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Investigators say they've solved Nassau teen's murder 41 years after she was killed
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 15, 2025
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Courtesy of the Nassau County District Attorney's Office
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 15, 2025
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Nassau County authorities say they’ve finally cracked the murder of Theresa Fusco, 16, who was found dead near a Lynbrook roller rink in 1984.
Three men once convicted of the crime spent nearly two decades in prison before DNA evidence cleared them in 2003. Now, investigators say, a new DNA match from a discarded smoothie cup has led them to the real killer.
Richard Bilodeau, 63, of Center Moriches, was arraigned Wednesday morning at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola on two charges of murder in the second degree, including intentional murder and murder committed during the course of rape, according to the Nassau County district attorney’s office.
Bilodeau pleaded not guilty to the charges, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly announced the arraignment at a press conference on Wednesday.
“After two decades of this case running cold, we have indicted Theresa’s killer,” she said.
Theresa Fusco’s father, Thomas, who was standing beside Donnelly, whispered the words “thank you.”
Donnelly placed her hand on his. “You’re welcome,” she said.
Fusco was last seen in November 1984, leaving her job at Hot Skates roller rink with tears in her eyes after having just been fired, according to authorities. Her body was found nearly a month later, buried beneath leaves in a nearby wooded area. Authorities determined she had been sexually assaulted and died from ligature strangulation.
Police at the time were under “enormous pressure to solve this crime, particularly since there had been several other disappearances of young girls in the area in recent years,” according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
Three men were convicted in relation to the murder in 1986, but those convictions were overturned 17 years later after DNA evidence excluded them as suspects. The district attorney’s office dismissed charges against two of the men, and the third was acquitted at retrial. A jury awarded two of the men $18 million for their time spent wrongfully incarcerated.
The case remained cold for years, until new leads in 2024 led Nassau County authorities and the FBI to Bilodeau. That February, investigators collected a smoothie cup Bilodeau had thrown away at a Suffolk County cafe, according to prosecutors. DNA from the straw matched genetic evidence recovered from Fusco’s body 40 years earlier, the DA’s office said.
Bilodeau, who authorities say lived with his grandparents less than a mile from Hot Skates at the time of the murder, was arrested Tuesday.
Donnelly told reporters Wednesday that Bilodeau had “made kind of a flippant observation about the 1980s [to investigators]. He said ‘people got away with murder back then.’”
“Well, let me tell you something, Mr. Bilodeau: It’s 2025 and I got you now,” Donnelly said.
Thomas Fusco also spoke to reporters briefly, saying “it's heartbreaking to go through this over and over again, but this seems like a finalization, and I'm very grateful, very grateful for me and my family.”
Bilodeau's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tagged
cold case
long island
public safety
Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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