Decades-old fingerprint leads to arrest in 1978 Massachusetts double murder
WEST SPRINGFIELD - A fingerprint has led to the arrest of a Florida man in connection with a double murder in western Massachusetts from almost 50 years ago.
Timothy Joley, 71, was arrested at his home in Clearwater, Florida on two counts of murder. He will be returned to Massachusetts in the coming weeks.
Who were the victims?
Theresa Marcoux, 18, and Mark Harnish, 20, were found dead just off Route 5 in West Springfield on the morning of Nov. 19, 1978. Both bodies were found by a police officer over a guardrail at a rest area on Route 5, where Harnish's pickup truck was parked. Marcoux and Harnish had been shot to death. The driver's side window of Harnish's pickup was damaged and there was blood in and around the pickup.
According the Hampden County District Attorney's Office, Marcoux and Harnish had both attended East Longmeadow High School. Marcoux worked as a clerk at a local hardware store and Harnish was working at a car repair shop. They were last seen early on the morning of Nov. 19, 1978 at around 12:30 a.m., when they were leaving a friend's party.
Investigators said they were shot in the truck and their bodies were moved to the area where they were found.
How was the case solved?
The Hampden DA said a fingerprint was found on the pickup that didn't belong to Marcoux or Harnish. Over the years, the fingerprint was compared to more than 70,000 other fingerprints. In just the last month, investigators received information that Joley was allegedly involved in the murders.
The Hampden DA said investigators determined that the crime scene fingerprint from 1978 belonged to Joley. They also learned he was a licensed gun owner at the time and allegedly bought a handgun about a month before the murders.