Murder of George Seitz

George Clarence Seitz (December 12, 1894 – December 10, 1976)^[1] was an American World War I veteran^{[clarification needed]} 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.

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, the FBI were called upon,^[1] as well as an external forensic genealogy laboratory, Othram^[2][5] Detectives were then able to find close relatives and identified Seitz through DNA samples.^[2]

Arrest of suspect[]

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[]