A 71-year-old Florida man has been arrested in connection with a double murder that occurred nearly five decades ago in Massachusetts.
Timothy Joley was taken into custody on October 30, 2024, in Clearwater, Florida, after investigators linked him to the 1978 deaths of Theresa Marcoux, 18, and Mark Harnish, 20, using a fingerprint found on a taxi license application he filed in 2000.
The bodies of Marcoux and Harnish were discovered on November 19, 1978, near their pickup truck in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
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The victims had been shot and left at the side of the road in what police described as a violent and senseless crime.
The couple had last been seen leaving a friend’s party around 12:30 a.m. before their bodies were discovered hours later.
Police at the time found blood inside the vehicle and believed the victims were shot while inside the truck, which was parked on Route 5.
Despite extensive investigation, the case went cold for decades, with no suspects emerging. However, one crucial piece of evidence — a latent fingerprint found on the truck’s passenger-side window — was preserved.
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Over the years, the fingerprint was entered into the Massachusetts Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), and after multiple comparisons, investigators finally matched it to Joley’s thumbprint in 2024. This breakthrough led to Joley’s arrest.
The investigation revealed that Joley, who had lived in Springfield at the time of the murders, was a licensed gun owner and had purchased a Colt handgun one month before the killings.
He had also applied for a taxi license in 2000, a move that led police to his fingerprint records.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gullini expressed relief that the case had been solved, stating, “Tragically, their young lives were cut far too short by a horrendous act of violence.”
The victims, both high school students from East Longmeadow, were remembered fondly by their community as kind and hardworking individuals.
Joley faces two counts of murder, and a warrant for his arrest was issued in late October.
He has been held without bond in Florida and waived extradition to Massachusetts, where he will face charges in the coming weeks. It is unclear if Joley has retained an attorney.
