Paroled Killer, 83, Charged With Gruesome NYC Murder

A New York City resident who served more than 50 years in prison for two killings has been charged with murder again at the age of 83. Harvey Marcelin—who was listed as a man in court documents from other cases but now identifies as a woman—was indicted on a murder charge Thursday in a case Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez describes as gruesome and horrific, NBC New York reports. Gonzalez said Marcelin was arrested last week for "allegedly concealing the severed head of a woman in her home and discarding the victim’s torso in a bag on the street." The DA's office identified the victim as 68-year-old Brooklyn resident Susan Leyden, reports the AP.

Marcelin was convicted of first-degree murder in 1963 for shooting her then-girlfriend in a Manhattan apartment, the New York Times reports. She was released on lifetime parole in 1984 but was arrested within a year after a body was found in a bag near Central Park. Marcelin pleaded guilty to stabbing a woman she had been living with and a manslaughter sentence was added to the original life sentence. She became eligible for parole from state prison in the 1990s but repeated parole bids were denied until she was released in late 2019. According to court documents, the parole board told Marcelin in 2010 that "release at this time is incompatible with the welfare and safety of the community." (More New York City stories.)