Richard J. Fox: The Western New York Serial Killer
Overview
For nearly five decades, Richard J. Fox concealed a history of lethal violence, escalating from domestic abuse to serial murder across Western New York. His predatory life was hidden behind a series of lesser, though still serious, criminal convictions. The truth began to unravel on a September day in 2021, when a hiker stumbled upon a human skull in a shallow grave in a remote part of Chautauqua County. This grim discovery led investigators to a second body buried at the same site, unearthing a pattern of murder that spanned at least two decades.
In 2025, Fox, then 62, pleaded guilty to the murders of 50-year-old Marquita Mull and 40-year-old Cassandra Watson. The following year, he was convicted of killing a third woman, 32-year-old Crystal Curthoys, whose body he had entombed within the walls of her own home. In a final chilling revelation, Fox also confessed to a crime committed nearly 50 years prior: the 1976 stabbing death of his 82-year-old grandmother, Beatrice Meabon. Because he was a juvenile at the time, he could not be prosecuted for her murder. Fox's convictions brought an end to a reign of terror that targeted vulnerable women, leaving a trail of shattered families and unanswered questions.
A History of Violence
Richard Fox's criminal record painted a clear picture of a man prone to extreme violence long before he was identified as a serial killer. His first documented act of murder occurred on July 20, 1976. On that day, his grandmother, Beatrice Meabon, was found stabbed inside her home in the Town of Brant. She was rushed to a hospital but died from her injuries. The case went cold. Decades later, while being interrogated for other murders, Fox confessed to killing her. He was only a teenager at the time, and under the law, could no longer be charged for the crime.
As an adult, his violence continued. In 1993, he was convicted of first-degree rape for sexually assaulting his stepdaughter. He served three years in prison and was released in 1997. His freedom was short-lived. In 2005, he brutally attacked a woman he was living with, stabbing her twice in the neck and sexually assaulting her. For this crime, he was convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He served 12 years of that sentence before being released back into the community, where he would go on to kill again. This pattern of escalating violence against women was a dark prelude to the discoveries that would eventually expose him.
The Murder of Cassandra Watson
Sometime between 2003 and 2004, while he was out of prison between his rape and assault convictions, Richard Fox murdered Cassandra Watson. Watson, who was approximately 40 years old, was in a relationship with Fox and living in the City of Buffalo. Her life ended violently at his hands, but her disappearance went unnoticed by the wider world. No missing person report was ever filed, and for nearly two decades, her loved ones were left without answers. After killing her in Buffalo, Fox drove her body about 50 miles south to a secluded, wooded area along the Chautauqua Rails to Trails path in the Town of Portland. There, he buried her in a shallow grave, where her remains would lie undisturbed and unidentified for almost 20 years.
The Murder of Marquita Mull
In late June 2021, Richard Fox killed again. His victim was Marquita Mull, a 50-year-old mother of three from Buffalo. Her family described her as a beautiful person who had endured significant hardship in her life, having suffered both mental and physical trauma after being struck by a car years earlier. Unlike Cassandra Watson, Mull's disappearance was immediately noticed. Her family, particularly her sister Wendy Mull, reported her missing and launched a desperate search. Wendy refused to accept that her sister would vanish without a trace and became a fierce advocate, working with volunteer search groups and relentlessly pushing for answers. Fox murdered Mull in Buffalo and, in a chillingly repetitive act, transported her body to the same remote location in Chautauqua County. He buried her just feet away from the remains of Cassandra Watson, the victim he had interred there nearly two decades before.
The Murder of Crystal Curthoys
Fox’s final known murder occurred on or about January 17, 2023. His victim was 32-year-old Crystal Curthoys of Niagara Falls. Fox had been working as a handyman and had access to her apartment. Inside her home, he attacked her, beating and strangling her to death. To conceal his crime, Fox undertook a macabre act of construction. He dragged Curthoys' body into the basement and hid it in a space beneath the stairs. He then drywalled over the opening, entombing her remains within the structure of the house itself. Her friends and family reported her missing, but her whereabouts remained a mystery until Fox’s other crimes came to light. Investigators, aware of Fox's connection to the residence, would not uncover her hidden grave for more than a year.
The Victims
- Beatrice Meabon, 82 — July 20, 1976, Brant, New York. Fox’s grandmother. He confessed decades later to stabbing her to death in her home when he was a teenager.
- Cassandra Watson, 40 — between 2003 and 2004, Buffalo, New York. Watson was in a relationship with Fox when he killed her. Her disappearance went unreported for years.
- Marquita Mull, 50 — June 2021, Buffalo, New York. A mother of three, her sister’s tireless search for answers helped keep her case in the public eye.
- Crystal Curthoys, 32 — January 2023, Niagara Falls, New York. Fox, working as a handyman in her building, murdered her and concealed her body behind a basement wall.
Investigation and Capture
The long-hidden truth began to surface on September 26, 2021. A person walking their dog along the trail in Portland, Chautauqua County, discovered what appeared to be a human skull. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office secured the scene. The following day, a forensic team began excavating the site and made a second, shocking discovery: another body was buried nearby. The second set of remains was quickly identified through dental records as Marquita Mull, who had been reported missing just three months earlier. The first set of remains, however, was skeletal and clearly much older, presenting a significant identification challenge.
The investigation became a complex, multi-agency effort involving the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, the Buffalo Police Department, and the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. For over three years, the identity of the first victim remained unknown. A major breakthrough came in December 2024 when investigators, using advanced genealogical DNA analysis, were finally able to identify the remains as Cassandra Watson.
With a name, detectives could now build a timeline. They soon discovered that Richard Fox had been in a relationship with Watson around the time she disappeared. The connection was critical. Fox was already a person of interest in Mull's murder, and the fact that both women were linked to him and found in the same clandestine grave made him the prime suspect.
After Fox was charged with the murders of Watson and Mull, police in Niagara Falls revisited the cold case of Crystal Curthoys. They knew Fox had lived in the same building where she was last seen. Acting on this information, investigators executed a search warrant on the home in February 2025. They discovered Curthoys' body hidden behind the recently constructed drywall in the basement, just as Fox had left it.
Trial and Sentence
Faced with overwhelming evidence, Richard Fox chose to avoid trial. On September 19, 2025, he appeared in Erie County Court and pleaded guilty to two counts of Murder in the Second Degree for the deaths of Cassandra Watson and Marquita Mull. As part of the plea agreement, he waived his right to appeal.
On November 20, 2025, he was sentenced by Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes. Family members of his victims delivered emotional impact statements. Judge Barnes imposed the maximum possible sentence: two consecutive terms of 20 years to life, resulting in a total sentence of 40 years to life. During the sentencing, the judge looked directly at Fox and said, "I can honestly say that you should never see the light of day. Evil. That is the one word that sums up this case, evil."
The legal process was not over. In Niagara County, Fox was indicted for the murder of Crystal Curthoys. He again pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January 2026. On April 15, 2026, he was sentenced by Niagara County Court Judge John Ottaviano. The judge ordered Fox to serve another 25 years to life in prison, consecutive to his Erie County sentence. Judge Ottaviano remarked on the exceptional depravity of the case, highlighting "the decades long pattern of predatory violence, the escalation of violence, the sheer number of victims."
Fox's combined sentence is 65 years to life, ensuring he will die in prison. He is incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility.
Aftermath and Legacy
The convictions of Richard Fox provided a measure of justice for the families who had spent years, and in one case decades, living with agonizing uncertainty. Marquita Mull’s sister, Wendy, who had channeled her grief into advocacy, spoke of her desire to one day visit Fox in prison and ask him the question that haunted her: why.
Prosecutors and law enforcement officials involved in the case were uniform in their assessment of Fox. They described him as a remorseless predator who showed no emotion when confessing to his crimes. Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman stated that during an interview about Crystal Curthoys, Fox "lacked any remorse as he talked about killing Crystal... he spoke of it like you or I would speak of having lunch."
Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone and other investigators have publicly labeled Fox a serial killer. Given the significant gaps in time between the known murders and his long history of violence, they believe it is highly probable that he has other victims who have not yet been discovered. The unearthing of his crimes has left a permanent scar on the communities of Western New York and serves as a chilling reminder of how a killer can hide in plain sight for decades.
