A Clearwater man was arrested in a 1978 Massachusetts double murder case

CLEARWATER, Fla – Nearly 46 years after a young couple was found shot to death at a Massachusetts rest stop, investigators now believe they know who is responsible for their murders.

Police arrested Timothy Joley, 71, at his Clearwater home on October 30, 2024, for the 1978 murders of 18-year-old Theresa Marcoux and 20-year-old Mark Harnish.

According to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, a Springfield, Massachusetts, police officer was on patrol on November 19, 1978, when he saw a green 1967 Dodge pickup truck parked in a rest area on Route 5.

The officer saw that the driver's side window was damaged and noticed blood in and around the vehicle.

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He then found the remains of Marcoux and Harnish directly above a nearby guardrail. Both victims appeared to have gunshot wounds.

Gulluni said careful efforts were made to document and photograph the crime scene and the physical and biological evidence collected by investigators. The rest area was searched for evidence, but no firearm was recovered.

Investigators said the couple was shot in the passenger compartment of the pickup truck and their bodies were taken to the area where they were later discovered.

The coroner said both died in the early hours of November 19, 1978. A witness in the area also reported hearing several gunshots around 4 a.m

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Gulluni said shell casings were recovered from the victim's remains and from the pickup truck's passenger compartment. After a ballistics examination, investigators determined that all bullets were fired from the same weapon.

When investigators examined the pickup truck, they found a latent fingerprint in what appeared to be blood in the truck's passenger window. The print did not belong to Marcoux or Harnish.

Pictured: Mark Harnish courtesy of the Hampden District Attorney.

Over the years, this print was entered into the Massachusetts Automated Fingerprint Identification System and also manually compared to approximately 70,000 known fingerprint cards.

As of October 2024, Gulluni stated that no identification had been made.

But last month, a tipster gave investigators a name — Timothy Scott Joley — and provided information about his alleged involvement in the deaths of Marcoux and Harnish.

After coming up with a name, investigators learned that Joley, who lived in Clearwater, Florida, was living in Springfield in 1978.

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Investigators obtained a fingerprint ID card for Joley from the Springfield Police Department, which was on file because he applied for a taxi license in 2000.

Two law enforcement investigators who had extensive experience in fingerprint analysis obtained Joley's card and compared it to the latent fingerprint found in the pickup truck. There was a match.

Mugshot of Timothy Joley courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail.

Investigators also learned that Joley was a licensed gun owner in November 1978 and had purchased a handgun about a month before the double murder.

Joley was arrested at his Clearwater home on Oct. 30 and is being held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail.

On Nov. 5, he petitioned a Pinellas County Circuit Court judge and waived extradition. He will be returned to Massachusetts next week to face the charges.

Gulluni said the motive for the double murder is still unknown, adding that Joely was not on investigators' radar until the tip came in.

“One piece of information or a name someone mentions can really change the course of a case,” Gulluni said. “In this case, it's been over 40 years with no answers, and this person coming forward has really brought us to a place where families have new hope and there is a good opportunity for justice.”

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