"Evidence doesn't lie" DNA on smoothie cup convicts murderer after 40 years
A discarded straw brings movement to a decades-old murder case on Long Island. New DNA traces lead to a man who has been in the investigators' sights for some time.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Four decades after the murder of 16-year-old Theresa on Long Island, the case is being solved.
- Three initially convicted men are released after DNA analyses show they were innocent.
- A modern DNA analysis on a discarded smoothie cup finally put the police on the trail of Richard B., now the main suspect.
Four decades after the crime, there is finally certainty: in December 1984, police discovered the body of 16-year-old Theresa in the woods on Long Island in the US state of New York. The girl had disappeared without a trace about a month earlier on her way home - the perpetrator remained undiscovered for all these years. Until now.
In 1986, the case seemed to be solved: three men from the region were arrested and convicted of Theresa's murder. It was not until 18 years later that DNA analyses proved that the justice system had put the wrong people behind bars. The men are released.
More than 20 years pass before the latest technology finally brings the decisive breakthrough. DNA traces on a straw lead investigators to Richard B. - a 23-year-old man who was living nearby with his grandparents and working as a waiter at the time of the crime. This was reported by the "New York Post".
In February, he bought a smoothie and threw the empty cup and tube into a public garbage can. The police fished it out again and matched the DNA from the tube with that from the crime scene.
"DNA evidence does not lie"
According to Anne Donnelly, the public prosecutor responsible, Richard B. had been suspected and observed for some time. B. is arrested and charged. The 63-year-old denies the crime and claims not to have known Theresa. The public prosecutor disagrees: "Scientific and DNA evidence does not lie, period," she reportedly says.
"The year is 2025, and if there is a DNA match, a 100 percent match, we have the man," she is certain. "Theresa Fusco's life was violently taken 40 years ago and her family has suffered lingering pain and questions about who committed this heinous act ever since," Anne Donnelly said.