After 40 years and 3 overturned convictions, arrest made in murder case thanks to smoothie straw

Officials in New York state announced charges Wednesday in the 1984 rape and murder of a Long Island teenager after, they said, the suspect’s DNA was recovered from a discarded straw

Officials in New York state announced charges Wednesday in the 1984 rape and murder of a Long Island teenager after, they said, the suspect’s DNA was recovered from a discarded straw.

Richard Bilodeau, 63, was arrested more than two decades after a judge overturned the murder convictions of three other men who served 17 years in prison in the killing of Theresa Fusco, 16.

Bilodeau was arraigned in a Nassau County courtroom Wednesday on two counts of second-degree murder, including one count alleging he committed the crime during a rape, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.

Bilodeau pleaded not guilty.

A cup with a straw that officials say was used by Richard Bilodeau. Nassau County District Attorney via AP“Theresa Fusco’s life was violently stolen from her 40 years ago, and since then, her family has suffered an enduring pain and the lingering question of who committed such a heinous act,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement.