Murder of George Seitz

George Clarence Seitz (December 12, 1894 – December 10, 1976)[1] was an American veteran murdered on December 10, 1976, in the New York City neighborhood of Jamaica. Police recovered his remains 43 years later, and arrested his alleged murderer in 2021.

The victim was only identified at such a late date and with few clues by the novel use of forensic genetics.

George Clarence Seitz
Born(1894-12-12)December 12, 1894
DisappearedDecember 10, 1976(1976-12-10) (aged 81)
Jamaica, New York City
Diedc. 1976
Cause of deathHomicide
Body discoveredJamaica, New York City
Known forHomicide victim identified after 45 years through novel genetic investigation

Disappearance

The victim was a World War I veteran who went by "Clarence".[1] He was reported missing after going for a haircut.[2] At the time, Seitz was 81 years old.[2]

Investigation

There were no leads and the investigation was placed in the cold cases file, abandoned for decades.[2] However, in early 2019, a woman in her 50s informed the police that as an 11-year-old girl,[3] she had seen her mother's companion dismember and bury a body.[4] 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.[2] 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, they called in the FBI[1] and an outside laboratory[2] (Othram.), who cross-referenced the genetic information with commercial genetics databases maintained by Ancestry and 23andMe. Detectives were then able to find close relatives, and obtain their own genetic material. Matching their genetic profiles to the human remains' profile, they established a strong probability that the remains were Steitz'.

In 2021, still unable to identify the victim for two years, police called upon the FBI and genetic forensics specialist who generated a genetic profile from the bones' DNA.[2][5] Detectives were then able to find close relatives and identified Seitz through DNA samples.[2]

Arrest of killer

Investigators identified the man mentioned by the informant as Martin Motta.[1][2] He and his brother had owned the barbershop[6] where Seitz visited when he disappeared, located only a few city blocks from Seitz' home[2][4] He was arrested, arraigned,[2] and indicted by a grand jury,[1] in November 2021.[1][2][4]

References
  1. Garger, Kenneth (2021-11-03). "NYC man charged in cold-case killing of WWI vet missing since 1976". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  2. Watkins, Ali; Schweber, Nate (2021-11-04). "Bones in the Backyard: How Police Cracked a Grisly Cold Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  3. McShane, Ellen Moynihan, Rocco Parascandola, Larry. "NYC girl watched as killer dismembered World War I veteran inside Queens barbershop". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  4. "Queens Man Martin Motta Arrested In Connection To 1976 Murder Of World War I Veteran George Seitz". CBS-NY Television. 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  5. "Murdered World War I Veteran from Queens is now Identified". DNASolves.com. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  6. "Queens Man Martin Motta Arrested In Connection To 1976 Murder Of World War I Veteran George Seitz". 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
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