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Cold Case Murder Suspect May Be Linked To Four Rapes
By
Jen Chung
Published May 11, 2012
Modified May 11, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 11, 2012
Modified May 11, 2012
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The arrest of a convicted killer for the 1998 rape and strangulation death of a 14-year-old Bronx girl now has the police looking at whether the suspect may be involved with more crimes. A police source, while talking to the Post, said of James David Martin, "We’re looking at him for at least three, and possibly four other rapes."
Last fall, a Bronx homicide detective working on the 1998 death of Marleny Cruz retrieved evidence from her case and sent scrapings from her nails to a lab. A DNA hit brought up Martin, who is currently serving a prison sentence for killing his common-law wife (he strangled her) in 2005. Martin's murderous past doesn't stop there: At age 17 he killed a friend for his Air Jordans in 1989. As for Cruz's death, Martin reportedly admitted to having sex with the teen and allegedly admitted to killing her by accident when he "grabbed her neck for a few minutes." Martin's lawyer said, "Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and until proven guilty, he’s innocent."
The detective who broke the case, Malcolm Reiman, described telling Cruz's foster mother about the arrest, “She jumped up and hugged me and she told me God told her one day I’d come through her door... These families continue to feel the pain. It doesn’t go away... It doesn’t matter whether it’s 14 minutes old or 14 years old, victims deserve justice."
Tagged
cold case
dna
finger nail
james david martin
james martin
marleny cruz
rapes
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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