What happened to John Pius? All about the Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer subject
John Pius was a young boy from Long Island who was murdered at the age of 13. His case was highlighted in Netflix's recent docuseries, Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer.
The murder of John Pius is discussed in the series as a part of looking into the connection between Chief of Police James Burke and Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota. They met before Burke was a police officer and testified against the four suspects in the murder of John Pius. Eventually, the two of them would become collaborators in the infamous Long Island serial killer case.
James Burke was 16 years old, and Spota was the prosecutor in Pius's case. Burke was a key witness whose statement at the time had helped convict Pius's killers.
Who was John Pius and what happened to him?
John Pius Jr. was a young boy from Smithtown, Long Island, born on August 1, 1965, to parents John Sr. and Barbara Pius. He was a bright kid who liked to play and ride his bike around his neighborhood.
As per Moviedelic (dated April 2), around 8:15 pm on the evening of April 20, 1979, John asked his father to ride his bike to the nearby Dogwood Elementary School, promising to return within 15 minutes. He was last seen by a neighboring girl riding his bicycle around 8:30 pm.
When he did not return, his father searched for him throughout the night. The next morning, John's wallet was found in the school playground, and his father renewed his search and went to the playground accompanied by family members.
His niece discovered his son's bicycle under a pile of leaves, and further searching led the family to find young John's bruised corpse buried under logs and branches.
The authorities were informed, and they discovered multiple bruises and cuts on young John's body, along with 6 rocks in his throat. The official cause of death was determined to be traumatic asphyxiation and compression of the chest and neck. An investigation was launched, but the only evidence found was a sneaker print on John's body and six more footprints nearby.
Who was responsible for killing John Pius?
A statement from 17-year-old John Sparling caused the investigators to suspect Thomas Ryan, Robert Brensic, Michael, and Peter Quartararo. Sparling had reportedly witnessed them driving near the school at the time of the murder.
Another statement came from James "Jimmy" Burke, who alleged that he had overheard Michael wanting to kill Pius since he had caught the four of them stealing a bike and was afraid he would rat them out.
Despite none of their footprints matching the ones found, all four of them were charged with the murder of John Pius due to witness testimonies. Thomas Spota was the prosecutor at the time. Michael and Peter Quarteraro, who were 16 and 17 at the time, were treated as adults and sentenced to 9 years in prison, while Ryan and Brensic were convicted and received 25 years.
Peter was released after 9 years in 1989 since his conviction was overturned. Similarly, in 1993, Brensic's conviction was overturned, and he was released on parole.
Ryan had pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter in 2003. He received five to fifteen years in prison but was released since he had already served 18 years by that time. Michael was last known to have been participating in a court-ordered temporary release program.
Watch Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer streaming now on Netflix.
