August Patreon Video: Theresa Fusco

Aug 31

In 1984, 16-year-old Theresa Fusco disappeared from Lynbrook, NY after working her shift at Hot Skates Roller Rink. Her body was discovered weeks later, and she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Three local men—John Restivo, Dennis Halstead, and John Kogut—were convicted of her murder and spent nearly two decades in prison maintaining their innocence. Years later, DNA testing showed that biological evidence from the crime scene did not belong to any of the three men, exposing serious flaws in the original investigation.

Sources for this episode:

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/theresa-fusco-cold-case-murder/6405238/

https://innocenceproject.org/cases/john-kogut/

https://www.aetv.com/articles/smoothe-straw-id-suspect-theresa-fusco-40-years-later

https://centurion.org/cases/halstead-dennis/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/nyregion/nassau-cold-case-charges-theresa-fusco.html

https://nassauda.org/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/1870

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/theresa-fusco-cold-case-murder/6405238/

https://abcnews.com/GMA/story?id=125077&page=1

https://centurion.org/cases/kogut-john/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/theresa-fusco-case-long-island-richard-bilodeau-48-hours/

https://abcnews.com/Primetime/story?id=1777518&page=1