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The Case of John Restivo
📻 Episode #112
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jan 29, 2020
About This Episode
On December 5th, 1984, the naked body of Theresa Fusco was pulled out of a wooded area in Lynbrook, NY - the 3rd in a string of recent disappearances, putting pressure on police to find the monster among them. The medical examiner determined that a rape lkely occurred and the cause of death was ligature…
The Case
On December 5th, 1984, the naked body of Theresa Fusco was pulled out of a wooded area in Lynbrook, NY - the 3rd in a string of recent disappearances, putting pressure on police to find the monster among them. The medical examiner determined that a rape lkely occurred and the cause of death was ligature strangulation. Dennis Halstead had been linked to one of the victims, and in a police interview about Halstead, John Restivo inadvertently mentioned an occasional employee John Kogut.
When police interrogated Kogut for 12 hours, during which interrogators lied to him about his failing a polygraph, Kogut signed a confession that was hand-written by one of the detectives. With the false confession, the trio were convicted and sentenced to 33 and a half years in prison.
John Restivo and Innocence Project Senior Staff Attorney Nina Morrison joined Jason at the Atlanta Innocence Network Conference to tell this amazing and terrifying tale.
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:05:02“Speaker 1: the other two guys that were convicted of the same Speaker 1: time that you were convicted of were just as innocent Speaker 1: as you were. But one of them confessed, right, and Speaker 1: we know how that goes as well. But every one Speaker 1: of those even inside of that false confession, there's a”
00:20:01“Speaker 1: and cops. I think most boys do, especially growing up Speaker 1: right in the year that we grew up in. But Speaker 1: for you, it was a very personal thing, right. You Speaker 1: must have been very proud to have a dad who Speaker 1: was a cop. I would think, right, right, I mean”
00:34:37“Speaker 4: blew up my phone with oh my god, John, He's Speaker 4: just incredible. I want him to go home, but what Speaker 4: are we going to do without him? He was an Speaker 4: HIV AIDS counselor for other inmates, either on how to Speaker 4: avoid contracting the disease or helping him deal with their diagnoses,”
Listen to the Episode
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← #111 Stefon Morant #113 Herman Atkins →
Also on the podcast: #52 John Huffington · #55 John Moss · #85 Jason Flom, John Grisham and Chip Harding with Jens Soering