Theresa Fusco, a junior at East Rockaway High School, was 16 years old when she set off on foot from her job at Hot Skates, a roller rink a few blocks away from her Lynbrook home, on Nov. 10, 1984. She was never seen alive again.

Twenty-five days later, on Dec. 5, 1984, the Lynbrook teen’s bruised and naked body was found half-buried under leaves near the Lynbrook railroad tracks. Authorities said she was raped and murdered by strangulation.

While three men were exonerated from the crime after spending more than 17 years in prison, advanced DNA analysis from the victim's body has been matched to that of another man, Richard Bilodeau, of Center Moriches, prosecutors said.

Here are some benchmarks in the history of the complicated criminal, and later civil, cases.

Who was originally arre

See Full Page