Serial Killer Marceline Harvey Was Released From Prison Twice, but Faces a Third Trial

In the mid-1970s, New York City was on high alert after a series of murders gripped the Big Apple in a way that devastated the city's residents. People could speak of little else and it fostered such a strong sense of paranoia. Anyone resembling the killer's victim type was changing their physical appearance. Eventually, David Berkowitz, who would later be known as the Son of Sam, was caught but not before six people died.

However, 10 years before Berkowitz's crimes, another killer was just getting started. While it took authorities a year to catch the Son of Sam, it technically took police nearly 60 years to catch the other murderer. During that time, this person was convicted of murder twice and was released both times. This allowed them to allegedly kill once more before being arrested in March 2022. Where is Marceline Harvey now? She's awaiting trial for hopefully the last time.

Harvey, who identifies as transgender and used to go by the name Harvey Marcelin, is scheduled to stand trial on March 1, 2024. The circumstances surrounding her apprehension are bizarre, to say the least. According to WABC, the 83-year-old was arrested in March 2022 after "Susan Leyden's torso was found in a shopping car in Brooklyn last week." Authorities released a video of Harvey sitting on top of what they believe was Leyden's dismembered leg while riding a scooter through a 99 Cent store.

Upon searching Harvey's apartment, police found a human head as well as an electric saw, per WABC. Based on surveillance video, Leyden was last seen entering Harvey's apartment on February 27. Three days later, Harvey left her apartment while carrying a trash bag. Authorities believe Leyden's torso was in the bag. "He [sic] dismembers the body and puts it out on the street not far from where he [sic] lives," said former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.

In a statement to the press, Chief of Detectives James Essig said Harvey's March 2022 arrest took a "serial killer off the street. This is just the latest in heinous offenses conducted in a lifetime by Miss Harvey and we could only hope she could do no more." Her crimes stretch as far back as 1963 when she "fatally shot a girlfriend in Manhattan and was later convicted of murder before being released on lifetime parole in May of 1984."

Then, 20 years later in 1985, Harvey stabbed another girlfriend and again dismembered her body. Her remains were later found in several bags in Central Park. "We see the foot coming out of the bag, so we got something bad here," said Boyce. "As soon as they arrested him, he gave it up. He admitted to the whole thing."

In April 2022, Harvey was interviewed by Dana Kennedy, a senior reporter with the New York Post. When asked if she did it, Harvey merely said, "Yeah." Harvey described herself as having two personalities. "Harvey’s not a good guy, he’s a tough guy,” she told Kennedy. “Marceline’s nice and gentle and loving, you know, lots of laughter, fun to be with. She’s the one who’s perfectly normal." In the 55-minute jailhouse interview, Harvey blamed the murders on her masculine side.