""She wanted him to show her the stars. Instead, he threw her into the dumpster," Miras said in his opening statement at Martinez's trial."
""I taught myself how to use a telescope. Now, I do it anywhere I can in the city. Sometimes, I even teach lessons along the way," he says in one video."
""Anyone who's passing by, coming home from work, heading out for a drink, whatever it is, they can stop by and take a look.""
Thirteen-year-old Minerliz Soriano disappeared from her Pelham Parkway South apartment building on February 24, 1999 and was found four days later strangled and stuffed in garbage bags in a dumpster behind a video store in Co-Op City. Joseph "Jupiter Joe" Martinez lived a few floors below and cultivated a friendly street-astronomer persona, teaching passersby and posting stargazing videos. Authorities allege Martinez killed Minerliz and concealed the crime for more than two decades. A modern DNA technique combined with a detective's ruse in a diner ultimately linked Martinez to the cold-case killing and led to his arrest and trial.
Read at New York Daily News
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