It was 1995 when Steven Pladl began to groom a 15-year-old named Alyssa over the internet.
Soon enough, he even travelled to San Antonio, Texas to begin a se*xual relationship with her, and Alyssa ran away with Steven to live with him in New York.
When Alyssa was 16, she became pregnant. She gave birth to their first child, Denise Pladl, when she was 17.
Based on what Alyssa said, Steven tortured Denise by pinching her, beating her until she was “black and blue,” and drowning her. When Alyssa saw how badly Steven was treating their daughter, she decided to adopt Denise because she thought Denise would not have a chance at life with Steven.
Denise was eventually taken in by Anthony and Kelly Fusco, who changed her name to Katie Rose Fusco. Katie then grew up in Dover, which is about 80 miles north of New York City.
Katie planned to be an artist and was known at Dover High School for drawing comic strips. She was going to college to become a digital advertising professional.
Katie’s life had been good, and she loved her adoptive parents, but she still wanted to know who her real parents were. In August 2016, Katie looked for her real parents on Facebook and tried to get in touch with them.
They were thrilled to have Katie back in their lives, which made Katie very happy. They finally decided to meet up in Knightdale, North Carolina.
The get-together went well, and Katie decided to move in with Steven, Alyssa, and their other two kids instead of going to college as planned. Her adoptive parents were worried about the choice, but they were there for her.
Steven and Alyssa had already decided to split up and were sleeping in separate bedrooms by the time Katie moved in. Alyssa Pladl said her husband had abused her emotionally and verbally for years.
Katie Pladl was told privately by Alyssa Pladl that Steven Pladl had abused her as a baby and that one of the main reasons she wanted to be adopted was to keep herself safe.
And Alyssa said Katie didn’t look like she was worried.
Steven and Katie became very close over the next few months, but not in the typical “father and daughter” way. Alyssa thought the two of them were acting too “flirty” with each other, which made her feel bad.
Things changed for Steven after he met Katie. He started putting on skinny jeans and shirts that fit him closely. He got rid of his beard and let his hair grow out. Steven Pladl slept on the floor in Katie’s bedroom one night, about six weeks after she moved in.
When Alyssa finally talked to her husband about it, Steven told her it wasn’t her business and stomped out the door with Katie.
Alyssa finally moved out in November 2016, and she and Steven took turns taking care of the other two kids.
In May 2017, Alyssa’s worst fears came true when she read in one of her younger children’s diaries that Steven and Katie were having sexual relations and Katie was pregnant. Steven also told the kids that Katie was their stepmother.
Alyssa called Steven, who confirmed the relationship and admitted that Katie was indeed pregnant. Hysterical and distraught, Alyssa called the police.
The divorce from Alyssa was finalized two months before Steven and Katie got married in Parkton, Maryland, on July 20, 2017. This was during the police investigation. When they got married, they lied and said they were not related.
Steven’s mother and Katie’s adoptive parents were at the wedding.
Katie had a baby with her father on September 1, 2017, and they named him Bennett Kieron Pladl.
The house she and Steven moved into was in Knightdale, North Carolina. It was on a cul-de-sac.
Katie and Steven were finally arrested for incest in January 2018.
Steven’s lawyer, Rick Friedman II, said that his client’s relationship with Katie was mutually agreed upon. He also said that Steven was “head over heels in love” with his daughter and that this “outweighed the issue of them being biologically related.”
Katie got out of j*ail in late February after putting up a $12,000 bond. As a condition of her release, she couldn’t talk to Steven and had to live with her adoptive parents in New York.
Steven and Katie were told not to talk to each other by the judge, and Steven’s mother was given custody of Bennett.
After they were freed on bond, Katie moved back in with her adoptive parents and called Steven to tell him she didn’t want to keep dating him.
Steven was not going to make this choice without thinking it through.
Steven picked Bennett up from his mother’s house on April 11, 2018, and took him to the house he used to share with Katie. Later that night, he k*illed his seven-month-old son by suffocating him and then putting his body in a closet.
Katie and her adoptive father, Anthony Fusco, went to Waterbury, Connecticut, the next day to see Katie’s grandmother. This is something they did every Tuesday and Thursday.
Steven Pladl drove 600 miles to Dover and sat in a minivan nearby to watch them leave. He knew this was something she did all the time. In New Milford, Connecticut, he followed Katie and Anthony’s car until they came to a stop sign between routes 7 and 55. Then, he ki*lled them with his Aero assault-type rifle, which is a gun similar to an AR-15.
After that, he called his mom and told her he had k*illed Bennett, Anthony, and Katie. Bennett was lying d*ead in his house, so he told his mother not to go there. Police later found the de*ad baby after Steven’s mother called 911 to check on the baby.
Steven later shot himself in the head and ki*lled himself in Dover, New York.
People in New Milford said they heard sho*ts, and police later found Katie and Anthony’s bodies in their car.
Nicholas Fusco, also known as Tony, Katie’s son, and she were all buried at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Dover Plains.
