""For almost three decades, this female victim remained unidentified and without justice, but she was never forgotten," Katz said. "The Cold Case Unit I created when I first took office exists for this very reason: to ensure that justice is not denied by time or anonymity. The defendant is accused of strangling the victim 28 years ago inside the Turf motel in Astoria.""
"On Jan. 12, 1998, she was found deceased inside Room 119 of the Turf Motel located at 31-62 Broadway in Astoria. Her body was discovered under a mattress and inside the mattress box of the bed. She had a scarf tightly wrapped around her neck, according to the investigation. No forms of identification were found on the woman's body. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in 1998 determined that the cause of death was ligature strangulation."
"At the request of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz's Cold Case Unit, the medical examiner's office retested the DNA in May 2023. The OCME developed a profile of a potential suspect and linked the DNA under the victim's fingernails and on her underwear to Velasquez. In January 2025, the defendant was interviewed by members of the NYPD Cold Case Squad and denied ever having been to the Turf Motel. He was indicted by the grand jury on Jan. 12."
An unidentified female, estimated 25–35 years old, was found dead on Jan. 12, 1998, in Room 119 of the Turf Motel in Astoria, concealed under a mattress with a scarf tightly wrapped around her neck. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined cause of death as ligature strangulation and retained evidence including underwear and fingernail scrapings and clippings. At the Queens District Attorney Cold Case Unit's request, the OCME retested DNA in May 2023 and developed a suspect profile linking DNA to Jose Velasquez. Velasquez, 59 and formerly of Astoria, was indicted Jan. 12, arraigned Jan. 15, and held without bail.
Read at QNS
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