You’ve probably heard the name Marie Moore and felt a sudden chill. Usually, when people search for Marie Moore New Jersey, they’re looking for the 2009 shooting range story involving a mother and her son in Florida. But there is another Marie Moore. A much more terrifying one.
This Marie lived in Paterson, New Jersey, back in the early 1980s. She wasn't just a "troubled person." She was the architect of a psychological nightmare that sounds like a low-budget horror script, except every single detail is chillingly real. Honestly, the truth about her is far weirder than the viral videos you might see on social media today.
The "Cool Mom" of Paterson
In 1981, Marie Moore was 35. She lived at 1031 Madison Avenue in Paterson. To the neighborhood kids, she was the "cool mom." She had a 12-year-old daughter named Tammy. She took the local kids to the beach. She took them to Great Adventure and bowling alleys. They loved her. They even called her "Ma."
Then everything changed.
It started with a lie. A bizarre, massive lie. Marie told the kids—her daughter Tammy, 14-year-old Ricky Flores, 13-year-old Luis Montalvo, and 12-year-old Theresa Feury—that she was secretly married to Billy Joel. Yes, the "Piano Man" singer.
She didn't stop there. She claimed Billy Joel was a high-ranking member of the Mafia. According to Marie, Billy was watching them. He was listening. And he had rules.
The Telephone "Billy"
Marie had worked as a telephone operator. She knew how to manipulate phone lines. Suddenly, "Billy" started calling the house. The kids would hear a man’s voice—deep, cold, and mean—issuing orders.
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The orders were simple but grueling:
- Perform endless household chores.
- Clean every inch of the apartment or face "punishment."
- Never tell anyone outside the house about Billy or the Mafia.
If the work wasn't perfect, "Billy" would demand they be beaten with a baseball bat. Marie would carry out the beatings, or she would force the other children to do it. Ricky Flores eventually became her "enforcer." He was a kid himself, but he was trapped in a cult-like environment where he believed a bomb would go off if he didn't obey.
When the Mind Games Turned Fatal
By October 1981, the phone calls stopped. Why? Because Marie told the children that Billy Joel’s men had given her an injection that allowed Billy to "enter her body."
She would "switch" personalities. Her voice would drop. She would swear, which the "real" Marie never did. This wasn't just a game; according to psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Lewis, who interviewed her, it was a profound display of what was then called multiple personality disorder (now Dissociative Identity Disorder).
But the kids didn't know about psychiatry. They just knew they were terrified.
Theresa Feury was the youngest of the "outsiders." She was only 12. In the late months of 1981, the abuse leveled at her became unspeakable. She was beaten so severely that her jaw was broken in multiple places. Her nose was flattened. She was kept in a crawl space.
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She didn't make it.
The Discovery at 1031 Madison Avenue
Theresa disappeared in 1981, but her body wasn't found until December 1983. For two years, she was just a "missing person."
Police eventually searched the Paterson apartment after a tip-off. They found her mummified remains hidden in a crawl space behind a bedroom wall. It was a discovery that rocked New Jersey.
How does a mother convince a group of teenagers to participate in the torture of their friend for years? It was psychological warfare. Marie used the children's affection for her, then swapped it for fear of a phantom Mafia boss. It was basically a one-woman cult.
The Legal Battle and Death Row
The trial was a circus of psychological experts. In 1984, a Passaic County jury convicted Marie Moore New Jersey of capital murder.
She was sentenced to death.
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At the time, she was the only woman on New Jersey’s death row. Her defense team argued she was insane, citing her "Billy" persona as evidence of a total break from reality. The prosecution argued it was a calculated act of sadistic control.
In 1988, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed her death sentence. They didn't say she was innocent—far from it. They ruled that her mental state hadn't been properly weighed during the original trial. She was eventually re-sentenced to life in prison.
Why the Marie Moore Story Still Matters
You've got to look at the "how" of this case. It’s a case study in how isolation and psychological manipulation can break even the strongest bonds of friendship among children.
The case of Marie Moore New Jersey is often overshadowed by the Florida shooting-range incident involving a different Marie Moore in 2009. That Marie also had severe delusions—believing she was the "Anti-Christ" and her son was a "Prince" she had to save.
The coincidence of the names and the shared presence of deep, violent delusions is eerie. But the Paterson case remains one of the most disturbing chapters in New Jersey criminal history because of the length of time the abuse lasted and the sheer number of victims involved.
Key Takeaways from the Case
- Deception is a Tool: Marie used her professional skills (telephone operation) to create a believable "other."
- The Power of Isolation: By convincing the kids that "Billy" was everywhere, she cut off their ability to seek help.
- Mental Health Oversight: The case highlighted the massive gaps in the 1980s mental health system regarding dissociative disorders.
If you are researching this case for true crime purposes or historical context, the best resources are the 1988 Supreme Court of New Jersey decision (State v. Moore, 113 N.J. 239) and the detailed reporting from The Star-Ledger and The Record archives from 1984. These provide the raw trial testimony that reveals the true extent of the "House of Horrors."
To understand the full scope of this story, you should look into the court documents regarding the testimony of Ricky Flores. His perspective as both a victim and a forced participant provides the most haunting look into what life was actually like inside that Madison Avenue apartment. You can also find deep-dive episodes on podcasts like Casefile (Episode 319) which piece together the timeline of the 1980s Paterson incident with high accuracy.