George Clarence Seitz | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1894-12-12)December 12, 1894 |
| Disappeared | December 10, 1976(1976-12-10) (aged 81) Jamaica,New York City, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Homicide |
| Body discovered | Queens, New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Cold-case homicide victim identified throughgenetic investigation 45 years after his murder |
George "Clarence" Seitz (December 12, 1894 – December 10, 1976)[1] was an AmericanWorld War I military veteran,[2][clarification needed] who was murdered in the neighborhood ofJamaica inNew York City on December 10, 1976. Police recovered his remains 43 years later, and arrested his murderer in 2021.
The victim was aWorld 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]
There were no leads and the investigation was placed in thecold 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 companiondismember and bury a body.[5] The police useddogs to scour the property where she had lived at the time, and found human remains, but were unable to identify the victim.[3] Only thepelvis and part of thetorso were found.[1]
Using material from theremains, investigators generated agenetic profile. Two years later, still unable to identify Steitz as the victim, the FBI were called upon,[1] as well as an externalforensic genealogy laboratory,Othram.[3][6] Detectives were then able to find close relatives and identified Seitz through DNA samples.[3]
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 agrand 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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