Transgender killer seen sitting on a HUMAN LEG in his motorized wheelchair

An elderly New York City transgender woman was seen on store surveillance video sitting on a severed human leg in her motorized wheelchair before being arrested for murder. 

Harvey Marcelin, 83, who was convicted of two other killings in 1963 and 1984, was arrested late last week for the killing of Susan Leyden, 68, after she was allegedly caught on surveillance cameras dumping a body near her Cypress Hills apartment. 

Leyden’s headless torso was stuffed into a garbage bag and dumped in a shopping cart in Brooklyn. 

On March 2, a passerby made the grisly discovery on Pennsylvania and Atlantic avenues in the borough around 1:45 a.m. when he peeked inside the garbage bag. 

On Friday, NYPD held a press conference where they showed a video of Marcelin sitting on a severed human leg. In the store surveillance footage, Marcelin is seen getting out of the wheelchair, exposing the leg, and then sitting back down. 

‘This is a gruesome and barbaric homicide, which resulted in a headless torso being disposed of on a New York City corner, and it takes a serial killer off our streets,’ Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told reporters. 

‘This is just the latest of a list of heinous offenses conducted over a period of lifetime by Ms. Harvey, and we can only hope that she can do no more,’ he added. 

An elderly New York City transgender woman was seen on store surveillance video sitting on a severed human leg (circled) in a motorized wheelchair before being arrested for murder

An elderly New York City transgender woman was seen on store surveillance video sitting on a severed human leg (circled) in a motorized wheelchair before being arrested for murder

Harvey Marcelin, 83, was arrested late last week for the killing of 68-year-old woman Susan Leydon after she was allegedly caught on surveillance cameras dumping a body near her Cypress Hills apartment

Harvey Marcelin, 83, was arrested late last week for the killing of 68-year-old woman Susan Leydon after she was allegedly caught on surveillance cameras dumping a body near her Cypress Hills apartment

Store surveillance video captures Marcelin sitting on the leg in the motorized wheelchair

Store surveillance video captures Marcelin sitting on the leg in the motorized wheelchair

Marcelin, who killed two women in 1963 and 1984, was charged with murder, criminal tampering of evidence and concealment of a human corpse

Marcelin, who killed two women in 1963 and 1984, was charged with murder, criminal tampering of evidence and concealment of a human corpse

According to the NYPD’s investigation, Leyden, an LGBTQ activist who lives in a city shelter, was last seen alive on February 27 as she entered Marcelin’s apartment at 50 Pennsylvania Avenue, carrying a ‘multi-colored bag with a flower decal’ and rolling a shopping cart.  

Two days later, Marcelin and another woman were spotted leaving the building with the same bag as they headed to a Home Depot in Manhattan to purchase saws, trash bags and cleaning solutions, Gonzales said.  

On March 2, surveillance footage caught Marcelin walking out of the apartment again with a shopping cart and a trash bag inside the cart, leaving it out in the streets.  

Police said the female corpse was found inside the bag without a head or limbs and did not appear to be decomposed. 

On March 3, police found blood and trash bags in the apartment complex, and a search warrant into Marcelin’s home turned up a ‘human head,’ along with the saws Marcelin bought.  

On March 7, a severed leg, which had been cut from the knee down and was still wearing a sock, was poking out of a discarded tire four blocks away.  

Gonzales added that the woman who went to Home Depot was cooperating with police, but did not say if she faced any charges in connection with the murder. 

Marcelin was charged with murder, criminal tampering of evidence and concealment of a human corpse. Marceline is being represented by Legal Aid, who did not immediately return DailyMail.com’s request for comment.  

Police identified the victim as Susan Leyden, 68, formerly of Teaneck, New Jersey, and an acquaintance of Marcelin. She was last seen entering Marcelin's apartment on February 27

Police identified the victim as Susan Leyden, 68, formerly of Teaneck, New Jersey, and an acquaintance of Marcelin. She was last seen entering Marcelin’s apartment on February 27

Police said the female corpse was found inside the bag without a head or limbs and did not appear to be decomposed. They said the head was found in Marcelin's apartment

Police said the female corpse was found inside the bag without a head or limbs and did not appear to be decomposed. They said the head was found in Marcelin’s apartment

A leg was found on Monday, March 7, in Cypress Hills, just days after a torso was found a few blocks away. Police said the body parts belonged to Leyden, an LGBTQ+ activist

A leg was found on Monday, March 7, in Cypress Hills, just days after a torso was found a few blocks away. Police said the body parts belonged to Leyden, an LGBTQ+ activist

The murder of Leyden is the third killing Marcelin has been connected to. 

On April 18, 1963, Marcelin was arrested for shooting her then-girlfriend Jacqueline Bonds three times inside their Harlem apartment, the New York Post reported. 

Earlier that year she was arrested for illegal gambling and attempted rape. The rape case was dropped when the victim didn’t show up in court.  

For the murder of Bonds, Marcelin was sentenced to 20 years to life and was paroled in 1984, according to state prison records. 

While in prison, Marcelin had allegedly filed court papers saying she was in the notorious 1971 Attica prison riot, which left 29 inmates and 10 hostages dead, the New York Daily News reported. Marcelin was not among the inmates awarded a payout settlement in the class action lawsuit following the riot. 

After being released in 1984, she went on to fatally stab another girlfriend, Anna Laura Serrera Miranda, cutting her up and stuffing her body into a bag before dumping it on the streets near Central Park, NY Daily News reported.  

Marcelin was arrested in 1986 and convicted of manslaughter. A psychiatric review concluded that she had ‘schizoid personality with sociopathic features,’ but was not deemed criminally insane. 

Marceline had applied for parole multiple times and during one of those hearings, she said she had ‘a problem with women,’ the Post reported.

She also blamed an all-female parole board for denying her release in 1997, a claim a three-judge panel in Albany rejected, according to court records. 

In 2001, Marcelin also faced a disciplinary hearing for having oral sex with another inmate, but faced no punishment, the NY Daily News reported. 

She was released from the Cayuga Correctional Facility in upstate New York in 2019.  

Marcelin is currently in custody and being held without bail at Riker’s Island. 

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the homicide 'gruesome and barbaric'

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the homicide ‘gruesome and barbaric’ 

Violent crime in New York City continues to rise with overall crime up more than 47 percent

Violent crime in New York City continues to rise with overall crime up more than 47 percent

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said the case is still under investigation. 

The incident comes as the city continues to see a drastic spike in violent crime compared to last year. 

Although murders are nearly the same with 67 committed so far this year compared to the 66 from last year, assaults are up by more than 19 percent, increasing from 3,210 to 3,824. 

The number of shooting victims have gone up from 181 cases to 215, more than 18 per cent when compared to the same time last year, and rapes have shot up by more than 31 percent, with 293 cases reported so far.  

Robberies saw the largest spike so far this year, going up by nearly 45 percent when compared to the same time in 2021. Overall crimes have gone up by more than 47 per cent. 

source: dailymail.co.uk