BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Nearly four years after the remains of two Buffalo women's bodies were found off a remote trail in Chautauqua County, Richard Fox, 62, a twice-convicted sex offender, has pleaded guilty to killing them.
Fox pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder on Friday morning before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes. He admitted to killing Marquita Mull and Cassandra Watson nearly two decades apart.
WATCH: Richard Fox pleads guilty to murdering two women, years after their remains were found
It all began on September 26, 2021, when a woman was walking along the Chautauqua Rails to Trails off of Woleben Road in the Town of Portland. On that walk, she noticed something off the path. Authorities say she went to see what it was and it turned out to be a human skull.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the scene, along with the help of a forensic anthropology team from Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania. They unearthed the skeletal remains of a woman from a shallow grave that appeared to be years, if not decades old. But as they were excavating the scene, investigators noticed an odor. Just a few yards away from the shallow grave, they found a garbage tote — and inside were the remains of another woman who appeared to have been left there much more recently.
Authorities immediately began to suspect the two cases were connected, but could not say definitively at the time.
WATCH: Senior Reporter Maki Becker and I-Team Chief Investigator Ed Drantch break down the developments that led to Friday's guilty plea.
A few weeks later, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office announced that they had identified the body of the more recent victim as Marquita Mull, a 50-year-old woman who lived in the Broadway Fillmore area of Buffalo. But the identity of the second woman remained a mystery even as DNA tests were conducted on the remains.
In December 2024, investigators got the break they were looking for when new tests by Othram Labs in Texas was able to extract DNA that matched that of someone who appeared to be a relative of the victim. Using that information, they were able to determine the identity of the victim as Cassandra Watson, who had last been seen by family in 2003 or 2004.
Investigators learned that Watson had been living with Richard Fox, who grew up on Woleben Road, about a half mile from where the two bodies were found.
Officials held a news conference following the guilty plea. You can watch it below.
Police arrested Fox in January in Niagara Falls, and he has been held since. He faces up to 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on November 20.
WATCH: Who is Richard Fox?
WATCH: Maki Becker's immediate reporting following the guilty plea in court