DiscoverTrue Crime RecapsA Smoothie Straw Solved a 40-Year Murder Mystery.
A Smoothie Straw Solved a 40-Year Murder Mystery.

A Smoothie Straw Solved a 40-Year Murder Mystery.

Update: 2025-10-29
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In 1984, 16-year-old Theresa Fusco was fired from her job at a Long Island roller rink and vanished while walking home. Weeks later, her body was found brutally murdered. Police arrested three local men—John Kogut, Dennis Halstead, and John Restivo—and despite a lack of physical evidence, all three were convicted. They spent nearly twenty years behind bars for a crime they didn’t commit.

Decades later, advances in DNA technology uncovered the truth. Evidence from the crime scene matched Richard Bilodeau, a man who lived near the rink and ran a coffee truck in the area. Detectives confirmed the match using DNA from a discarded smoothie straw Bilodeau used, finally solving the 40-year-old case.

After all this time, has justice finally been served for Theresa Fusco?

Follow True Crime Recaps for the real stories that prove the truth can take decades to surface.

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A Smoothie Straw Solved a 40-Year Murder Mystery.

A Smoothie Straw Solved a 40-Year Murder Mystery.

Amy Townsend, Chris Nathan