Lynbrook, New York (WPIX) – A straw found in a juice glass was the clue that led police in New York to the man they suspect of killing a 16-year-old girl on Long Island in 1984, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Richard Bilodeau, a 63-year-old man from central Moriches, has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of Teresa Fusco, who disappeared after finishing her shift at a skating rink on November 10, 1984.
Prosecutors said Bilodeau is accused of raping and strangling Fusco to death a half-mile from the rink in Lynbrook. Fusco’s body was found three and a half weeks after her murder.
Prosecutors said Bilodeau was 23 at the time, lived with his grandparents about a mile from the rink and worked on a Mobil coffee truck.
Investigators began following Bilodeau in February. They picked up a juice cup and a straw dumped not far from Bilodeau’s home, which matched DNA from a vaginal swab taken from Fusco, according to prosecutors.
Bilodeau pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday and was booked into county jail. He is expected to return to court on November 21.
“The past has not been forgotten,” Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said during a news conference on Wednesday. “The indictment stands as proof that no matter how much time passes, we will never stop fighting for the victims. My office is determined to get justice for Teresa and her family.”
Three men — John Kogut, John Restivo and Dennis Halstead — were previously convicted of the murder and spent several years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence in 2005, the commission’s report said. Innocence Project. They filed a lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment, and were awarded $18 million each, the Associated Press reported.