Man arrested nearly 46 years after allegedly killing 2 people and placing bodies over guardrail

HAMPDEN COUNTY, Mass. (TCN) -- After more than four decades, authorities recently arrested a 71-year-old Florida man on suspicion of killing a man and woman in Massachusetts.

According to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, on Nov. 19, 1978, authorities discovered the bodies of 18-year-old Theresa Marcoux and 20-year-old Mark Harnish over a guardrail with apparent gunshot wounds. West Springfield Police observed a 1967 Dodge pickup truck in a rest area nearby with damage to the driver’s side window, as well as blood in and around the vehicle.

Gulluni said Marcoux and Harnish were last seen alive in the early hours of Nov. 19, 1978, after leaving a party. The vehicle found by police reportedly belonged to Harnish. Officers didn’t recover a firearm from the area but searched the scene and collected evidence.

According to Gulluni, authorities determined the victims had been shot while in the passenger compartment of the truck before their bodies were moved to the nearby guardrail. An autopsy confirmed they each died of multiple gunshot wounds. The district attorney said an individual in the area reported possible gunshots at around 4 a.m. that day.

Investigators collected spent projectiles from the remains of Harnish and Marcoux, as well as from the vehicle, and determined they had been fired from the same gun. Inside the truck, officials reportedly found an impression on some blood that didn’t belong to the victims.

According to prosecutors, investigators recently identified Timothy Joley as the primary suspect in Marcoux and Harnish’s shooting deaths. The district attorney said they compared Joley’s fingerprint identification card to the latent print and determined it was a match.

Joley reportedly purchased a gun approximately a month before allegedly killing the victims. Prosecutors noted he was licensed to own the weapon.

Police arrested Joley at his home in Clearwater, Florida, on Oct. 30. He appeared in court on Nov. 5 and will be extradited back to Massachusetts to face two counts of murder.

According to the district attorney, both Marcoux and Harnish had attended East Longmeadow High School. Marcoux reportedly worked as a clerk at a local hardware store, and Harnish worked at a car repair shop.

Gulluni said, "Tragically, their young lives were cut far too short by a horrendous act of violence."

MORE: