BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Richard Fox, 62, who pleaded guilty in September to murdering two Buffalo women and leaving their bodies off a remote trail in Chautauqua County years apart, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison Thursday.
The sentence imposed by Erie County Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes is 20 years to life in the death of Marquita Mull and 20 years to life in the death of Cassandra Watson, and will be served consecutively. The sentencing virtually ensures Fox, also convicted on two other sex offense cases, and who is a “person of interest” in another death of a woman, will die behind bars.
The case came to light four years ago.
You can find a timeline of developments in the case below, along with more details on the case following the timeline.
Two sets of human remains found in Chautauqua County
On September 26, 2021, a woman was walking along the Chautauqua Rails to Trails near Wolebon Road in the Town of Portland when, according to the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, she saw something in the woods just off the path. She went to check it out, and it turned out to be a human skull.
That touched off the beginning of an investigation into one of the most disturbing and tragic murder mysteries in Western New York’s recent history.
Investigators with the sheriff’s office, working alongside a forensic anthropology team from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., unearthed the skeletal remains of a woman from a shallow grave. It was clear to them that the remains had been there for years, if not decades.
As they were working on the site, they noticed a distinct odor, and they found a garbage tote. Inside, they found the remains of another woman, and it appeared this body had been left there much more recently.
Finding two bodies, so close together, even though years apart, seemed to be more than a coincidence.
But without knowing who the bodies were, the investigators could not say for sure.
Investigators identify one of two bodies found in Portland as Marquita Mull
The first piece of the puzzle was solved a few weeks later as the body in the tote was identified as 50-year-old Marquita Mull. The Buffalo woman had disappeared that summer from her neighborhood near the Broadway Market and had been reported missing to Buffalo police by her sister, Wendy Mull.
It would be more than three years later before the next big break in the case.
Second body found on Chautauqua trail identified as Cassandra Watson
They sent samples from the unidentified remains to multiple labs but found no results. But then, in late 2024, they sent the tests to Othram Labs in Texas, which specializes in genetic genealogy, and they were 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 finally determine the identity of the victim. She was another woman from Buffalo — Cassandra Watson, who was about 40 years old when she was last seen by family in 2003 or 2004.
Investigators began looking into what was going on in Watson’s life when she was seen alive and learned she had been living with a man named Richard Fox.
They learned Fox was a registered sex offender. He had gone to prison twice, the first time in 1993 for sexually abusing his stepdaughter from the time she was 3 to when she was 11. The second time was in 2005 on sex assault charges. The victim was a woman he was living with on the West Side of Buffalo. They also learned he grew up on Woleben Road, about a half mile from where Watson and Mull’s bodies were found.
Fox arrested, charged in connection with the death of Marquita Mull and Cassandra Watson
In January 2025, investigators arrested Fox in Niagara Falls. He was arraigned on one count of second-degree murder in Buffalo City Court in connection with Mull's death.
In February 2025, Fox was charged with second-degree murder in Watson's death.
Fox named "person of interest" after a body was found in Niagara Falls
Then in May 2025, a tip led police to a house in Niagara Falls on Orleans Avenue, where Fox had once lived. Boarded up under the stairs in the basement, they found the near-skeletal remains of a woman wrapped in plastic. Niagara Falls police said Fox is considered a “person of interest” in the woman’s death. She remains unidentified.
Weeks later, a crime scene unit was back at the home, concentrating on the backyard, digging up the dirt and sifting through what they found. Police have not released any further information.
Fox pleads guilty to murdering Marquita Mull and Cassandra Watson
In September 2025, Fox pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes. He admitted to killing Mull and Watson nearly two decades apart.
WATCH: Senior Reporter Maki Becker and I-Team Chief Investigator Ed Drantch break down the developments that led to the guilty plea.
Fox sentenced to 40 years to life in prison in the deaths of Marquita Mull and Cassandra Watson
Before she announced the sentence, Erie County Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes said to Fox, "This is the first time I've said this in my courtroom, 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."
Fox was sentenced to 20 years to life in the death of Mull and 20 years to life in the death of Watson. They will be served consecutively.
The families of the victims were given a chance to speak,a nd Marquita Mull's sister, Wendy, pleaded with Fox to come clean about any other murders he may be involved in.
Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone said there are other investigations underway in connection with Fox.
You can watch our report from noon on Thursday below.
You can watch the full sentencing below.