Forensic Teams Search Niagara Falls Property Connected to Ongoing Murder Investigations

Law enforcement officials in Niagara Falls spent Tuesday conducting a detailed forensic excavation behind a residence on Orleans Avenue, a site now central to an investigation involving a suspected serial killer.

The backyard dig comes just weeks after authorities uncovered the skeletal remains of a woman inside the same property. Specifically, the remains were hidden behind drywall under a stairwell.

The discovery has since led to intensifying scrutiny of the location and its past resident, 62-year-old Richard Fox, who is currently in custody on other homicide charges.

Forensic specialists from the Niagara Falls Police Department, including retired expert Captain Nicholas Paonessa, spent hours carefully digging and examining soil in a sectioned-off area behind the home.

The team meticulously sifted through the dirt. Police and prosecutors from the Niagara County District Attorney's Office have not revealed what, if anything, was found. It is also unknown whether additional excavation efforts will occur in the future.

Fox, who has resided in both Buffalo and Niagara Falls, was apprehended in early January while walking along Portage Road. He was wanted for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Shortly after his arrest, he was charged in connection with the cold case killings of Marquita Mull and Cassandra Watson.

In late March, investigators searched Fox’s former residence at 2419 Orleans Avenue based on a tip. That search led to the gruesome find of a woman's severely decomposed remains.

The identity of that victim is still unknown, although DNA samples have reportedly been collected for comparison. At the time of his arrest, Fox was working as a handyman and lived in the apartment complex where the remains were discovered.

Law enforcement sources say Fox remains a person of interest in additional unsolved cases and is being closely examined as a possible serial killer. Despite forensic efforts, there is currently no confirmed link between the latest remains found on Orleans Avenue and any open missing persons cases in the area.

Further investigative activity occurred in early April. Authorities executed additional search warrants across multiple locations in Niagara Falls including addresses on Pierce, Pine, and LaSalle Avenues. During those operations, a white Chevy Express utility van believed to be associated with Fox was impounded from a property on Pierce Avenue.

According to investigators, Mull was likely killed shortly after her disappearance in June 2021. Her remains were located months later near a hiking trail in Chautauqua County.

Watson is believed to have been murdered sometime between 2003 and 2004. Both women’s remains were found in the same wooded area and Fox is suspected to have had a connection to Mull during her lifetime.

Fox faces two counts of second-degree murder and additional charges related to sex offender registration violations. He is currently being held without bail at the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden.

Forensic Teams Search Niagara Falls Property Connected to Ongoing Murder Investigations