Her father, Thomas Fusco, said he never lost hope that justice would come:
“I never gave up hope. I always had faith in the system,” he said. “For me, hearing that there was someone who took my daughter’s life will bring closure to me and my family.”
Wrongful Convictions and a Painful Past
In 1986, three men — John Restivo, Dennis Halstead, and John Kogut — were wrongfully convicted of Fusco’s murder. They each spent up to 18 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence in 2003. The trio later won a $43 million settlement for wrongful prosecution, a verdict upheld on appeal.
Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt noted that investigators have now used modern forensic tools to definitively connect Bilodeau to the crime scene.
“The DNA was taken from a vaginal swab,” Rosenblatt told the court. “When questioned, the defendant denied knowing her. When told when the crime occurred, he said, ‘Yeah, people got away with murder back then.’”
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DNA Solves Cold Case: A Straw Solved the Mystery
The case broke wide open in February 2025 when investigators followed Bilodeau to a Tropical Smoothie near his Suffolk County home. After he tossed his drink cup, police retrieved it — and the DNA on the straw matched genetic evidence collected from the teen’s body.
