Thirty-four years after Susan Taraskiewicz was beaten and stabbed to death, her killer has never been named, charged or caught. The Northwest Airlines ramp supervisor vanished during a break from her overnight shift at Logan Airport, and her family and investigators marked the anniversary this month still waiting for the one person who could finally close the case to come forward.
Taraskiewicz disappeared after leaving work to pick up sandwiches for coworkers, according to police, as reported by CBS News. She never made it to the shop. Her body was found the next day in the trunk of her blue Toyota Tercel, and investigators reported that she had been beaten and stabbed to death, according to the New Bedford Guide.
Her mother, Marlene Taraskiewicz, stood at Logan Airport for 15 years holding a sign asking for information, per the CBS News report. At a recent vigil marking 34 years since her daughter's death, she read a prayer and said, “Never be afraid to die, for I am waiting for you in the sky.” She has also said she believes people who know what happened to Susan may still be too afraid to come forward.
A Career Built on Grit, Then a Wall of Threats
Taraskiewicz became Northwest Airlines' first female ramp supervisor at Logan after successfully grieving an improper job bidding process, according to the Last Seen Alive podcast. The promotion came at a cost. She kept a private diary documenting escalating hostility from coworkers, including death threats, slashed tires, a urinated-on locker, and a graphic drawing of a coffin bearing her name, the same podcast reports.
Marlene Taraskiewicz has said publicly, in a 2017 interview, that she believes her daughter was killed because she knew about a credit card scam being run by other airport workers. That theory remains unproven.
Two of her coworkers were later convicted on federal charges connected to that investigation. Joseph Nuzzo, a Northwest ramp worker who had previously harassed Taraskiewicz after she reported him for fighting in 1989, was indicted in 1995 for stealing credit cards from U.S. mail and sentenced to 37 months in prison, according to the New Bedford Guide. Another coworker, Robert Brooks, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty in 1998 to obstruction of justice in the slaying. Neither man has been tied directly to her homicide, and no one has ever been charged in her death.
Timecards, Cover Stories and an Unsolved Trail
Investigators have continued to examine the circumstances surrounding Taraskiewicz's disappearance. Bob Murphy, who served as lead investigator on the case for 20 years, has said the case is not a cold case, calling it extremely active with a very specific focus, per CBS News.
Northwest Airlines employed Taraskiewicz and later became part of Delta. Delta continues to offer that $250,000 reward for information today, per CBS News.
A Case Kept Alive by Family and New Attention
The investigation has passed through multiple investigators over the decades, and Dianne Braley is now writing a book about Taraskiewicz's death, according to CBS News. The case has also drawn renewed law enforcement attention in recent years: Massachusetts State Police and the Department of Correction featured it as the Eight of Spades in a cold-case playing card deck created with the Department of Corrections and featuring unsolved homicide cases, according to Massachusetts State Police. That placement led to a feature on the case on a true-crime podcast in September 2023.
The Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County lists 617-727-8817 as a tip line for people who may have withheld information out of fear of retaliation, according to Boston 25 News. Prosecutors have noted that changing personal circumstances over more than three decades may still prompt reluctant witnesses to finally speak up.
Taraskiewicz's sister, Debbie Almonti, has said grief does not follow a calendar and there is no final birthday when someone stops missing a sister. Taraskiewicz was remembered again at a vigil this month, where flowers marked the 34 years since her death. Her family continues to seek answers.
