A handyman from upstate New York, already serving a life sentence for two murders, is now facing charges for a third killing, with the local sheriff officially declaring him a serial killer.
Third Victim Discovered in Basement
Richard Fox, 62, has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of 32-year-old Crystal Curthoys. Her decomposed remains were discovered in a house in Niagara Falls that Fox once owned. Investigators found the near-skeletal body wrapped in plastic and a tarp, boarded up under the basement stairs during a search in early 2024.
The Niagara County District Attorney's Office confirmed the identity this week using dental records. Fox is already imprisoned for the murders of 40-year-old Cassandra Watson in 2003 and 50-year-old Marquita Mull in 2021.
A Pattern of Violence and Guilty Pleas
Fox had previously pleaded guilty to killing Watson and Mull and dumping their bodies off the Chautauqua Rails to Trails path, near his childhood area. The cases were solved after a grim discovery in 2021, when a hiker found human remains.
Marquita Mull's remains were identified within weeks, but it took specialised genealogical DNA analysis until late 2024 to confirm the second set as Cassandra Watson's. This breakthrough led to Fox's arrest in Niagara Falls last January by a joint team from the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office and Buffalo Police.
Authorities Believe More Victims Exist
Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone stated he now considers Fox a 'serial killer'. He revealed there are still two or three unsolved homicides in the county and expressed his belief that Fox has other victims.
"I do believe that there [are] other victims," Sheriff Quattrone said in September, when Fox was sentenced. "We're hopeful that Richard Fox will hopefully try to ease his conscience a little bit and give us some more information."
Fox's violent history extends beyond these murders. Records show a prior conviction in 1993 for the third-degree rape of a 14-year-old girl, for which he served 18 months to three years. He was also convicted of the attempted rape and aggravated sexual abuse of a 42-year-old Buffalo woman, receiving a 15-year prison sentence.
In sentencing Fox to 40 years to life last September, Judge Suzanne Maxwell delivered a stark condemnation, calling him 'evil'. "I can honestly say you should never see the light of day. Evil," she said. "That is the one word that sums up this case. Evil."
Richard Fox is currently held at Niagara County jail and is scheduled to return to court on 5 January regarding the latest charge.
