83-Year-Old Suspect Arrested in Connection with Dismembered Torso

An 83-year-old Brooklyn woman was charged with murder on Thursday after investigators found a head in her apartment that belonged to the dismembered torso discovered in a shopping cart last week.

According to the New York Times, Harvey Marcelin, who was listed as male in earlier court records but now identifies as a woman, had served 50 years in prison in connection with two Manhattan homicides in 1963 and 1984. She was released in 2019.

Now she faces new charges of murder and concealing a corpse in connection with the death of her latest victim. The Brooklyn district attorney’s office identified the victim as 68-year-old Susan Leyden. At the time of her murder, Leyden was living in an LGBTQ shelter in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn’s Assistant District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the indictment in court:

“Last week my Office charged Harvey Marcelin with allegedly concealing the severed head of a woman in her home and discarding the victim’s torso in a bag on the street. Today, the grand jury indicted Harvey Marcelin for murder, and my office is committed to vigorously seeking justice. The facts of this horrific case are gruesome and unsettling, and my heart is with the victim’s family and friends.”

Marcelin is being represented by Legal Aid. She is due back in court next Thursday. Police say the investigation remains ongoing.