An 83-year-old former convict who served two decades in prison for fatally shooting a girlfriend, went out and then went back to jail for killing another girl a year later, is now charged with a new crime: the mutilation of a woman whose head was found in inhibitor compartment.
Prosecutors have identified the former convict as Harvey Marcelin, who was released from prison in 2019. Marcelin was arrested in New York last week on a charge of hiding a human corpse after he was spotted in surveillance video leaving a bag that was later found to contain the victim body trunk.
A major court has convicted Marcelin of murder on Thursday.
Marcelin’s lawyer, who was appointed by the court, did not return phone calls.
The Brooklyn Attorney’s Office identified the victim as Susan Leiden, a 68-year-old Brooklyn resident.
“The facts of this horrific case are horrific and disturbing, and my heart goes out to the victim’s family and friends,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
Leiden’s Brooklyn neighbors were horrified when they learned of her sudden death.
“I’m just cracked,” said neighbor Mary Pupko he said CBS New York.
Although he had been identified as a man in court in recent decades, Marcelin was detained this time as a woman, a police spokesman said. Well-known told reporters that Marcelin has been recognized as a woman in recent years.
Marcelin’s previous convictions were for killing live girlfriends, according to court documents.
A court found Marcelin guilty of murder in 1963 for shooting Jacqueline Bonds inside a Manhattan apartment. At the time, Marcelin was also facing a charge of attempted rape involving another woman, according to court records. The judge sentenced Marcelin to life in prison after jurors could not agree on whether the crime justified the death penalty.
Marcelin was released on parole in 1984 and arrested the following year for fatally stabbing another girl and leaving her body in a rubbish bag on the street. Marceline was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six to 12 years in prison.
Government officials were reluctant to grant parole when Marcelin became eligible in the 1990s. During a state council release hearing in 1997, Marcelin admitted to having “problems” with women, according to court records.
Other councils rejected parole, citing “Marcelin’s attempt to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
The new investigation began when a passer-by found a dismembered trunk in a bag on a street corner near the Marcelin apartment building on March 3.
Surveillance video showed Marcelin rolling a colorful bag from the building into the corner on March 2 and leaving it there, prosecutors said in a case file. The trunk was discovered in the bag hours later, authorities said.
According to court documents, security videos showed a woman entering Marcelin’s building rolling the same bag on February 27. The woman was never seen leaving the building.
Police conducted a search warrant and found a human head inside Marceline’s apartment, according to court documents. Police said a foot was later found a few blocks away.
“She was a quiet woman. I had a feeling she liked shopping. She was really stylish,” another neighbor told CBS New York. “It will take a long time to process.”
- In:
- murder
- New York
Add Comment