By Karenlyn Barone
Three months after Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon joined in a motion to vacate the conviction of three area men in Fusco's murder, he has now concluded that there is sufficient evidence to retry one of the defendants.
John Kogut, now 39, will again be tried for the rape and murder of Fusco, who was 16 at the time of her death in 1984. She was last seen that Nov. 10, leaving her job at Hot Skates on Merrick Road in Lynbrook. Her nude body was found on Dec. 5, in a wooded area at the head of Rocklyn Avenue and Park Place. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
In March of 1985, Kogut, 21, of Island Park, and John Restivo, 27, and Dennis Halstead, 31, both of Lynbrook, were arrested. Their 1986 trials resulted in guilty verdicts for all three, and the men served 18 years of their sentences until their convictions were overturned in June 2003. New DNA testing on a misplaced, previously untouched vial of evidence was the basis for the reversal. The men were released from the Nassau County Correctional Center on June 11, 2003, free on $300,000 bail.
"I emphasized that at that time this did not exonerate the defendants, it simply entitled them to a new trial, in which the newly discovered DNA evidence could be presented in their defense," Dillon stated in a press release. "I ordered a thorough re-investigation by my office of all evidence pertaining to this case. Based on that investigation, I have now concluded that the full weight of evidence is legally sufficient to re-try John Kogut for the murder of Theresa Fusco."
What the DA has on Kogut, which he does not have on the other two suspects, is a confession. Kogut gave a written and videotaped confession to the police on March 25, 1985. The signed, seven-page confession states that he strangled Fusco after Restivo and Halstead raped her. Since it was made after 18 hours of interrogation, the defense has argued in the past that the statement was coerced. Kogut's new attorney, Paul Casteleiro, called the confession "absolutely not true."
Michael Martino, a Lynbrook resident and freelance journalist for the Long Island Press, has reported extensively on the DA's decision and the subsequent detours of the case. He is closely following this new chapter in a seemingly never-ending story.
"This is almost as much about Theresa Fusco's mother, Connie Napoli, or more so," said Martino. "This is ripping the old wounds wide open. Connie Napoli needs justice for her daughter and she needs justice for herself."
Martino is in contact with Napoli, who has refused to speak to any other member of the media. "Connie Napoli wants to go to sleep at night knowing in her heart that the men who were convicted of this crime pay for what they did to her daughter," said Martino.
Although Kogut, Restivo, now 45, and Halstead, now 48, have maintained their innocence, popular local opinion is that the three were involved in Theresa's murder. "Everything points to them," said a 30-year Lynbrook resident who did not want to be identified. "I followed this case from the beginning, I knew who those boys were, and as far as I am concerned, they are guilty, just like the jury said."
With all the publicity surrounding the release of Kogut, Restivo and Halstead, Martino said the real story is being clouded. "This story, on the surface, with the guys being released from prison, can make you forget the enormity of the tragedy, which is Theresa Fusco's murder," said Martino. "Unfortunately, recently, people are only reading about the overturned convictions, but there is still a murdered girl, and that is the real story."
Fusco was a student at East Rockaway High School at the time of her murder. Retired guidance counselor Clark Chirlin remembers her as a good kid and a hard worker. Unfortunately, there is no yearbook photograph of Fusco, who was murdered before it was to be taken.
"Whether they did it or not, at some point you must relive the entire picture, and what got us to this point is that Theresa Fusco was taken from her family, and someone is responsible for that," said Martino. "We can't lose sight of the fact that this started in November 1984, when Theresa Fusco didn't come home. It did not start with the release of the three men from prison."
Dillon has not yet decided whether to re-try Restivo and Halstead, whose cases are still under review. Kogut's re-trial is scheduled to begin next January or February. All three men remain free on bail. Kogut is living with attorneys from the Centurion Ministries, a defense advocacy group that first started re-investigating the case. Restivo and Halstead are living with their families in Lynbrook. The men could not be reached for comment.
