An 83-year-old woman who had previously been arrested for murder was arrested for concealment of a human corpse last week, and cops believe the suspect is connected to a number of body parts found dumped in Brooklyn this month.
Police arrested Harvey Marcelin after uncovering a human head in her Cypress Hills home, the New York Post first reported. The grisly discovery came just a day after a woman’s torso was discovered in a shopping cart at the corner of Pennsylvania and Atlantic avenues, and three days before a woman’s leg was found in a trash bag a few blocks away. As of March 7, cops and medical examiners were still investigating the case, but the Post reports the body parts belonged to 63-year-0ld Susan Leyden.
Marcelin was due to appear in court on Thursday morning, where she may face additional charges.
In 2015, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed “Anna Lynn’s Law” into effect, making hiding a body in New York State a felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Marcelin was found guilty of murder in 1963 after shooting her then-girlfriend, Jacqueline Bonds, in her apartment. Bonds had reportedly been subpoenaed to testify as an alibi witness on Marcelin’s behalf after she was accused of rape, assault, and robbery, but did not show up in court on the appointed date. Marcelin killed Bonds later that evening, and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
The killer was released on parole in 1983 but was arrested and charged with manslaughter again just a year later, and was sentenced to additional prison time. She was released on parole in 2019, according to the state Department of Corrections.
