Case 319: Theresa Feury

*** Content warnings: child abuse, sexual assault, child victims, stalking *** In Paterson, New Jersey, during the early 1980s, Marie Moore was seen as the neighbourhood’s ‘cool mum’. The 35-year-old allowed her 12-year-old daughter Tammy to have friends over as often as she liked, and would even take the pre-teen and her friends out on fun excursions. But the tide turned one day when Marie made a shocking revelation, and suddenly the home that had been a safe haven for local kids became a house of horrors… --- Narration – Anonymous Host https://www.instagram.com/caseys.snaps/ Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas http://mikemigas.com/ Audio editing – Anthony Telfer Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/casefile-true-crime/id998568017?ign-itscg=30200S&ign-itsct=casefile_podcastsSpotify Premium https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/9gSwcv7USsbPatreon https://www.patreon.com/casefileFor all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-319-theresa-feury https://casefilepodcast.com/case-319-theresa-feury/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. Today's episode involves crimes against children and won't be suitable for all listeners.

• 2:30Speaker 00

  In 1978, nine-year-old Tammy Moore had an exceptionally close relationship with her mother, Marie Moore. Marie adored Tammy, and she loved being a mum. She had told Tammy that she never felt loved by her own parents. Even though Marie was an only child, she'd always felt starved of attention and affection. She told Tammy that her mother and father had always told her she was ugly and wouldn't amount to anything. This upbringing resulted in Marie looking for love wherever she could find it, and constantly moving to new locations as though she was searching for something.

• 3:10Speaker 00

  When she unexpectedly became pregnant in her early twenties, Marie initially considered having an abortion. But realising that a baby could be exactly what she'd been searching for, Marie decided to go through with the pregnancy and raise her daughter as a single parent.

• 3:29Speaker 00

  She was a doting and indulgent mother. Tammy could misbehave and be rude at times, later describing herself as a rotten child, but Marie never disciplined or reprimanded her. Tammy didn't feel as though she was missing anything by not knowing her father. There were lots of other single-parent families in their neighbourhood, and it wasn't unusual for the kids that she knew to not have a dad around. But she did wonder sometimes who her father was.

• 4:03Speaker 00

  One evening, Tammy and Marie were watching television. Out of nowhere, Tammy turned around to face her mother and asked: "Who's my dad?"

• 4:15Speaker 00

  Marie pointed at the TV set and said: "He's your dad." She was pointing at American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, who was currently on the show they had been watching. In 1978, Billy Joel was one of the biggest names in pop music, having released an album the previous year titled "The Stranger", that went certified platinum.

• 4:41Speaker 00

  Marie told Tammy that when she was younger she'd had an affair with Billy Joel, which had resulted in Tammy's conception.

• 4:50Speaker 00

  That's why you can sing, she said.

• 4:54Speaker 00

  Tammy was thrilled by this news, but Marie cautioned her that she wasn't to tell anybody.

• 5:01Speaker 00

  If people knew, they would treat her differently. It had to be kept a secret.

• 5:32Speaker 00

  By 1981, Marie and Tammy were living in an apartment in a narrow, three-storey weatherboard house in the city of Patterson, New Jersey, the state where Marie had been born and raised. Their household had also grown. Marie's friend, fifty-year-old Mary Gardulo, had moved in with them. Although she was fifteen years older than Marie, the two women were close.

• 6:00Speaker 00

  Marie had also taken custody of twelve-year-old Harriet Bain, who was the daughter of a friend. Harriet's family had been going through a difficult time, so Marie had offered to take her in. It helped that Harriet was the same age as Tammy, and the two got along well.

• 6:20Speaker 00

  The Moore home was often bustling with other visitors who didn't live there as well. During the summer of 1981, it became a popular place for neighbourhood kids to hang out.

• 6:33Speaker 00

  Thirty-five-year-old Marie Moore was always happy to play host, and was seen as a fun and cool mother. She took her daughter Tammy and her friends on outings to the beach, bowling alleys, and amusement parks. On other occasions, they'd just stay at home, singing songs at the top of their lungs around the kitchen table. It was a fun and raucous environment for the pre-teens to escape to. Everybody was welcome, and they could stay as long as they wanted.

• 7:06Speaker 00

  Three children who regularly spent time at the Moore's were Marie's goddaughter, twelve-year-old Theresa Fury, thirteen-year-old Louis Montalvo, and fourteen-year-old Ricky Flores. Tammy Moore thought Ricky was handsome, and she soon started dating the boy who was two years her senior.

• 7:27Speaker 00

  It was very much a youthful romance, and wasn't serious.

• 7:32Speaker 00

  Over the course of the summer, the children's attachment to Tammy's mother, Marie, led to Harriet, Theresa, Louis, and Ricky, all calling her Ma as well. Together, they formed a tight-knit unit that spent every day together.

• 7:51Speaker 00

  On Sunday, September 13, 1981, once all of the children were back at school, Marie Moore decided to let them in on her and Tammy's secret. She told the four other children that Tammy's real father was the pop star Billy Joel. Marie explained that she and Billy had been married some years earlier. Marie's friend, Mary Gardulo, who also lived in the apartment, was already aware of this connection. Marie had told her several years ago of her involvement with the famous singer-songwriter. To everyone else, this news came as a surprise.

• 8:33Speaker 00

  But that wasn't all. Marie told them that Billy Joel had decided to become more involved in their lives to help restore some order to the Moore residence. The household had become too chaotic during the summer, and Billy wanted this to be corrected.

• 8:52Speaker 00

  The children were confused by this sudden announcement. A few minutes later, the home's telephone rang in the living room. Marie went to answer it.

• 9:04Speaker 00

  She called out that it was Billy on the phone.

• 9:08Speaker 00

  Harriet, Theresa, Lewis and Ricky were to join her in the living room, but Tammy and Marie's fifty-year-old housemate, Mary, were not. Everyone did as they were asked, with Tammy and Mary staying away while the other four children gathered around Marie in the living room.

• 9:28Speaker 00

  They listened as Marie began relaying instructions from Billy on the other line. She explained that they were each to start performing whatever household chores Billy asked of them. Every day before school, they were to go to the Moore residence to complete their chores, which would change on a weekly basis.

• 9:51Speaker 00

  Marie said that Billy had also demanded that Ricky Flores become engaged to Tammy, despite the pair's young ages and the fact that they were not in a serious relationship. Ricky was to be in charge of the household alongside Marie to see if he would make a suitable husband for Tammy.

• 10:12Speaker 00

  Marie added that in addition to being a pop star, Billy Joel was in the mafia. He had organized crime connections who would harm the children's families if they disobeyed him. If they did not do as told, or if they told anybody outside of the home what was going on, then Billy would arrange for a bomb to detonate at the residence.

• 10:39Speaker 00

  The children were shocked and scared. They liked and trusted Marie and had no reason to believe she would lie to them. Plus, they had all heard the phone ring in the other room while she was busy talking to them. That seemed to prove that Billy Joel really was contacting her.

• 11:00Speaker 00

  Mary Gardullo had become distraught and afraid upon hearing about the phone call, and was clearly already aware of Billy's role in Marie's life and the danger he imposed. Her reaction appeared to be confirmation of Marie's claims.

• 11:18Speaker 00

  So, the children did as they were told. Every day after school and sometimes before as well, they made their way to the Moore's apartment, ready to do whatever Billy needed them to. Marie would be waiting with a list of rules and tasks that Billy had provided over the phone. The children set about completing their chores. These included cleaning the bathroom, dusting surfaces, and washing the dishes. Marie told Ricky that as head of the household, he had to inspect everything after they finished. If the chores hadn't been completed to Billy's satisfaction or performed quickly enough, then Ricky would have to discipline the other children.

• 12:05Speaker 00

  On one occasion, Ricky looked everything over and told Marie that the chores had been done. Marie replied that Billy didn't agree. He had hidden cameras set up around the apartment so that he could survey the goings-on remotely, and he'd told Marie that the children hadn't cleaned under the kitchen table properly.

• 12:27Speaker 00

  At this, Ricky went to check the kitchen table. There was dirt beneath it, just as Billy had said.

• 12:36Speaker 00

  This appeared to be proof that Billy was watching their every move. He went back to Marie and told her that Billy was right. Marie told Ricky that as punishment for not doing their chores properly, Billy wanted Ricky to beat the other kids with a wiffle ball bat, a long hollow plastic bat used to play a variation on baseball. Ricky did so, as Marie remained on the phone, relaying further directions from Billy.

• 13:10Speaker 00

  A familiar routine quickly began. Each day after the children arrived at the apartment, the phone would ring and Billy would be on the other line. While Marie held the receiver and spoke to Billy, she would ask the children to recite the rules they'd been given. If anyone made a mistake or forgot a rule, then Marie ordered Ricky to discipline them until they could recite the rules correctly. After any punishments had been doled out, the kids would complete their chores, with further beatings if they were deemed to have done a poor job.

• 13:48Speaker 00

  The punishments grew worse over time. Marie's daughter Tammy was exempt from the chores everyone else had to perform. Because her mother didn't want her around when Billy called, Tammy would excuse herself when the phone rang and usually went outside to play. But she later recalled that on one occasion, Ricky had entered her bedroom without asking and used a set of thumb cuffs to cuff her thumbs together, effectively binding her hands.

• 14:20Speaker 00

  He then left, closing and locking the door behind him. Tammy tried desperately to wiggle out of the thumb cuffs, to no avail, and the whole time she could hear the other children crying and begging in another part of the apartment.

• 14:36Speaker 00

  She later found out that her mother and Ricky had been forcing the other children to eat cat feces. When Marie found out that Ricky had cuffed her daughter, she reprimanded him and removed the cuffs immediately.

• 14:52Speaker 00

  After their daily visits to the Moore residence, Louis, Theresa and Ricky would return to their respective homes, where they said nothing about what was happening. They were afraid that if they did, Billy Joel and his mafia connections would harm their families, as Marie had warned. Louis Montalvo, who lived nearby with both of his parents, was punished less than the other children. Harriet Bain, who was residing with the Moores at the time, suffered the worst of the beatings.

• 15:30Speaker 00

  Because Ricky Flores had been tasked with keeping the other children in line, he mostly escaped physical punishment. But the threat of it was always there. Sometimes Marie took it upon herself to discipline him. She would occasionally hit Ricky, telling him that Billy had demanded it because Ricky had lied or failed to keep the others in line. One way that Ricky could escape abuse himself was by coming up with inventive ways to punish the other children. Marie told him that was a way to impress Billy. Occasionally, Marie told Ricky that he had to hit her as well.

• 16:13Speaker 00

  Sometimes he had to use his hands, other times an item such as a book or a bat. Marie seemed to enjoy these punishments, often telling Ricky that he hadn't hit her hard enough. Ricky was also given other jobs to perform. Marie was a recreational drug user, but she said that Billy wanted her to stop this habit. He asked Ricky to take possession of some pills she had, as well as her house keys. That way, she wouldn't be able to take the drugs or go out at night. Ricky agreed, keeping these items hidden at his own home. Apparently, Billy had also changed his mind

• 16:58Speaker 00

  about wanting Ricky to marry his daughter, Tammy. Marie told Ricky that Billy now wanted him to break up with her instead. Ricky did so. By mid-October, the abusive dynamic had been in place for over a month. Ricky had stopped attending school so he could be at the Moore residence all day long. This was supposedly what Billy wanted. On Friday, October 16, Marie Moore placed a phone call to Ricky's parents, informing them that Ricky was planning to work at the Jersey Shore that weekend, so wouldn't be returning home. This upset Ricky's mother.

• 17:43Speaker 00

  She didn't approve of the amount of time her son was spending with Marie Moore and had already told him to come straight home after school that day.

• 17:53Speaker 00

  Her suspicions peaked, Ricky's mother phoned her son's school to check up on him. She was informed that he hadn't been attending school lately. Apparently, a woman who had identified herself as his mother had called to let them know Ricky had hurt his back and would be taking some sick leave. Ricky's parents planned to confront their son, but he didn't come home that night. He spent the entire weekend at the Moore's, returning home on the night of Sunday, October 18.

• 18:27Speaker 00

  His mother confronted him when he got back, informing him that he was now grounded. She or his father would drive him to and from school every day so they could make sure he was in class. This new system was implemented the following day. As Ricky's mother drove her son to school, she noticed she was being trailed by a Ford Pinto, the same car that Marie Moore drove. The same thing happened when she picked Ricky up from school and continued throughout the entire week.

• 19:02Speaker 00

  Five days went by without Ricky Flores following violent orders that had supposedly been demanded by Billy Joel.

• 19:12Speaker 00

  On the morning of Saturday, October 24, Ricky left his house and ran to a nearby corner where Marie was waiting to pick him up.

• 19:22Speaker 00

  When he got in her car, Marie said that he had to move into her home for four weeks. Billy was ordering it as a way to help Marie stop taking drugs for good.

• 19:35Speaker 00

  He wasn't to tell his parents where he was going, but he should keep checking in with them so they knew he was safe.

• 19:43Speaker 00

  Ricky wanted to help Marie get better, so he agreed to this plan. But the temporary situation became more permanent about a week later when Marie informed Ricky that his mother had filed a police complaint against him. This meant she didn't care about him, Marie explained. He would have to keep living with her.

• 20:08Speaker 00

  It was true that Mrs. Flores had filed a police complaint against Ricky for being "wayward and incorrigible", but she had only done so in a desperate attempt to get her son back. Even though Ricky was still calling her two or three times every day, he was deliberately distant when they spoke, just repeatedly affirming that he was happy he no longer lived at home and had no plans to move back. Mrs. Flores suspected that Ricky was living at Marie Moore's home and repeatedly called Marie to ask where he was. Marie denied knowing anything regarding Ricky's whereabouts

• 20:51Speaker 00

  and even invited Mrs. Flores to come over and search the house herself.

• 20:57Speaker 00

  Mrs. Flores declined this offer, instead reporting the matter to the police. Officers and caseworkers from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, New Jersey's then-state agency that investigated cases relating to child abuse, paid several visits to the Moore home over the next month, but never found any trace of Ricky. Whenever they attended the property, Marie would make him hide in a crawl space located in one of the bedrooms.

• 21:33Speaker 00

  Not long after Ricky moved into the Moore's apartment, Marie Moore came home one day with some alarming news. Tammy, Mary Gardulo, Ricky, Louis, Harriet and Theresa all gathered around as Marie told them that some of Billy's men had made her pull over while she was driving home. Against her will, they'd injected her with a drug, something that would allow Billy to take possession of her body and to speak through her. Marie asked them to give her some coffee to counteract the effects of the drug.

• 22:11Speaker 00

  As Marie sat at the kitchen table sipping her coffee, she suddenly put her mug down and covered her face with her hands. She sat that way for a couple of minutes, then lowered her hands again. Marie's facial expression was different, it was meaner than usual. Her entire demeanor had changed, and when she spoke, her voice sounded cold and angry. It was also deeper, like a man's. "I'm not Marie, I'm Billy," she said. She began verbally abusing the children and barking orders at them. She also swore at them a lot, which was something Marie never did.

• 22:57Speaker 00

  From then on, the daily phone calls from Billy stopped. Whenever there were demands from him to be passed on, Marie would sit and hold her face in her hands as Billy took possession of her. She would then shout commands at Ricky, who would do her bidding.

• 23:20Speaker 00

  Louis Montalvo was struggling with the ongoing abuse and torture. Unlike some of the other children, Louis came from a stable home and his parents were still together. They lived nearby, and Louis had a curfew he had to follow each evening. Nevertheless, he didn't dare tell his family about what happened when he went to Marie Moore's house each day, in case it put them in harm's way.

• 23:49Speaker 00

  Louis later said that one day while he was at Marie's home, he had tried to kill himself. Quote: "I was just tired of all the beating and everything that happened to me."

• 24:03Speaker 00

  Louis had gone upstairs to the attic window and was planning to jump out of it. Suddenly, Ricky chased after him and took him back downstairs to Marie. Then the phone began to ring. It was Billy, and Marie passed on his message. Even if Louis killed himself, it wouldn't matter, because his family would still be killed too.

• 24:30Speaker 00

  That put a stop to any thoughts of suicide.

• 24:35Speaker 00

  One day, at the end of October, Marie called Lewis into the living room where she was sitting with Ricky. She said that Billy had decided Lewis didn't have to visit the Moore household anymore. He could return home that day and never come back. But first, Ricky would give him something to remind him not to say anything. Ricky then escorted Lewis to Mary Gardullo's bedroom and told Lewis to raise his hands over his head. Lewis did as he was told. Ricky began beating him with his fists, giving him a bloody nose.

• 25:18Speaker 00

  When he was done, Lewis went home and never went to Marie's apartment again. He didn't tell his parents about anything that had happened over the past month and a half. He was too scared that if he did, they would become victims of Billy Joel.

• 25:45Speaker 00

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• 30:04Speaker 00

  After Lewis left, the pattern at the Moore residence continued without him. Harriet Bain and Theresa Fury had to do whatever they were told, and Ricky would administer punishments as expected. Several times a day, he would beat them with a wiffle ball bat. Sometimes he hit them with heavy books instead, after Billy Joel told him the bat wasn't hard enough. Harriet would later recall being made to lie naked on a bed while Ricky beat her with a book. The radio was turned up high so the neighbours wouldn't hear her scream.

• 30:44Speaker 00

  As a full-time resident of the household with no family nearby, Harriet was still receiving the worst assaults.

• 30:53Speaker 00

  Initially, Mary Gardulo, Marie Moore's fifty-year-old housemate, was spared from the abuse that the children were subjected to. She was obviously terrified of Billy, but still tried to intervene where she could by attempting to stop Ricky from hurting Harriet. This prompted Marie to pass along a message from Billy. Mary was being too nosey and was butting in, so she would have to start doing chores as well.

• 31:24Speaker 00

  Ricky was told to include Mary in his punishments.

• 31:29Speaker 00

  From then on, he started beating her as well.

• 31:34Speaker 00

  Marie Moore began to keep her windows nailed shut and doors almost always closed. This prevented sounds from the victims being overheard by neighbours who lived on other floors of the building or in the houses that sat close next door.

• 31:51Speaker 00

  It also prevented those inside from leaving.

• 31:56Speaker 00

  A couple of times after the abuse had begun, Harriet Bain had tried to escape without success.

• 32:04Speaker 00

  On Friday, November twenty-seven, nineteen eighty-one, the day after Thanksgiving and more than two months into the abuse, Harriet made a third attempt to flee. This time she succeeded, running from the house barefoot and jacketless into the cold late autumn weather.

• 32:24Speaker 00

  Her first thought was to run to her brother's house. He lived in Lodi, which was seven miles southeast of Patterson.

• 32:34Speaker 00

  Harriet ran in that general direction, but didn't know exactly where to go. A few times, she stopped to ask nearby strangers for directions. She managed to make her way to Elmwood Park, a neighbourhood five miles east of where she'd started in Patterson and just two miles from her brother's home. However, one of the people Harriet asked for directions became concerned by her appearance. They phoned the police, reporting that a girl without a jacket or shoes was wandering around Elmwood Park.

• 33:11Speaker 00

  Some officers were dispatched and began driving towards where Harriet was last seen. They caught up to her on Route forty-six, a busy highway that runs from east to west New Jersey. Harriet was wandering along the four-lane highway, still barefoot and cold. When she spotted the police car, she ran in fear, but the officers were able to catch up to her. They took her to their station, and Harriet gave them a statement. She didn't provide them with Marie Moore's name, or that of Ricky Flores, and refused to disclose exactly where she had come from.

• 33:53Speaker 00

  Harriet was terrified of being sent back to Marie's house. However, she did explain some of the abuse she'd suffered, and said that someone named Boss or Sir had been beating her at the direction of another individual. Harriet was later taken to a hospital to be examined. Her body was covered with bruises and other injuries that confirmed she'd been the victim of serious violence.

• 34:23Speaker 00

  Harriet was kept in the hospital for one week, and provided further statements while there. After speaking with two caseworkers from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Harriet finally revealed the full details of her story, telling them about Billy Joel and his connections to the Mafia. She gave them Ricky and Marie's names, as well as Marie's address. The caseworkers were stunned by the story, which sounded implausible and outlandish. Nevertheless, they opened an investigation into the matter, beginning with a visit to Marie Moore.

• 35:06Speaker 00

  Marie listened calmly as the two DYFS caseworkers told her of the allegations against her. She denied that Ricky Flores lived there, or that there had been any violence under her roof. Presenting as trustworthy and believable, Marie suggested that maybe Harriet had fantasized this entire incredible tale.

• 35:30Speaker 00

  The caseworkers were inclined to listen to her. Even though Harriet had clearly been beaten, the story she'd told was hard to believe. Nor could they see any indication that Ricky Flores was residing at Marie's home. Unsure what else to do, they recommended that Harriet Bain not return to Marie's apartment, and sent the 12-year-old to complete a 90-day programme at a mental health diagnostic centre instead.

• 36:02Speaker 00

  The caseworkers later recommended the case be investigated by Patterson Police, but, for some reason, it wasn't picked up. DYFS didn't check in again to find out why.

• 36:20Speaker 00

  Back at the Moore residence, Harriet's escape had created havoc. Marie told Ricky that Harriet had been killed; Billy Joel had run her down in his car. Ricky took this seriously, seeing it as further evidence of Billy's power and danger.

• 36:40Speaker 00

  Privately, Marie told her daughter Tammy that she'd let Harriet go home. Tammy was shielded from much of the goings-on in the residence, and saw Ricky as the household's aggressor. To her, this proved that her mother was helping where possible by letting Harriet leave.

• 37:01Speaker 00

  For Mary Gardulo and Theresa Fury, Harriet's escape led to worse punishments.

• 37:09Speaker 00

  In the weeks after Harriet fled, Ricky Flores began forcing the two to undress, and would then thumb cuff each of them, naked.

• 37:19Speaker 00

  One of their thumbs would be cuffed to one of their big toes, and they would both have to lie on their stomachs in this uncomfortable position for up to an hour. Ricky continued to inflict beatings with the bat and books. Sometimes he kicked them as well, or burnt them with cigarettes. Months went by like this, with the violence against Mary and Theresa escalating as Ricky felt the increasing pressure from Billy. One morning in January 1982, Ricky was having a conversation with Marie in the kitchen.

• 37:58Speaker 00

  Marie was possessed by Billy at the time, and was talking in her gruff, more masculine way. Speaking as Billy, she told Ricky that Marie loved him, and asked if he wanted to be her boyfriend, or her son.

• 38:15Speaker 00

  Ricky replied that he saw Marie as a mother. Billy told Ricky that he'd need to decide which he was going to be, warning that Ricky shouldn't hurt Marie.

• 38:28Speaker 00

  Billy had harmed other men who had done so.

• 38:33Speaker 00

  Speaking as herself, Marie also put pressure on Ricky. She had been diagnosed with epilepsy six years after having Tammy, and told Ricky that sometimes she had seizures at night. She asked him to sleep in her bed with her so he could help if she began having a seizure. Ricky agreed. Soon, Marie told him that she was sexually attracted to him, and wanted them to have a physical relationship. Ricky said he'd rather not, as he still saw Marie as a mother. Marie wasn't happy with this, telling Ricky:

• 39:14Speaker 00

  "Well, I have my needs, and if they can't be met, then I have to go somewhere else."

• 39:21Speaker 00

  Ricky felt as though he had no other option and nowhere to go. From February nineteen eighty-two on, Marie began sexually abusing him.

• 39:36Speaker 00

  At around the same time, the Moore household moved to a new apartment just down the street on Madison Avenue. Like their previous apartment, this was a weatherboard home that had originally been a single dwelling. It was owned by an elderly man named Ferdinando Ragusa, who Marie was friends with. They would be residing on the second floor while Ferdinando was on the ground floor.

• 40:06Speaker 00

  Marie and Tammy Moore, Ricky Flores, and Mary Gardulo all lived at the apartment, while Theresa Fury still returned to her grandmother's house at night to sleep.

• 40:18Speaker 00

  Months went by and the terrible abuses continued. In late May nineteen eighty-two, Mary Gardulo hatched a plan to escape.

• 40:30Speaker 00

  On the evening of Sunday, May thirty, Mary told Marie that she wanted to take a shift at work the following day, which was Memorial Day. Because it was a holiday, Mary would make time and a half instead of her usual wage.

• 40:46Speaker 00

  Marie agreed, intending to take Mary's earnings for herself. She let Mary leave the home the next day without incident.

• 40:57Speaker 00

  Mary wasn't really rotted on that day, she had just wanted access to a telephone. She used the phone at work to call her siblings and ask for help. They collected their sister and drove her to Tom's River on the Jersey Shore, about an hour and a half's drive from Patterson. After hearing Mary's story, her siblings had her speak with the detective from the Tom's River Police Department. Over three hours, Mary gradually opened up to the detective. She showed him the bruises and burns that covered her body. He later described Mary as "very distraught and emotionally destroyed and in very, very

• 41:42Speaker 00

  poor physical condition."

• 41:46Speaker 00

  Mary was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and provided an official statement about the physical abuse and torture Ricky Flores had inflicted on her.

• 41:58Speaker 00

  Mary said that a child named Theresa Fury was also being abused in the same way and provided Marie Moore's address where they could find her. Mary said that Marie knew everything that was going on but made no mention of singer-songwriter Billy Joel's supposed involvement.

• 42:22Speaker 00

  Given Marie's home was out of their jurisdiction and it involved the abuse of a minor, the Toms River Police referred the matter to the Passaic County Division of Child Protection and Permanency and the Juvenile Division of the Patterson Police Department. On Monday, June 7, DYFS assigned the case to social worker Cathy Delapesca, who followed the matter up immediately. She went to the school that Tammy Moore and Theresa Fury attended and spoke to both girls about Mary's allegations.

• 42:59Speaker 00

  The girls said they knew nothing about any violence in the home, but said they had recently seen Ricky Flores there. This was significant, as Ricky was still missing from his parents' home. After these conversations, Cathy Delapesca visited Marie Moore to ask her about the allegations. Marie adamantly denied them, telling Cathy that Theresa was her godchild and she would never allow her to be harmed. She also stated that she hadn't seen Ricky Flores in about six months. When Cathy informed Marie that both girls said they'd recently seen Ricky in the Moore home, Marie corrected herself

• 43:43Speaker 00

  and said he'd just visited briefly a few weeks earlier.

• 43:49Speaker 00

  Kathy Delapesca returned to her office to conduct some further investigations, including speaking with the caseworker who'd handled Harriet Bain's case seven months earlier. Deciding the issue was serious enough to warrant action, Kathy went back to the Moore residence later that same day with three detectives from the Patterson Police Department. Two of the detectives headed around the back of the residence, while Kathy and a detective from the department's juvenile division knocked on the front door. Marie Moore let them in. When Theresa Fury saw the officials standing there, she tried to escape via the back door,

• 44:34Speaker 00

  only to be stopped by the waiting detectives. Meanwhile, Kathy Delapesca and the other detective were grilling Marie about the suspected abuse. Marie repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Kathy asked Theresa to remove some of her clothing to check for injuries. As Theresa did so, Kathy noticed significant bruising. Both Theresa and Marie seemed surprised by this, with Theresa explaining that she must have fallen at school. Kathy Delapesca arranged for Theresa to visit a doctor who said the girl's bruises weren't

• 45:18Speaker 00

  consistent with a fall. She had cigarette burns and other injuries that indicated she had been beaten by another person. The day after this appointment, Kathy took Theresa and Harriet Bain to the police station to make statements. Harriet, who'd escaped from the Moore home seven months earlier, was more forthcoming. She explained that Ricky Flores administered the beatings, but that he did so at the instruction of Billy Joel, who spoke through Marie Moore. Theresa was reluctant to talk until the police told her they were only interested in arresting Ricky.

• 46:02Speaker 00

  She made allegations against him, but adamantly defended Marie.

• 46:09Speaker 00

  Marie was summoned for questioning that same day. Initially, she persisted in denying everything. Her tone began to change, however, when detectives showed her a statement made by Mary Gardulo. Marie began to change her tune, conceding that there had been violence in her home. She said that on a recent weekend Ricky Flores had visited and made sexual advances towards her. When she rejected him, he became violent. Mary Gardulo had rushed to her defence, prompting Ricky to lash out at her as well.

• 46:51Speaker 00

  Marie said she'd never seen Ricky hurt Theresa, but said he'd threatened to harm her own daughter Tammy if she reported him. That was why she'd denied the allegations so firmly.

• 47:07Speaker 00

  Marie denied knowing where Ricky was now. Detectives told her to call them if she saw him, and Marie agreed.

• 47:18Speaker 00

  Investigators chased up Luis Montavo to see if he could verify any of the claims made from his own time spent at the home. But Luis said he knew nothing about them.

• 47:34Speaker 00

  Over the next few months, the case remained open. DYFS caseworkers checked in on Theresa Fury every so often. Twelve-year-old Theresa hadn't had an easy start to life. She had been raised by her maternal grandparents since she was two. Theresa's mother struggled with the drug addiction, and so her parents took Theresa in.

• 48:00Speaker 00

  When she was about eight years old, her father had died of cancer. A few years later, in March 1980, Theresa's grandfather died. One month after that, her mother passed away from a drug overdose.

• 48:16Speaker 00

  At just ten years old, Theresa was an orphan. It was just her and her grandmother, Catherine Joya, at home.

• 48:27Speaker 00

  Despite the early grief and loss Theresa had experienced, she had a lot of joy in her life. She loved swimming, dancing and playing baseball. Her favourite TV show was The Brady Bunch and she enjoyed playing video games. Theresa collected Barbie dolls and had a teddy bear she slept with every night. Petite with chestnut brown hair and brown eyes, Theresa liked to wear pretty dresses. Locals in her neighbourhood would often see her after school buying ice cream, soda or candy. Theresa had spoken over the years about becoming a nurse, or maybe a secretary.

• 49:11Speaker 00

  She loved Halloween and always made an effort with her costumes. But Theresa's grandmother Catherine had noticed changes in her after she started spending more time with Marie Moore. Theresa had stopped wearing the dresses she once loved, instead opting for jeans. She often came home from visiting the Moore home in a bad mood, with Catherine describing her as cranky. The much younger Marie had tried to offer the older woman advice on raising Theresa, telling her that she was too old fashioned and old. Marie didn't approve of the 10pm curfew Catherine insisted upon, and said she should

• 49:55Speaker 00

  let Theresa date and wear make-up. Catherine had raised Theresa as a Catholic. When it came time for Theresa's first communion, Catherine couldn't find any proof that Theresa's mother had her baptised, so she arranged for a priest to do so in April 1981. Theresa would need godparents, so Catherine suggested an aunt take on the role. But Theresa refused, saying that she wanted Marie Moore to be her godmother. That was the only way she would agree to participate in the church. Catherine agreed to Theresa's terms, and she made her first communion on Sunday, May

• 50:38Speaker 00

  2, 1982, one month before DYFS caseworkers would start looking into whether she was being abused under Marie's roof.

• 50:50Speaker 00

  Not long after this, Marie Moore began asking Catherine to give her five dollars each week and an extra ten dollars each month to pay for special books and tutoring for Theresa, who was having trouble with her homework.

• 51:05Speaker 00

  This request didn't seem strange, as Theresa spent a lot of time at Marie's home, and Catherine assumed she was helping the girl with her schooling due to her role as godmother.

• 51:17Speaker 00

  She gave Marie the money, but never saw any evidence of the new textbooks or tutoring.

• 51:24Speaker 00

  Theresa seemed to love spending time at Marie's, often spending more time there than at home, although whenever Catherine did see her, she didn't seem very happy.

• 51:37Speaker 00

  Late in the summer of 1982, Theresa became even more irritable. On one occasion, she threw an ashtray at Catherine when asked to pick up her clothes. Then, one day in early September, Theresa failed to return home at her usual time.

• 51:57Speaker 00

  Catherine called the police and an alert was issued. Theresa reappeared the next day, telling her grandmother she'd spent the night with a friend.

• 52:09Speaker 00

  Catherine suspected she'd actually been at Marie Moore's, even though Theresa had been told by DYFS caseworkers that she should avoid that residence. Theresa had been adamant that the bruises all over her body were the result of falling down the stairs at school, but the matter was still being investigated.

• 52:31Speaker 00

  On Wednesday, September 15, Theresa turned 13. Exactly one week later, on Wednesday, September 22, Theresa was at home in the morning getting ready for school. Just as she was about to leave, she turned around to ask Catherine what was for dinner that night. Then she headed out the front door.

• 52:56Speaker 00

  Theresa didn't come home that night. Consumed by worry, Catherine Joyer phoned the police to report their disappearance, as well as a local newspaper. Wanting to spread awareness in case Theresa had run away, she told the paper: "Tell her that her nanny is sick and worried. Tell her I can't eat or sleep. Tell her all I do is cry."

• 53:26Speaker 00

  Catherine went to Marie Moore's house to check if Theresa was there. Marie let her in and they talked in the kitchen.

• 53:36Speaker 00

  Marie said she had no idea where Theresa was, and there was no indication that she was there.

• 53:45Speaker 00

  Catherine didn't know what to do, except wait for her granddaughter to come home. Weeks went by, and then months, with no word from Theresa. Then, in December 1982, three months after Theresa had vanished, Catherine received a phone call from Marie Moore. Marie said she'd spoken to Theresa. The thirteen-year-old was working for a carnival, and had asked Marie to tell Catherine: "Merry Christmas."

• 54:25Speaker 00

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• 57:13Speaker 00

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• 57:29Speaker 00

  Throughout the first half of 1983, the Moore home was a lot quieter than it had been in previous years. Marie, Tammy and Ricky Flores were the only residents now. In late May 1983, Marie told the now sixteen-year-old Ricky that he needed to get a job to bring money into the household. She took him to a factory to see if they would hire him, telling the staff there that she was his mother. Ricky was hired, and Marie informed his employer that she would be collecting him every day for lunch and after his shift. No one but her was to pick him up.

• 58:11Speaker 00

  Ricky's family hadn't seen him in over eighteen months. He'd stayed in touch with his mother over the phone, but none of his relatives knew where to find him.

• 58:22Speaker 00

  One day, during the first week of July, Ricky's brother Philip, who worked repairing typewriters, was sent to a factory on a service call. While he was there, he spotted an employee whom he thought looked a lot like his younger brother. Philip asked a factory supervisor for the name of the employee and was told: Ricky Flores.

• 58:47Speaker 00

  Philip left immediately and went home to get his mother. Then he drove the two of them back to the factory. They headed for the front office and had Ricky paged. When Ricky approached, he saw his mother and brother standing there. "Oh my god, mum", he said, before fleeing on foot. Philip tried to chase after his brother, but Ricky quickly disappeared.

• 59:17Speaker 00

  Ricky didn't return to work after that, but his mother notified the police of the sighting. She still had charges out against her son, and she wanted them pursued, as she believed this was the best chance she had of getting Ricky home.

• 59:34Speaker 00

  A detective assigned to the case obtained Ricky's employment records from the factory, and soon had a residential address for the teenager. It turned out that Ricky was still living with Marie Moore and her daughter Tammy, and the trio had just recently moved from their apartment on Madison Avenue to a new address one mile away.

• 59:57Speaker 00

  A juvenile warrant was issued for Ricky, and two detectives headed over to the Moore residence on Tuesday, July 12. At first, it appeared that Ricky wasn't at home.

• 1:00:11Speaker 00

  The detectives conducted a search of the property and soon found Ricky hiding beneath a sink. Both he and Marie Moore were arrested and taken in for questioning. Ricky refused to speak, and was eventually released into his mother's custody.

• 1:00:30Speaker 00

  Marie, however, was very talkative. She told detectives that the only reason she housed Ricky Flores was because he was in the mafia, and his boss had threatened her. Marie subsequently reneged these allegations, and eventually admitted that she had a sexual relationship with the 16-year-old. She said that Ricky was a sweet, loving boy who had never harmed Harriet Bane or Theresa Fury, but admitted he had once beaten Mary Gardulo because she was "interfering in our lives".

• 1:01:08Speaker 00

  Noting that Theresa Fury was officially a missing person, police asked Marie if she knew where she was. Marie said she hadn't heard from Theresa since September 1982, almost a year earlier.

• 1:01:25Speaker 00

  Charges were filed against Marie for her treatment of Ricky. She was charged with having sex with a minor, interfering with custody and endangering child welfare. Detectives added another charge for the false statement Marie had provided more than a year earlier in 1982, when she said Ricky had never harmed Mary Gardulo. Marie was permitted to return home until it was time to appear in court.

• 1:01:57Speaker 00

  After that, there was no further contact between Ricky Flores and Marie Moore, and it was now just Marie and her daughter Tammy at home.

• 1:02:07Speaker 00

  They moved houses yet again not long after Marie was charged. Several months went by with police hearing nothing from the Moore household. Then, on Saturday, December 17, 1983, they received a call from Marie Moore. She said that her daughter Tammy had just disclosed something terrible. She had been sexually abused by Ricky Flores while he had been living with them. And that wasn't all. Based on what Tammy had told her, Marie suspected that Ricky was behind Theresa Fury's disappearance. Marie thought Ricky had killed Theresa

• 1:02:50Speaker 00

  and possibly hidden her body somewhere at their previous address on Madison Avenue, where they had lived throughout 1982. They had resided on the second and third floors of the apartment, with their landlord Ferdinando Ragusa living on the ground level.

• 1:03:09Speaker 00

  Police interviewed Tammy, who provided a statement accusing Ricky Flores of sexual assault.

• 1:03:17Speaker 00

  She said that Ricky had raped her and that she had also witnessed him kill Theresa.

• 1:03:24Speaker 00

  Three days later, two detectives went to the Madison Avenue address to conduct a search. The property's owner, Ferdinando Ragusa, met them there, and Marie Moore was present as well. She pointed out a depression in the yard where she said a body could have been buried. Then the group went up to the third floor to look around. Marie pointed at a spot in the ceiling and suggested that Theresa's body could have been placed in the attic above. She also pointed out a paneled area in a wall of one of the bedrooms. The detectives took a closer look.

• 1:04:06Speaker 00

  The portion of the ceiling Marie had pointed at had a piece of wood that was concealing a hole in the plaster. One of the detectives clambered up into the attic crawl space and looked around. He noticed a roll of duct tape and some white powder that he identified as lime, a mineral sometimes used in the disposal of carcasses. There was also a tray covered in melted candle wax. But there was no body. When he climbed back down, the other detective noticed a foul odor wafting from the attic. The detectives left and returned the next day with the crew and dug up the part of

• 1:04:50Speaker 00

  the yard Marie Moore had indicated. There was nothing there. The following day of Thursday, December 22, police received a call at 9 a.m. from Ferdinando Ragusa. He wanted to know if they would be back to search the house more thoroughly that day. The detective who took the call said they wouldn't, and they were actually thinking of closing the investigation entirely. Fifteen minutes after that call, the phone rang again. This time it was Marie Moore, calling to confirm that they were really planning to cancel the investigation.

• 1:05:32Speaker 00

  After being told that they were, Marie arrived at the station in person in less than an hour. She was carrying a piece of insulation from the Madison Avenue apartment, which was stained with blood.

• 1:05:47Speaker 00

  This was further evidence that somebody had been killed at the residence, and the police should keep looking.

• 1:05:57Speaker 00

  Once again, police returned to the Madison Avenue residence for another search. While they were at the apartment, Marie Moore and Ferdinando Ragusa pointed out something they had discovered. It was in the bedroom Marie had drawn attention to the other day. A portion of one of the walls seemed out of place. It was covered in wallpaper like the rest of the wall, but there was clearly something beneath the paper.

• 1:06:28Speaker 00

  Pulling back the wallpaper, Marie and Ferdinando revealed a hole that had been clumsily concealed with a piece of wood nailed to the wall. When the wood was removed, a crawl space became visible. Looking inside the crawl space, detectives saw something there.

• 1:06:48Speaker 00

  It was an object wrapped in a lightly stained quilt and tied with a rope.

• 1:06:54Speaker 00

  At the base of the object, some plastic bags protruded from the quilt with duct tape wrapped around them. The object appeared to have the form of a human body, with lime sprinkled liberally where the head would be.

• 1:07:11Speaker 00

  It was carefully removed from the crawl space and laid out on the wooden floor of the bedroom. Detectives took photographs of the object before removing the quilt, which was covered with dark red and brown stains. Without the quilt, it became obvious that the object wrapped in plastic bags and duct tape was the small body of Teresa Fury.

• 1:07:40Speaker 00

  It would take some time for the truth to emerge, but police eventually learnt what had happened to Theresa. After DYFS caseworkers had taken an interest in her, Marie Moore had become worried. In September 1982, she convinced the thirteen-year-old girl to run away from her grandmother's house where she lived and stay permanently with her. By now, Theresa was the only child still being physically abused and beaten at Marie's command. Marie refused to let Theresa attend school, not wanting anyone to find out about her abuse.

• 1:08:21Speaker 00

  In late October 1982, the four of them moved from the second-floor apartment at the Madison Avenue address to the third floor. Up there, the abuse of Theresa grew even worse. During the day, she was kept thumb-cuffed to a hook on the kitchen wall. At night, Ricky would move her to the bathroom and cuff her to the bathtub. She would have to sleep there all night, only to be escorted down to the kitchen in the morning to be cuffed again. This pattern repeated for months. When visitors came over, Theresa was forced to hide in a cupboard.

• 1:09:05Speaker 00

  Marie and Ricky deprived Theresa of food, leading to her becoming emaciated. They wouldn't let her use the toilet, instead giving her a potty to use. Then they made her wear disposable nappies, with nothing else. She was forced to consume animal excrement, and her body was scrubbed with bathroom cleaning agents. A clothes peg was attached to her tongue to silence her screams. Theresa was also sexually abused by Ricky, sometimes with objects. Marie Moore began taking the young girl downstairs to Ferdinando Ragusa's apartment,

• 1:09:47Speaker 00

  where she was sexually abused by the elderly man. In exchange, Ragusa gave Marie money.

• 1:09:56Speaker 00

  Teresa's health deteriorated as a result of the ongoing abuse. One morning in January 1983, she fainted.

• 1:10:06Speaker 00

  Marie Moore removed her cuffs and helped her regain consciousness, only to put the thumb cuffs back on once Teresa came around. She slept cuffed to the bathtub that night, as she always did.

• 1:10:21Speaker 00

  The following morning, Marie told Ricky to move Teresa from the bathroom to the kitchen so that her daughter Tammy could shower. When Ricky went to the bathroom, he saw Teresa lying face down on the floor. He uncuffed her, but she didn't stand up on her own as she usually did.

• 1:10:42Speaker 00

  Ricky hoisted Teresa up to her knees by placing his arms under her shoulders. When he let go so she could finish getting up on her own, Teresa fell forward, smacking her head on the porcelain bathtub, then hitting the floor.

• 1:10:58Speaker 00

  Ricky picked Teresa up and carried her into the hallway. She began to moan before falling silent.

• 1:11:07Speaker 00

  Ricky pressed down on her stomach and her body made a gurgling sound.

• 1:11:13Speaker 00

  Tammy, whose bedroom was directly across from the bathroom, had seen Teresa fall and hit her head. She called out for her mother, who came running.

• 1:11:24Speaker 00

  When Ricky told Marie what had happened, Marie assumed that Teresa had died.

• 1:11:31Speaker 00

  She told Tammy to leave for school, then told Ricky to move the body to a crawl space in the bathroom while she went out to buy supplies. She returned with a yellow garment bag, which they placed Teresa's body in. The bag was then moved up to the attic before Ricky Flores later wrapped it in garbage bags and eight rolls of duct tape at Marie's instruction.

• 1:11:57Speaker 00

  Teresa's remains were then covered with insulation and stashed in a corner of the attic. Marie told her daughter Tammy that they had sent Teresa's body to Tammy's father, Billy Joel, in New York City. An autopsy would later confirm that Teresa had received potentially fatal blows to the face and head, consistent with hitting the bathtub and tiled floor, respectively.

• 1:12:25Speaker 00

  However, the injury to her face could have also been caused by someone kicking her. It would have taken Teresa between four and eight hours to die from these injuries, meaning she had likely been alive when she was wrapped in plastic and duct tape. The decomposition of her soft tissue made it impossible for the medical examiner to determine if she had suffocated to death.

• 1:12:52Speaker 00

  Teresa's body was kept in the attic for five or six months. When it started to smell, Marie and Ricky used a lime to try and mask the odor. As Marie, Ricky and Tammy prepared to move out from the Madison Avenue apartment in the summer of 1983, Marie said they would have to relocate Teresa.

• 1:13:15Speaker 00

  Speaking as Billy, she explained that if the property had electrical problems, then an electrician would have to go up to the attic and would find the body.

• 1:13:26Speaker 00

  Marie removed Teresa's body from the attic, wrapped it in a quilt tied with rope, and then lowered it down to Ricky, who was standing below. The two then hid the body in the bedroom crawl space, where it remained until detectives found it six months later, in December 1983.

• 1:13:47Speaker 00

  Marie Moore had spoken to Teresa's grandmother several times throughout the year between Teresa's death and her body's discovery. Each time, she feigned an interest in Teresa's well-being.

• 1:14:02Speaker 00

  The last time she had spoken to Catherine Joya was in September 1983, when she asked if she had heard from her granddaughter lately.

• 1:14:15Speaker 00

  During yet another police interview, Marie initially insisted she hadn't witnessed Theresa's murder, but she later changed her story.

• 1:14:26Speaker 00

  She said she'd seen Ricky Flores slam Theresa's head into the bathtub, and that he had hidden her body all by himself. She claimed that she'd only ever tried to help Theresa. Marie admitted that Billy Joel, as she'd described him, didn't really exist, but there was something about Ricky Flores that brought Billy out in her. When one of the detectives tried to coax the Billy persona from Marie, nothing happened. She claimed that ever since Ricky had left her home, Billy had vanished as well.

• 1:15:04Speaker 00

  But this wasn't exactly true. After Ricky moved back to his family's home, Marie had made repeated attempts to contact him, to no avail.

• 1:15:16Speaker 00

  In September 1983, a family of four known as the Santiagos had moved into her home. They were 20-year-old Jorge Oyola, 17-year-old Lydia Santiago, and their two daughters aged 2 and 1.

• 1:15:34Speaker 00

  Just as Marie had done with the children who visited her previously, she groomed this new family by befriending the young mother and her 15-year-old sister. They would go shopping, head to the cinema, or just get high at their apartment. In response to Marie's kindness, the Santiago family began to call her Ma.

• 1:15:58Speaker 00

  Marie confided in the family about her prior relationship with musician Billy Joel, and told them he was her daughter's father, as well as a mafia boss. She also told them about Ricky Flores, claiming he was in the mafia as well and worked with Billy. The apartment's phone began to ring with calls from Billy, just as it had years earlier. One day, Marie returned home and said she'd been injected with a drug that would permit Billy to possess her body. She then transformed into Billy. Lydia and her sister believed this was legitimate, though Jorge did not.

• 1:16:44Speaker 00

  Despite Ricky Flores no longer being at the home, Marie remained fixated with him. Sometimes she would stalk Ricky in her car while a member of the Santiago family was with her. She also had the Santiago's pass-on messages to the teenage boy. Sometimes these messages were her declaring her love for him, other times they were threats to report him to the police if he didn't return to Marie. Marie told Lydia that if the police ever questioned her, she should tell them that Ricky had threatened Marie and her daughter Tammy via the telephone.

• 1:17:24Speaker 00

  One time, while pretending to be possessed by Billy Joel, Marie offered Jorge and Lydia fifty thousand dollars to kill Ricky Flores. The couple never took her up on this offer.

• 1:17:39Speaker 00

  Marie began coming up with a plan to implicate Ricky in Theresa's murder instead, before he could implicate her.

• 1:17:48Speaker 00

  Lydia and Jorge had overheard Marie coaching Tammy to say that Ricky had raped her and killed Theresa. She wrote a story down detailing the rape and how Ricky had beaten Theresa to death, then had Tammy memorize and rehearse it repeatedly.

• 1:18:09Speaker 00

  When Marie had started calling the police to report her suspicion that Ricky was behind Theresa Fury's disappearance, detectives knew that she was more involved than she let on. They lied and told her they were planning to close the investigation in order to coax her into revealing exactly where Theresa's body was. On Wednesday, December 28, 1983, Marie Moore was charged with Theresa's murder.

• 1:18:40Speaker 00

  Detectives had obtained a number of statements from witnesses who had seen firsthand exactly how the abuse at the Moore residence had unfolded. They believed that although Ricky had committed much of the physical abuse, he had been controlled by Marie using the guise of Billy.

• 1:19:00Speaker 00

  They also had evidence from the Santiagos that she'd started to repeat the same pattern with them. After reviewing all of the evidence, they decided not to charge Ricky Flores as an adult. He was offered a plea deal where he would be charged as a juvenile with a maximum sentence of three years in exchange for testifying against Marie Moore. In April 1984, a grand jury returned a 33-count indictment against Marie Moore, charging her with crimes against multiple victims, including sexual assault, aggravated assault, kidnapping, extortion, endangering the welfare of a child, and felony murder.

• 1:19:46Speaker 00

  People who knew Marie Moore were puzzled over what had happened to her. The crimes she had been charged with didn't match the person they'd known. Her parents couldn't understand what had gone wrong. Although Marie had always told her daughter Tammy that she'd been deprived of love as a child, her parents told a different story. Her mother had become a stay-at-home parent so she could spend as much time with her daughter as possible. Her father told reporters that, if anything, Marie had been a little spoiled due to being an only child.

• 1:20:25Speaker 00

  As a teenager, Marie hadn't been withdrawn or moody. She loved animals, fashion, and took care of her appearance. She seemed to get along well with classmates and always behaved at home.

• 1:20:40Speaker 00

  "The only time I saw her lose her temper was when I bought her a second-hand bike that she couldn't learn to ride," Marie's father told journalist Rosalie Longo. "She was so angry, she threw it in the garbage on the street. I felt so bad, I bought her a new one on her birthday."

• 1:21:00Speaker 00

  After Marie enrolled at college, there were hints at something else going on beneath the surface. Marie had loved school and initially planned on becoming a teacher, but she dropped out of college a few semesters in. She didn't tell her parents about this, instead pretending she was still studying while secretly working in a friend's beauty salon. She told her parents other lies as well. On one occasion, she said she'd won a scholarship when she hadn't. Another time, she said she needed money to fix her car after getting into an accident. When they examined the car, there wasn't a scratch on it.

• 1:21:43Speaker 00

  Marie moved out of home at the age of nineteen and frequently relocated to new addresses. There were rumours she had married a disabled sixty-six-year-old man while still in her late teens, but nothing was known about him. During the mid-seventies, around six years after the birth of her daughter, Marie Moore was diagnosed with epilepsy. She began suffering seizures, which were witnessed by other people. Marie eventually left New Jersey and went to California for a time. Her parents knew little about what she had gotten up to while living on the West Coast.

• 1:22:25Speaker 00

  Mary Gardulo, Marie's older friend, who had been abused by her throughout nineteen eighty-one and nineteen eighty-two, knew a little more. In nineteen seventy-eight, she went to California to visit Marie and Tammy, staying in their apartment with them. During this visit, Marie Moore had confided in Mary that Tammy's father was Billy Joel. She also said her next-door neighbour, a woman named Helen, was in the mafia with Billy and was keeping her in line at his request. Mary believed these stories, partly because she often heard Marie seemingly being tortured

• 1:23:07Speaker 00

  and abused when she went to visit Helen. Mary wanted to help Marie, but Marie warned her to stay out of it. If you know what's good for you.

• 1:23:21Speaker 00

  When Mary wanted to go home to New Jersey, Marie warned that Billy would bomb her aeroplane. Mary caught the flight anyway, and Marie later told her that the only reason she was still alive was because Marie had convinced Billy to leave the plane alone.

• 1:23:39Speaker 00

  This prior experience was why Mary had been inclined to believe Marie when Billy reappeared several years later in 1981. In turn, Mary's obvious fear about the situation had helped convince the children at Marie's home that the threat was real.

• 1:23:59Speaker 00

  When Marie moved back to New Jersey, some noted a change in her, with one friend saying that she'd become "a hard, cold woman". Marie's parents also noticed she seemed different. Her usually well-groomed hair was disheveled and damaged, and she had a cast on one leg. When asked about the injury, Marie just said she'd fallen down some stairs. A friend who was worried about Marie suggested her parents take her to a psychiatrist.

• 1:24:34Speaker 00

  They did so, but Marie refused to attend her follow-up appointment, instead telling her parents they were the ones who needed psychiatric help.

• 1:24:46Speaker 00

  In March 1984, Ricky Flores pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault. The judge expressed a wish to hand down a harshest sentence, but said that Ricky would be given three years at a state reformatory as per his plea agreement. Marie Moore's trial commenced more than six months later, in October 1984. The prosecution was depending on witness testimony in their case against her, with their star witness being Ricky Flores. Marie's other surviving victims would testify too, including Louis Montalvo, Harriet Bane, and Mary Gardulo.

• 1:25:27Speaker 00

  Although they hadn't been present to witness the torture of Theresa from June 1982 on, or her eventual death, their statements gave Ricky's testimony more credibility, as their descriptions of earlier events were entirely consistent with his. D Y F S caseworkers also testified, as well as Catherine Joya, Theresa's grandmother. She sobbed while on the stand, asking: “Why did she do it?”

• 1:25:59Speaker 00

  Prosecutors pointed to Marie Moore's changing stories, evidenced by four different statements she had made to police. They argued that Marie was the puppet master who orchestrated and ordered the abuse within her home. She had cunningly convinced her victims that Billy Joel was actually in control, and persuaded them that he was a dangerous man who could harm their families, while she was a caring and nurturing presence in their lives. One factor that had convinced them Billy really was in contact with Marie was the phone calls she seemingly received from him. It turned out that Marie had previously worked for a phone company as an operator,

• 1:26:44Speaker 00

  and knew how to make the phone ring seemingly of its own accord.

• 1:26:50Speaker 00

  Prosecutors said that Marie was motivated by the thrill she gained from controlling and overpowering her victims. She was also able to exploit them for monetary gain, like when she took money from Theresa's grandmother for books, clothes, and tutoring sessions for Theresa, for herself.

• 1:27:12Speaker 00

  Marie's attorneys argued for an insanity defence, providing evidence of her epilepsy and a seizure disorder which they said could have damaged her neurological functioning. Evidence was also provided that Marie had suffered brain damage, possibly the result of a car accident. A scan indicated that Marie had frontal lobe atrophy, and the defence explained that a head injury could result in an individual experiencing psychosis.

• 1:27:42Speaker 00

  A clinical psychologist retained by the defense said that he believed Marie Moore had a multiple personality disorder which had created the personality of Billy. He had witnessed Billy take over Marie's body during a session with her, and argued that Marie Moore was legally insane because she didn't know what was morally right when in that state. Multiple personality disorder is now known as disassociative identity disorder and is a rare mental health condition. One American study estimates it affects 1.5% of the population.

• 1:28:23Speaker 00

  The jury ultimately found Marie Moore guilty on almost all counts, with the exception of the attempted murder of Ricky Flores for offering money to the Santiagos to kill him. The jury was also tasked with determining whether Marie would be sentenced to life in prison or given the death penalty. After deliberating for seven hours, they found that Marie Moore should be sentenced to death, making the 38-year-old the first woman in New Jersey to receive the death penalty in 48 years. Marie Moore showed no emotion as her sentence was handed down, but each of her hands gripped

• 1:29:06Speaker 00

  onto those of her two attorneys. When the judge asked if Marie had anything to say, she responded: "I did not murder my godchild. I did not do anything to anyone in that household." When speaking to the media, the assistant prosecutor who argued the case acknowledged that Ricky Flores's sentence had been extremely light compared to Marie Moore's. He explained that a deal with Ricky had been necessary in order to prosecute Marie, adding: "It's clear she was the one who shaped these events."

• 1:29:46Speaker 00

  He argued that Ricky had only committed the violent acts he had at Marie's direction. Moreover, he was also a minor who had been emotionally, sexually, and physically abused by Marie Moore. The End

• 1:30:04Speaker 00

  In 1988, New Jersey's High Court overturned Marie Moore's murder conviction and death sentence, citing the fact that she had not directly caused Teresa Furie's death. For the remaining counts she was still guilty of, she was given a sentence of 224 years. She would be eligible for parole after serving 87 years and 6 months. In an episode of the television programme Evil Lives Here that aired in August 2023, Marie Moore's now middle-aged daughter Tammy shared her memories about her mother and the crimes she committed. Tammy said she'd been kept ignorant about the majority of the abuse, though she did

• 1:30:49Speaker 00

  witness Teresa Furie's decline towards the end, as well as her death. After her mother's conviction, Tammy spent two years in a loving foster home before moving out on her own. Tammy regrets not notifying the authorities about what was going on in her home, and struggles to understand why she didn't. From her perspective as a child, it had appeared as though Ricky Flores was the aggressor, and her mother was relatively blameless in the entire ordeal. After producers confronted Tammy with court documents detailing exactly what her mother had done, she seemingly began to process the magnitude of Marie's crimes for the first

• 1:31:33Speaker 00

  time. Tammy visited her mother in prison for 28 years after her conviction. At some point around 2012, her mother told her she'd discovered a painful lump in one of her breasts. Marie Moore subsequently died of breast cancer in prison.

• 1:31:55Speaker 00

  In the immediate aftermath of Teresa Fury’s death, the story captured the media’s attention, due to the horrific nature of the crime, and the bizarre fact that Marie Moore convinced her victims’ famous musician Billy Joel was behind everything.

• 1:32:13Speaker 00

  Despite claiming since at least the mid-1970s that Billy Joel had fathered her child, Marie Moore never had a relationship with him. It is unknown whether he has been made aware of the case.

• 1:32:28Speaker 00

  The public and the media questioned why police and other authorities hadn’t intervened earlier when first provided with evidence about the abuse taking place at the Moore home. Instead, action had stalled due to red tape and some confusion related to the bizarre nature of the crimes.

• 1:32:48Speaker 00

  In an interview with North Jersey newspaper The Sunday Record, Ricky Flores’s attorney stated: “The system definitely faltered and failed. No question about that.”

• 1:33:03Speaker 00

  Police defended their response by pointing out that Louis Montalvo had been too scared to ever come forward, while Harriet Bain and Teresa Fury had also denied much of the abuse out of fear. An op-ed published in The Sunday Record read: “The murder and most of the suffering could have been prevented if New Jersey’s child-protection system worked the way it was supposed to.” Instead, months and years went by while paperwork about the abused and the abusers piled up in the files of law enforcement and child welfare agencies. Patterson’s mayor was quoted as saying

• 1:33:46Speaker 00

  that the case had led to the city’s police being put on notice. “Cases involving children were of the utmost importance, and when a child’s safety was at stake, police were to ‘rip up a neighbourhood.’”

• 1:34:02Speaker 00

  “That’s good news,” the op-ed concluded. Even if it comes too late for Teresa Fury.

• 1:34:38Speaker 01

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