Suspect took an alias, then took his own life

Author: Sue Epstein; Star-Ledger Staff

Before ending his life in a South Brunswick hotel Tuesday, an amateur songwriter from Pennsylvania - charged with sexually molesting seven foster children - took one final shot at his accusers.

When Thomas Cusick, 47, registered in the Holiday Inn-Princeton on Route 1 in South Brunswick, it was under the name "Henry Amoroso."

"He used my last name and the last name of the lead detective on his case, Andrew Amoroso," Michelle Henry, a deputy district attorney from Bucks County, Pa., said yesterday. "It wasn't funny."

Cusick, a longtime Staten Island resident who moved to Middletown, Pa., in 1998 - was charged with sexually abusing seven of the 13 foster children living with him. All of his victims were boys, authorities said.

Cusick was due in court Wednesday for pretrial motions filed by Henry, including a motion to revoke his $600,000 bail because, Henry said, he had contact with one of the victims after his arrest.

Henry also filed a motion to bring into court seven children Cusick had cared for in New York who are now adults. "They would have testified he molested them, too," Henry said. Cusick's trial had been set for April 26. Instead, Cusick registered at the South Brunswick hotel, put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and took an overdose of drugs, authorities said.

Hotel employees discovered the body shortly after 4 p.m. Henry said Cusick left a note, but she would not reveal its contents. An autopsy was performed Wednesday, and authorities were awaiting the results of toxicological tests to determine an exact cause of death. But Henry said her office was told that it appeared Cusick died of a drug overdose.

Pennsylvania authorities had charged Cusick earlier this year with 33 counts of sexually molesting the seven children between Jan. 15, 1998, and Sept. 28, 1999. If convicted of all charges, he could have faced sentences totaling 296 years in prison, Henry said. Charges were brought against Cusick after one of the victims contacted authorities, Henry said.

Cusick claimed he wrote songs for stars such as Lionel Richie, Neil Diamond and Ricky Martin, but representatives for those artists said they had never heard of him.

Cusick's attorney, Kevin Zlock of Newtown, Pa., did not return phone calls yesterday.

Cusick was not registered with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and no one at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences had any listing for him. Thomas Zerega, who runs Staten Island-based Center Stage Productions, yesterday recalled Cusick as "a warm, generous man and a very talented guy who had a photographic memory for music." Zerega said the only songs Cusick ever wrote were for plays Cusick wrote and Zerega produced.

Cusick was married briefly many years ago, Zerega said.