Queens Man Sentenced To Prison After Killing WWI Veteran in 1976: DA

QUEENS – A Queens man was sentenced to two decades in prison after stabbing a World War I veteran in the head and stealing $7,000 more than 40 years ago, the Queens District Attorney said Monday.

Martin Motta, 75, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of veteran George Clarence Seitz in 1976, said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

Prosecutors said that Seitz, 81 when he died, was last seen walking to the barbershop where Motta used to work to get a haircut on Dec. 10, 1976.

Decades later, human remains were found in Richmond Hill, and a laboratory in 2019 confirmed to be Seitz’s, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Motta was arrested in 2021 and pleaded guilty last month.