Trial for 87-year-old East New York serial killer begins with gruesome testimony
Prosecutors and defense attorneys laid out different versions of what happened to 68-year-old Susan Leyden, whose torso was found inside a bag at the corner of Pennsylvania and Atlantic avenues in March 2022.
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Opening statements began Monday in the murder trial of Harvey Marcelin, an 87-year-old alleged serial killer charged with killing and dismembering a woman and scattering her remains across East New York in 2022.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys laid out different versions of what happened to 68-year-old Susan Leyden, whose torso was found inside a bag at the corner of Pennsylvania and Atlantic avenues in March 2022.
Other body parts were later recovered from Marcelin’s apartment and other locations in East New York.
Marcelin, who was 83 at the time of the killing, was brought into Brooklyn Supreme Court in a wheelchair as the long-awaited trial got underway.
During proceedings, Marcelin asked to be referred to as a man, after previously being identified in court records as a transgender woman.
Marcelin spent several decades in prison for killing two other women in 1963 and 1985, though those convictions will not be mentioned to the jury.
Assistant District Attorney Viviane Dussek told jurors the evidence will show Marcelin killed Leyden in early March 2022, then dismembered her body and attempted to dispose of the remains.
According to prosecutors, surveillance video allegedly shows Marcelin buying cleaning supplies and a saw they say was used in the dismemberment.
They claimed Marcelin was infatuated with Leyden, who was down on her luck, was living in a shelter and had come to stay with Marcelin for a time.
Additional video footage is expected to show Marcelin disposing of body parts at multiple locations around East New York.
Jurors also learned about another woman, Lisa Lindahl, who was allegedly also inside Marcelin’s apartment when Leyden was dismembered.
Prosecutors allege Lindhal was homeless and addicted to heroin and crack at the time.
Defense attorneys argued Lindahl is the one who killed Leyden, then later blamed Marcelin out of desperation.
The prosecution said the medical examiner found that Leyden died from blunt force trauma to the head and had signs of strangulation, as well as severe lacerations to the face and head.
Lindahl is expected to testify during the trial in a highly anticipated testimony.
Jurors also heard from the prosecution’s first witness, Ramon Lopez, the man who discovered Leyden’s torso inside a gray and black fabric shopping cart on the street, and called 911.
Surveillance video shown in court captured Lopez opening the bag and then jumping back after seeing what was inside.
Lopez testified that he saw a woman’s neck but no head.
The courtroom was also shown disturbing images of the discovery.
Jurors were warned that the trial will include graphic evidence and upsetting testimony in the days ahead.
Testimony is scheduled to continue Tuesday.
