3 men who served 17 years for wrongful conviction in Theresa Fusco case 'put through hell,' lawyer says

The three men, wrongly convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Theresa Fusco of Lynbrook and imprisoned for more than 17 years each, "were put through hell," one of their attorneys said Wednesday, only hours after Nassau prosecutors announced a new arrest in the 1984 crime.

Terry Maroney, a law professor at Vanderbilt Law School and one of the attorneys who challenged the conviction of one of the three, John Kogut, formerly of Island Park said: "Everyone suffers when somebody is wrongfully convicted, especially for a horrible crime like this. ... It's terrible when the system makes so many mistakes that it compounds the original loss.

"It's very important to not just get somebody on a terrible crime, but to make sure we've got the right somebody because we don't want someone who did commit the crime out free and often committing other crimes," she said, adding that the three men were "put through hell" for a crime they never committed.

Paul Casteleiro, legal director for Centurion, who represented Kogut during a 2005 retrial that ended in him being acquitted, said the three were the victims of a "horrible injustice" perpetrated by "horrendous police misconduct."

"They did all three of these young men wrong, and they did the Fusco family wrong," Casteleiro said.

Richard Bilodeau, 63, was charged Wednesday with the rape and murder of Theresa. His arrest comes more than two decades after Kogut, Dennis Halstead and John Restivo were imprisoned for more than 17 years for the crime. They were released after advanced DNA techniques showed no link between them and DNA from a vaginal swab of the victim. 

That DNA, prosecutors say, is a match to Bilodeau. He has pleaded not guilty.

The body of Theresa, an East Rockaway High School junior, was found half-buried under leaves near the Lynbrook railroad tracks on Dec. 5, 1984. Police said the Lynbrook teen was attacked and killed after walking home from her job at Hot Skates, a roller rink, 25 days earlier. 

More than three months after her body was discovered, authorities arrested, Kogut, then 22; Restivo, then 27, of Wantagh, and Halstead, then 31, of Lynbrook.

Kogut confessed — but later recanted — to the rape and murder after 12 hours of interrogation and implicated Restivo and Halstead in the crime. All three men were convicted and sentenced to more than 30 years to life in prison.

The Innocence Project and Centurion, which each challenge wrongful convictions, took up their cases, arguing in new appeals that the physical evidence in the case — two of Fusco's hairs that police contend were found in Restivo's van — failed to prove their guilt and that the more advanced DNA techniques showed they were not involved in the crime.

Their convictions were vacated in 2003. Kogut was retried in 2005 but was acquitted.

Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, said he spoke to Restivo Wednesday and described him as "relieved."

"Even when you file a civil suit and win, and you're exonerated with DNA evidence, until they find the person who really did it ... there's always going to be some people that will think 'he got away with something,'" Scheck said. 

Messages left with Restivo, Kogut and Halstead and their respective families were not returned.

Maroney said the three defendants were surprised to learn about the new arrest and needed time before speaking publicly.

Adele Bernhard, who represented Halstead in his post-conviction appeal while running Pace Law Schools' Criminal Justice Clinic, said Nassau police relied exclusively on the confession of a suggestible young man following hours of intense interrogation.

"And once they got that, they were like dogs with a bone. You couldn't shake them," Bernhard said. "They believed in this confession, which was completely ridiculous and there was nothing you could do to convince them that they didn't have the right people."

Fred Klein, who prosecuted the original case for the Nassau District Attorney's office, said on Wednesday, "I just hope the family gets justice for Theresa and some sense of closure,"

All three defendants filed federal lawsuits against Nassau authorities, arguing they were convicted based on false confessions, and that evidence was planted and withheld by now-deceased Nassau County homicide Det. Joseph Volpe. 

A jury awarded Restivo and Halstead $18 million each during civil trials but a jury in Kogut's case found no wrongdoing and declined to award damages.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.