ONGOING·1984·Lynbrook, New York·6 SOURCES·1 COVERAGE LINK·UPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative
Theresa Fusco was a 16-year-old high-school junior from Lynbrook, New York. She was last seen on November 10, 1984, after clocking out from her part-time job at the Hot Skates roller rink. Her body was found on December 5 in a wooded area near the rink. A federal appellate decision records that an autopsy found ligature strangulation as the cause of death and that a vaginal swab recovered seminal fluid. The Nassau County District Attorney later described the crime as rape and strangulation.
John Kogut, John Restivo, and Dennis Halstead were prosecuted and convicted in 1986. Those judgments did not stand. A Nassau County court order states that, with prosecutors' consent, the convictions of all three men were vacated on June 11, 2003. The district attorney says exculpatory DNA evidence drove that result. Charges against Restivo and Halstead were later dismissed, while Kogut was tried again and acquitted in 2005. A federal appellate opinion also records Kogut's acquittal and the vacatur of the co-defendants' convictions.
The case returned to active prosecution decades later. According to the Nassau County District Attorney, county investigators and the FBI developed leads and began surveilling Richard Bilodeau in 2024. Investigators recovered a cup and straw that Bilodeau had discarded at a Suffolk County smoothie shop in February 2024. Prosecutors say DNA extracted from the straw matched the sample preserved from Theresa's body. The Associated Press independently reported the alleged match and the investigation's use of the discarded straw.
On October 15, 2025, Bilodeau was arraigned on two counts of second-degree murder: intentional murder and murder during a rape. He pleaded not guilty and was remanded. The charges remain accusations, and Bilodeau is presumed innocent unless convicted. CBS News reported in April 2026 that his defense attorneys disputed the weight and meaning of the DNA evidence and referred to a future trial.
