The Trail Went Cold

• The Trail Went Cold - Episode 456 - Theresa Fusco

  November 10, 1984. Lynbrook, New York, After getting fired from her job at a roller rink, 16-year old Theresa Fusco starts heading home, but she never arrives. Her nude body is eventually found in a wooded area and she has been raped and strangled to death with a ligature. Over four months later, a 21-year old suspect named John Kogut confesses to the crime and implicates two accomplices – 26-year old John Restivo and 31-year old Dennis Halstead – and they are all charged and convicted of Theresa’s murder. In 2003, all three men have their convictions overturned after DNA testing on the evidence excludes them. Kogut winds up being acquitted at his retrial while the charges against Restivo and Halstead are dropped, but there are still questions about who was actually responsible for killing Theresa. For the first time ever, the “Trail Went Cold” is covering a cold case in which an arrest was made while we were in the midst of putting together our episode about it, so we’re going to cover the full story and all the recent developments. Special thanks to listener Reemi Hautamaki for narrating the opening of this episode. Additional Reading: https://innocenceproject.org/cases/john-kogut/ https://centurion.org/cases/kogut-john/ https://exonerationregistry.org/cases/10591 https://exonerationregistry.org/cases/10504 https://exonerationregistry.org/cases/10795 https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125077&page=1 https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/mom-of-1984-long-island-murder-victim-decries-award-verdict/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/721897625/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/728546280/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/710299952/ https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/15/us/theresa-fusco-suspect-indicted-cold-case https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/theresa-fusco-murder-indictment/ https://charleyproject.org/case/kelly-eileen-morrissey https://archive.longislandpress.com/2010/11/18/kelly-morrissey-the-search-for-kelly-morrissey-continues-26-years-later/ “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

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• The Trail Went Cold - Episode 455 - The Lead Masks Case

  August 20, 1966. Niteroi, Brazil. The bodies of a pair of electronics technicians, 34-year old Miguel Jose Viana and 32-year old Manuel Pereira da Cruz, are discovered on the top of Vintem Hill and they are carrying a pair of lead masks and some cryptic notes about ingesting capsules. Three days earlier, the two men had travelled to Niteroi from their homes in Campos dos Goytacazes over 260 kilometres away, but there is no direct evidence of foul play and the authorities are unable to determine their cause of death. There are a number of theories about what happened, including speculation that the two men’s deaths might be connected to UFO sightings from the area, but the whole situation is never satisfactorily explained and remains shrouded in mystery. For this year’s Halloween-themed episode, “The Trail Went Cold” is finally tackling one of the most bizarre unsolved mysteries of all time: the Lead Masks Case. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_masks_case https://pmig96.wordpress.com/2021/05/10/the-lead-masks-case/ "Flying Saucer Review" (March-April 1967) https://skeptoid.com/episodes/398 https://www.truecriminelle.com/the-lead-masks-case-bizarre-deaths-what-happened-on-vintem-hill/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoPHYQuAlnw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjqCQEjgzk4 “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

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• The Trail Went Cold - Episode 454 - Ada Constance Kent

  March 6, 1939. Fingringhoe, England. After purchasing some cigarettes at a local pub, 67-year old Ada Constance Kent seems to disappear and over the course of the next decade, numerous searches are performed of her empty cottage and they fail to turn up any trace of her. Ten years later, a human skeleton is discovered beneath some rubble in the cottage’s bedroom alongside an empty bottle of poison, and after a forensic examination is performed, there is some uncertainty about who the remains actually belong to. When an inquest is held, a coroner’s jury does eventually conclude that the skeleton is likely Ada Constance Kent, but since they are unable to determine her exact cause of death, they return an open verdict. Did Ada Constance Kent die inside her cottage and remain undiscovered for an entire decade? If not, then what actually happened to her? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel back to the United Kingdom to explore a truly bizarre mystery. Join us on Saturday, October 25 at 8:00pm ET for a Halloween-themed online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link. Additional Reading: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07mvbtw https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Ada_Constance_Kent https://essexandsuffolksurnames.co.uk/the-fingringhoe-skeleton/ "Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in & Around Colchester" by Patrick Denney https://www.newspapers.com/image/1182993941/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/397806138/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/791699254/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/789295887 “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

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• The Trail Went Cold - Episode 453 - Katheine Lillian Armstrong and Derek Grain

  October 31, 1963. Newcastle, England. 70-year old Katherine Lillian Armstrong fails to show up for choir practice at her church. The following morning, Lillian’s body is discovered near the bottom of the staircase in her house and she has been stabbed 28 times and strangled with one of her nylon stockings. Since there are no signs of forced entry, police suspect that Lillian willingly let her killer inside, but even though a massive investigation is launched, no compelling suspects are found and the motive for the crime remains unknown.  October 31, 1980. Bristol, England. 39-year old Derek Grain leaves his hotel and spends the night drinking at a pair of local nightclubs. After leaving one of the clubs during the early morning hours, Derek is later found dead in a pool of blood a quarter-mile away and it turns out he was kicked in the head and bludgeoned with a sand-filled traffic cone. Since money was stolen from Derek, it is theorized that he was the victim of a robbery gone wrong, but even though there are reported eyewitness sightings of someone being attacked by multiple people who fled the scene in a maroon Jaguar, the crime is never solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to the United Kingdom to explore a pair of unsolved murders which happened to take place on Halloween. Additional Reading: https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/articles/mystery-newcastles-unsolved-halloween-murder https://www.newspapers.com/image/876967689/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/876893608/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/804216277/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/804277720/ https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/derek-grains-unsolved-murder-true-4340 https://www.newspapers.com/image/908265262/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/876333334/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/877244013/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/876431763/ https://thetruecrimeenthusiast.co.uk/who-was-the-brandon-hill-park-murderer “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

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• The Trail Went Cold - Episode 452 - Ernie Brasier

  December 19, 2006. Clayton, Missouri. 57-year old attorney Ernie Brasier is found shot to death inside a third-floor office of his law firm: Boggs, Boggs & Bates. Since Ernie was killed in an office belonging to another attorney, there is speculation that he may have been the victim of mistaken identity, but no evidence is found to support this theory. Over the next few years, there are a number of strange incidents involving other employees at the firm, including a bombing at the home of two of its partners, but they fail to shed any light on Ernie’s death and the crime remains unsolved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the bizarre murder of Ernie Brasier, which took place at a law firm which was described as being like something out of a John Grisham novel. If you have any information about this case, please contact the Clayton Police Department at (314) 645-3000 or the St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS (8477) Additional Reading: https://www.komu.com/news/police-need-help-in-murder-case/article_8d7c83aa-2c7b-5c5e-b395-ce7a2a1f416d.html https://www.komu.com/news/lawyer-found-dead-in-office/article_43b3b252-760c-5008-84c2-c803ea292554.html https://www.newspapers.com/image/151872790/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/151995160/ https://www.riverfronttimes.com/the-unsolved-murder-of-ernie-brasier-a-clayton-attorneys-death-nearly-two-years-ago-continues-to-mystify-police-and-colleagues/ https://issuu.com/chsglobe/docs/april_globe_2022_1_/s/15434096 https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_firm_mystery_second_lawyer_dies_at_young_age_slaying_of_third_unsolved https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/bombs_explode_at_home_of_2_partners_in_law_firm_that_was_site_of_unsolved_m https://www.courthousenews.com/big-problem-at-the-law-office/ https://www.businessinsider.com/lawyer-fire-bombing-lawsuit-2012-9 https://patch.com/missouri/kirkwood/accused-of-bombing-ex-partners-home-kirkwood-lawyer-fights-back https://molawyersmedia.com/2013/06/19/st-louis-lawyers-settle-with-ex-partner-in-bombing-case/ “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

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