Alphabet Murders

Rochester police considered Dennis Termini, a 25-year-old Rochester firefighter, a strong suspect in the Alphabet murders for a long time. As the “Garage Rapist”, Termini raped at least fourteen teenage girls and young women between 1971 and 1973. Additionally, he owned a beige-coloured car similar to the vehicle described in eyewitness accounts. 

On January 1, 1974, about five weeks after the death of Michelle Maenza, Termini’s attempt to abduct a teenage girl was thwarted when the teenager refused to stop screaming. A short time later, Termini successfully abducted another girl.  The police, who were on high alert following the earlier unsuccessful abduction, pursued and eventually cornered him. Rather than face arrest and imprisonment, Termini committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. 

After Termini’s death, the police conducted a forensic examination of his vehicle and found traces of white cat hair on the upholstery. The cat hair and a map of Rochester opened to show the area around Macedon, convinced many police of Termini’s guilt.

In January 2007, police exhumed Termini’s body to obtain a DNA sample for comparison with semen samples recovered from Walkowicz’s body. The test results were negative and established that Termini was not responsible for her murder. However, the police were unable to compare Termini’s DNA with the evidence obtained from the bodies of Carmen Colon and Michelle Maenza. Thus, the police could not eliminate him as a suspect in two of the murders.