiled a major developments in a 40-year-old Lynbrook murder case on Oct. 15.
Donnelly, joined by members of the FBI and Nassau County Police Department, unveiled an indictment in the homicide of 16-year-old Theresa Fusco in Lynbrook.
Fusco, who worked at the Hot Skates Roller Rink in Lynbrook, was walking home on Nov. 10, 1984. Less than a month later on Dec. 5, her body was found in a wooded near the roller rink.
"Her death sent shockwaves through the community," Donnelly said. "Theresa's life was violently stolen from her more than 40 years ago, but the past is never forgotten."
New DNA evidence and what was decribed as a rigorous investigation implicated Richard Bilodeau, 63, of Center Moriches. Bilodeau's DNA was taken from a discarded smoothie cup in February, which was compared to samples from Fusco's body, leading to a "100 percent match," Donnelly said.
"Things have changed since 1984, we didn't have DNA testing then," Donnelly said. "Science and DNA evidence doesn't lie."
Using DNA technology, the DA's office has been able to reopen several cold cases and has identified five previously unknown people, counting both suspects and victims, over the past five years.
Bilodeau pleaded not guilty to two counts of secod-degree murder at his Oct. 15 arraignment.
Thomas Fusco, the father of victim, attended the news conference with a photo of his daughter in the pocket of his blazer.
"I love her and miss her," he said. "I never gave up hope; I always hade faith in the system."
These devlopments "will bring closure to me and my family," he added.
The indictment comes after years of legal turmoil between the county and three men who were previously found guilty of Fusco's homicide, and since have been released.
"We'll see what the future brings," Thomas Fusco said. "It's heartbreaking to go through this over and over again."
"This case has taken many turns over the years," Donnelly said. "Three men were arrested and convicted in 1986 for this crime, and later, those convictions were overturned with the emergence of DNA and extensive testing."
In 2017, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a 2014 jury verdict awarding more than $43 million to John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, two men who spent nearly 18 years in prison relating to the homicide.
The federal court reaffirmed findings that former Nassau County homicide detective Joseph Volpe, now deceased, violated their constitutional rights who was found to have planted and withheld evidence during the original investigation.
Restivo, Halstead, and another man, John Kogut, were convicted in the notorious case.
Kogut, then 21, was arrested on March 25, 1985 and charged with second-degree murder and rape.
He confessed to the crime, according to police, and implicated Restivo and Halstead, telling police that the two raped Fusco and he strangled her. Kogut then recanted his confession, saying police forced him to confess.
All three were charged with second-degree murder and rape.
Kogut was convicted in May 1986 and sentenced to 31 and a half years to life in prison. Restivo and Halstead were convicted in November of the same year and both sentenced to 33 years and four months to life.
DNA technology excluded all three as possible suspects in 2003. Their verdicts were vacated in June of that year and they were released after serving 18 years.
In 2005, Kogut was acquitted in a retrial. Prosecuotrs dismissed the charges against Restivo and Halstead later that year.
