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In 1984 and early 1985, Long Island was the scene of several rapes and murders aimed at teenage girls, with evidence suggesting that the crimes had been committed by a mobile group including three or more young men. Police have solved one case, with indications that the perpetrators -- and unknown accomplices -- may be responsible for other slayings in the area. New evidence, secured by newsman Maury Terry, further indicates the possible involvement of a devil-worship cult with ties to other lethal groups in New York City and in California. The first Long Island victim was 15-year-old Kelly Morrissey, who vanished on the short walk home from a popular teenage hangout, on June 12, 1984. Five months later, on November 11, a friend of the missing girl -- Theresa Fusco -- was forced into a van after leaving a skating rink in Lynbrook, one mile from the spot where Morrissey disappeared. Fusco's body, beaten, strangled, and raped by at least three men, was found on December 5, realizing the worst fears of her family and friends. John Kogut, a 21-year-old high school dropout and unemployed landscaper, was jailed on charges of burglary and disorderly conduct when police began asking him questions about the Fusco homicide. Cracking under interrogation, he confessed to the crime, naming two accomplices, and was formally charged with the murder on March 26, 1985. Kelly Morrissey was still missing, but her diary contained entries describing at least one date with Kogut prior to her disappearance. Eight hours after the announcement of Kogut's arrest, I9-year-old Jacqueline Martarella was reported missing from Oceanside, a short four miles from the scene of Theresa Fusco's abduction. Kogut was obviously innocent in that case, but his alleged accomplices were still at large, and police were already collecting evidence of Kogut's alleged participation in a Satanic cult that favored the rape of young virgins as a form of "sacrifice." Kogut's friends informed police that he had once burned the mark of an inverted cross on his arm, and acquaintances of Theresa Fusco recalled her discussions of a Satanic coven reportedly active in the Long Beach-Oceanside area. On April 22, Martarella's raped and strangled corpse was found beside a golf course at Lawrence, Long Island. Visiting the scene, journalist Maury Terry reported discovery of a "cult sign" linked with Satanists in Queens and Yonkers, who allegedly participated in the infamous "Son of Sam" murders in 1976 and '77. Not far from the dump site, searchers discovered an abandoned root cellar, its walls festooned with cult symbols and slogans. Outside, some articles of clothing were found, described by Jacqueline Martarella's parents as "very similar" to items she wore on the night of her disappearance. John Kogut steadfastly refused to discuss the cult angle, while freely admitting his role in the rape and strangulation of Theresa Fusco. After she was raped, he said, the girl had threatened to inform police, whereupon one of Kogut's associates handed him a rope, with instructions to "Do what you gotta do." On May 9, 1985, authorities went public with their theory that a gang of twelve associates was linked with three known murders and at least four rapes in which the victims had survived. By June 21, suspects John Restivo, 26, and Dennis Halstead, 30, were in custody on charges of first-degree rape and second-degree murder in the Fusco case. Kogut was convicted and sentenced to life in May 1986, with Restivo and Halstead joining him later that year. (Prior to Kogut's trial, a teenage friend -- Bob Fletcher -- who had testified to Kogut's Satanism and involvement in pornography "committed suicide" in Rosedale, Queens. Police have been unable to explain the disappearance of the weapon that he used to shoot himself.) |
