Authorities in New York state believe that a man sentenced just weeks ago to 40 years in prison is in fact a serial killer, after it emerged that he was responsible for the deaths of at least three women, and possibly many more.
The suspect, Richard Fox, 62, is a former handyman who has already confessed to murdering two women and was previously imprisoned for sexual assaults against other victims. This week, however, prosecutors filed a new indictment against him for a third murder after a woman’s bones were discovered in a home where he once lived, deepening suspicions that his killing spree lasted far longer than previously believed.
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Murderer Richard Fox and two of his victims, Marquita Moll, right, and Kassandra Watson
The case began in January 2021, when a hiker walking along the Chautauqua Trail near the town of Portland in western New York came across human remains and alerted police. Officers soon found additional remains not far away. Due to the condition of the bodies, advanced forensic testing was required to identify them. Several weeks later, investigators determined that the second set of remains, not the one initially discovered by the hiker, belonged to 50-year-old Marquita Moll of Buffalo, who had gone missing in June of that year.
The identity of the first body remained a mystery, and it took nearly three years to solve. In late 2024, DNA analysts finally determined that the remains belonged to Kassandra Watson, who disappeared in 2003 at about age 40. At the time of her disappearance, she was in a relationship with Fox, a fact that led investigators directly to him.
When police approached Fox, who himself grew up in Portland near where the bodies were found, they already had reason to suspect him because of his history as a violent sex offender. In 1993, he was convicted of third-degree rape of a 14-year-old girl and sentenced to just 18 months in prison. In 2005, he was convicted of rape and aggravated sexual assault of a 42-year-old woman in Buffalo and sentenced to 15 years. At the time, the judge said he was evil incarnate and should never see the light of day again.
After his arrest, Fox confessed to personally murdering the two women whose bodies were found and dumping them along the same trail, despite the killings occurring 20 years apart. In September, when he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone said he believed Fox was in fact a serial killer with additional victims. He noted that two or three unsolved murder cases remain in the county and suggested Fox could be responsible. Quattrone said he hoped Fox would provide further information to police in an effort to ease his conscience.
It is unclear whether Fox volunteered any new information, but weeks after he was sent to prison to spend the rest of his life behind bars, investigators searched a home in Niagara Falls where he previously lived. There, they discovered a woman’s bones wrapped in plastic and hidden behind boards beneath the basement stairs. Dental analysis later confirmed the remains belonged to Crystal Karethuis, who disappeared in January 2023 at age 32.
This week, Fox was brought from prison to court, where prosecutors filed the new murder charge against him. Investigators say they hope the latest developments will help them solve the remaining unsolved cases as well.
First published: 22:16, 12.25.25