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Murder of George Seitz
1976 murder in New York City From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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George "Clarence" Seitz (December 12, 1894 – December 10, 1976)[1] was an American World War I military veteran,[2][clarification needed] who was murdered in the neighborhood of Jamaica in New York City on December 10, 1976. Police recovered his remains 43 years later, and arrested his murderer in 2021.
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Disappearance
The victim was a World War I veteran who went by "Clarence".[1] He was reported missing after leaving his house to get a haircut; at the time, Seitz was 81 years old.[3]
Investigation
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There were no leads and the investigation was placed in the cold cases file, abandoned for decades.[3] However, in early 2019, a woman in her 50s informed the police that as an 11-year-old girl,[4] she had seen her mother's companion dismember and bury a body.[5] The police used dogs to scour the property where she had lived at the time, and found human remains, but were unable to identify the victim.[3] Only the pelvis and part of the torso were found.[1]
Identification of victim
Using material from the remains, investigators generated a genetic profile. Two years later, still unable to identify Steitz as the victim, the FBI were called upon,[1] as well as an external forensic genealogy laboratory, Othram[3][6] Detectives were then able to find close relatives and identified Seitz through DNA samples.[3]
Arrest, plea, and sentencing
Investigators identified the man mentioned by the informant as Martin Motta.[1][3] He and his brother had owned the barbershop,[7] where Seitz visited when he disappeared, located only a few city blocks from Seitz' home[3][5] He was arrested, arraigned,[3] and indicted by a grand jury in November 2021.[1][3][5]
Motta pled guilty in October 2022, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on November 7.[8]
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See also
References
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