1978 West Springfield cold case: Who is Timothy Scott Joley

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – There is new information about the suspect accused of killing two people in West Springfield in 1978.

Arrest made in decades-old West Springfield homicide case

District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said 71-year-old Timothy Scott Joley did not have any significant run-ins with the law before his arrest. Joley is now in custody, charged with the killings of 18-year-old Theresa Marcoux and 20-year-old Mark Harnish back on November 19th, 1978, in West Springfield.

"A two-count murder complaint and arrest warrant was issued for Joley from the Springfield District Court on Oct 29th, 2024. On Oct, 30, Timothy Joley was arrested at his residence in Clearwater, Florida," said Gullui.

A tip was called into the DA's office last month with Joley's name and he was tied to the murders through a match of a bloody fingerprint left on the passenger vent window of Harnish's truck. Investigators were able to determine that Joley lived in Springfield in November of 1978 and purchased a gun about a month before the murders.

Nearly 46 years later, Joley is now a resident of Clearwater, Florida. His landlord describes him as nice and generous to neighbors. Our sister station WFLA spoke with Joley's landlord, Evangelia Panoutsakos, after his arrest. She visited him in jail to learn more.

"He denied that. I asked him, I said what are you being charged for and he said something happened 47 years ago and I hadn't done that. I said why they arrested you and he said they say I fit the description of somebody," said Panoutsakos.

Joley told his landlord that he would not be returning to his apartment, even if found innocent, he instructed her to throw out everything.

"I mean you would never believe this man. Did he commit a murder? I don't know, I don't know what to say. I am in shock," said Panoutsakos.

Joley will be extradited back to Massachusetts in the coming week where he will face murder charges.

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