DNA on a smoothie straw is ‘100% match’ for a man now indicted for teen’s 1984 cold case murder, prosecutors say

By Lauren del Valle, CNN

New York (CNN) — For more than 40 years, the person responsible for the brutal rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl on Long Island has eluded capture. DNA from a smoothie straw, prosecutors say, could now be the key piece of evidence they need to convict her killer.

Theresa Fusco went missing November 10, 1984. She was last seen late that night crying as she left the Hot Skates roller rink in Lynbrook, New York, where she had just been fired from her snack bar job. Her naked body was recovered about a month later, buried under leaves in a wooded area a few blocks from the rink; the medical examiner determined she’d been strangled with a ligature and raped.

Three men were found guilty two years later of rape and murder, but testing of the male DNA left behind by her presumed killer led to their exoneration 20 years ago and, now, the indictment of a new suspect.

In August 2023, Nassau County investigators sent a vaginal swab recovered from the victim for testing at a well-known lab in Houston. The Othram lab used the sample to build a DNA profile, CEO David Mittelman confirmed to CNN, and from there, the FBI’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy Unit and local county investigators searched for potential relatives of the suspect, leading them to Richard Bilodeau.

They began surveilling him in his quiet Long Island life in early 2024 and captured Bilodeau’s DNA on the straw of a smoothie cup he threw away, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Bilodeau’s DNA recovered from the straw turned out to be a “100% match” with the DNA on the swab from 1984, they said.

Prosecutors have declined to elaborate on how investigative genetic genealogy tied Bilodeau to the crime, but the advanced and relatively new investigative technique has led to the capture of killers in several recent high-profile cases such as that of Bryan Kohberger, who murdered four University of Idaho students in 2022.

Bilodeau was 23 at the time of Theresa’s killing and lived with his grandparents about one mile from where the girl lived and worked. He told investigators he operated a mobile coffee truck in the area at that time, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a news conference Wednesday.

Bilodeau, now 63, lived alone and worked nights at a Walmart before his arrest. He has no known criminal record and none of Theresa’s family and friends recall any connection between and the teen before her death, the district attorney said.

Bilodeau denied knowing Theresa, Donnelly said, but told investigators days before his arrest, “People got away with murder back then.”

At the news conference, she had a response for Bilodeau’s observation about the ’80s: “It’s 2025 and I got you now.”

Donnelly declined to comment on a possible motive for Theresa’s murder and said at this point, she doesn’t have information to share on Bilodeau’s possible connection to other crimes in the area.

Bilodeau was arrested Tuesday and arraigned in a Nassau County court Wednesday morning. He pleaded not guilty.

Bilodeau is due back in court November 21.

DNA technology has advanced significantly since Theresa’s death, Donnelly acknowledged to reporters, adding, “When you have a DNA match – 100% match – we got the guy.”

They got the wrong guys first

In 1986, three men were wrongfully convicted of Theresa’s murder and spent about 18 years in prison before DNA testing in 2003 led to their exoneration. Prosecutors retried one of the men, John Kogut – who had made a coerced confession to the murder – but he was acquitted.

DNA testing of the vaginal swab found Kogut and the two other convicted men, Dennis Halstead and John Restivo, weren’t a match. The indictments against all three men were eventually dismissed.

In 2014, a federal jury awarded Restivo and Halstead $18 million each in their civil case against Nassau County and police investigators.

Bilodeau’s attorney said the original investigators’ gaffe with the case proves people shouldn’t rush to judge him now.

“This incident took place over 40 years ago, and three men were convicted after trial and served almost two decades in prison before being exonerated. If ever a case exemplifies that someone accused of a crime is entitled to the presumption of innocence, it is this case,” Bilodeau’s court-appointed attorney, Dan Russo, said in a statement to CNN.

Theresa’s mother died in 2019, but her father stood with prosecutors at the news conference Wednesday. Thomas Fusco pulled a small photo of his daughter out of his suit jacket pocket, telling reporters he misses her, but that his faith in the system hasn’t wavered.

“It’s heartbreaking to go through this over and over again, but this seems like a finalization and I’m very grateful,” Fusco said.

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