DNA from discarded straw leads to indictment of murder suspect after 41 years | New York

Four decades after prosecutors sent the wrong people to prison for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old Long Island girl, New YorkDNA obtained from a discarded straw has led to the indictment of a new suspect.

A Nassau County grand jury on Tuesday indicted Richard Bilodeau, 63, of Moriche Center, on two counts of murder in the death of Teresa Fusco, 16, who disappeared after leaving her part-time job at a roller skating rink in Lynbrook in November 1984. Her naked body was found weeks after the attack, buried under leaves in the woods near the skating rink.

Three men were convicted of murder and served several years in prison before being acquitted in 2003 based on DNA evidence. They sued for wrongful imprisonment and the two were awarded $18 million each.

On Wednesday, Bilodeau pleaded not guilty to the charges and was booked into the county jail. His lawyer, Jason Russo, declined to comment, saying he met with Bilodeau shortly before the trial.

Bilodeau was 23 and living with his grandparents when Fusco was killed, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison.

County authorities began tracking Bilodeau last year after developing what they called “multiple leads in the investigation.” In February 2024, investigators found a cup and straw that they said Bilodeau used and discarded at a smoothie shop in neighboring Suffolk County. DNA extracted from the straw matched a sample taken from Fusco's body in 1984.

“The past is not forgotten,” Anne Donnelly, the Nassau district attorney, said at a news conference. “The indictment is proof that no matter how much time passes, we will never stop fighting for victims. My office is committed to getting justice for Teresa and her family.”

During the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt said that when investigators matched Bilodeau's DNA, they went to his work to talk with him. Rosenblatt said Bilodeau told investigators, “Yeah, people got away with murder back then.”

“Well, Mr. Bilodeau, it’s 2025 and your day of reckoning has arrived,” Rosenblatt said.

Fusco's murder attracted widespread attention at the time, in part because she disappeared around the same time and place as two other teenage girls, one of whom was Fusco's friend.