A Buffalo man who was sentenced in November to 40 years in prison for the murders of two upstate New York women has now been indicted in connection with a third killing, authorities said.
On Nov. 20, Richard J. Fox, 62, was sentenced after pleading guilty to murdering Cassandra Watson, 40, and Marquita Mull, 50, both of Buffalo, nearly two decades apart, Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane said in a statement issued in November.
Following the sentencing, Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone described Fox as a “serial killer,” and said he believes Fox may be responsible for “two or three” additional slayings, The Buffalo News reports.
On Monday, Dec. 22, Fox appeared in Niagara County Court after being charged with second-degree murder in the death of a third victim, Crystal Curthoys, 32, of Lockport, who was reported killed in January 2023, according to a statement posted by the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office on Facebook.
Niagara Falls police began investigating Fox in January after his arrest in connection with the Watson and Mull killings, according to a statement from Seaman. Watson was killed sometime between 2003 and 2004, while Mull was killed in June 2021.
In March, investigators searched a Niagara Falls residence where Fox previously lived and discovered human remains, Seaman said.
Police said the near-skeletal remains of a woman—wrapped in plastic and a tarp—were found boarded up beneath the basement stairs. WKBW reports the remains were later identified through dental records as Curthoys, according to the district attorney’s office.
After the remains were found, Niagara Falls police identified Fox as a “person of interest” in the case, WKBW reports.
Fox had been in a relationship with Watson and is believed to have strangled her, police said, WIVB reports. Her remains were not identified until 2024.
Mull disappeared from Buffalo’s Broadway district in June 2021, police said, WKBW reports.
According to investigators, Fox confessed to killing both women and leaving their bodies near a remote area along the Chautauqua Rails to Trails in Portland, N.Y., WKBW reports.
Fox is being held in the Niagara County Jail without bail as he awaits his next court appearance, scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.
His attorney could not be reached for comment.
