An 83-year-old serial killer who spent over 50 years in prison was arrested in connection to the murder of another woman whose body was found missing a head, arms and legs, stuffed inside a garbage bag on a street in Brooklyn.
Harvey Marcelin was charged with concealing a human corpse after she was caught on surveillance video dumping the torso law enforcement officials found near her apartment, according to The New York Post.
Marcelin, who is a transgender woman, spent over 50 years in state prison on murder and manslaughter convictions that date back to 1963. She has killed two women with whom she had dated and lived with. She was on supervised parole, according to a NY State database.
The dismembered woman was identified as 68-year-old Susan Layden, who was living in an LGBTQ shelter in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn at the time of her death, according to NBC New York.
The woman’s body was discovered a week ago near a construction safety gear shop and a carpet store when a passerby noticed the suspicious bag for a second time, and ultimately decided to peek inside. He then called 911.
A human head was later allegedly found Marcelin’s home.
The bag wasn’t tied up, but rolled down, a senior New York City Police Department official said. When the man who discovered the bag reached inside he first found a roll of toilet paper, followed by a human torso.
An autopsy is being conducted to determine the woman’s exact cause of death. It’s also currently unclear if a human leg found blocks from the torso a few days later belonged to the same victim.
Marcelin, who is a transgender woman, spent over 50 years in state prison on murder and manslaughter convictions that date back to 1963. She was on supervised parole, according to a NY State database.
In April of 1963, Marcelin used a .32 caliber revolver to fatally shoot Jacqueline Bonds, her girlfriend she shared a Manhattan apartment with. She was convicted and served 20 years until she was released in 1984.
Less than a year later she stabbed another girlfriend to death, and sentenced to a six to 12-years in prison on a manslaughter conviction. She was released from the Cayuga Correctional Facility in 2019.
Marcelin is currently being held without bail at Riker’s Island.
