Nearly four decades after 16-year-old Theresa Fusco vanished from a Long Island roller rink, one of New York’s most haunting cold cases has finally been solved — thanks to an ordinary smoothie straw.
DNA found on the discarded straw led investigators straight to Richard Bilo, a 63-year-old man who lived near the rink back in 1984. Authorities say the genetic evidence matches DNA collected from the crime scene, ending years of speculation, injustice, and unanswered questions surrounding the teenager’s brutal death.
On November 10, 1984, Theresa was fired from her job at the local roller rink — and never made it home.
Her body was discovered 25 days later in a wooded area of North Valley Stream, beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled.
Despite little physical evidence, police at the time quickly targeted three local young men. Under intense interrogation, all three confessed — but later claimed they were coerced and threatened into signing false statements.
By 1986, they were convicted and imprisoned for nearly two decades. It wasn’t until DNA testing in 2003 proved their innocence that they were finally exonerated. Yet, the question lingered for another 20 years: Who really killed Theresa Fusco?
In 2023, Nassau County’s cold case squad decided to take another look. Their focus turned to Richard Bilo, a local man who had been on police radar in the 1980s but was never charged.
Detectives followed Bilo and collected a smoothie straw he threw away — a simple object that would end up cracking a 40-year mystery.
Lab analysis revealed an exact DNA match between Bilo and evidence recovered from Theresa’s assault.
“We finally have the science — and the truth — on our side,” said one investigator.
Bilo was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors call the DNA evidence “irrefutable.”
For the Fusco family, this development brings a mix of relief and heartbreak. Theresa’s father, now elderly, had spent years fighting for the truth and for the exoneration of the three innocent men.
“We lost Theresa. Then we lost 18 years believing the wrong men were guilty,” a relative said. “Now, maybe, we can finally rest.”
The case also reignites debate over wrongful convictions and the methods used by law enforcement in the 1980s — an era before DNA testing and when forced confessions were often treated as gospel.
Legal experts say the Fusco case will likely be studied in criminal justice programs nationwide as a cautionary tale about investigative pressure, bias, and the evolution of forensic science.
Theresa’s story stands as both a triumph of modern DNA technology and a tragedy of human error. Three innocent lives were derailed, one young life was lost, and the real killer walked free for nearly 40 years.
“Justice delayed is not justice denied,” said the district attorney. “This is what perseverance and science can do.”
As the case heads to trial, one thing is clear: even after decades, the truth still has a voice — and sometimes, it’s found in the smallest, most ordinary places… like a smoothie straw.
