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6mo ago

Cold Case Breakthrough: Arrest Made in 1978 Massachusetts Double Murder

A fingerprint from a decades-old taxi application led to the arrest of a 71-year-old Florida man for the 1978 killings of a young couple.

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On Sunday, November 19, 1978, at approximately 9:30 a.m., an officer of the West Springfield Police Department was on patrol when he observed a 1967 green Dodge pickup truck parked in a roadway rest area on Route 5/Riverdale Street. The officer saw that the driver's side window of the truck was damaged and noticed blood in and around the vehicle. The officer then discovered the remains of two individuals, one female and one male, just over a nearby guardrail. Each victim appeared to have sustained gunshot wounds.
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Overview

  • Timothy Joley, 71, was arrested in Florida on October 30 for the 1978 murders of Theresa Marcoux and Mark Harnish in Massachusetts.
  • A key piece of evidence was a bloody fingerprint found on the victims' truck, which matched Joley's fingerprint from a 2000 taxi license application.
  • Joley, who lived in the area at the time of the murders, had purchased a Colt handgun a month before the killings.
  • The arrest followed a tip linking Joley to the murders, prompting a renewed investigation into the cold case.
  • Joley waived extradition and will face two counts of murder in Massachusetts, although no motive has been identified.