A Bronx astronomy enthusiast convicted of killing a 13-year-old girl after DNA linked him decades later to the crime was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison.
“Jupiter” Joe Martinez wasn’t even on detectives’ radar in 1999 when the body of Minerliz Soriano was discovered in a Co-op City dumpster two miles from her home, choked to death and sexually assaulted, after she went missing for several days.
Not until detectives linked DNA, and a shared interest in astronomy between Martinez and the victim, were they able to crack the case 22 years later.
Minerliz’ family was relieved — and appalled.
Closure for Minerliz’s family came during a hearing 25 years in the making in Bronx Criminal Court, where the once unassuming neighbor was unmasked as a killer.
The cold case mystery was the first New York City murder solved using familial DNA, an innovative scientific technique that linked Martinez, 54, through DNA in his father’s criminal database.
Martinez was convicted in November. Bronx DA Darcel Clark said she couldn’t say enough about the breakthrough.
“Bronx detectives and my ADAs never gave up in the quest for justice for this beautiful little girl,” Clark said in a statement. “Their relentless dedication and compassion, coupled with advanced technology in DNA, led to the arrest and conviction.”
Clark said the girl was also sexually abused.
Minerliz, a straight-A student, grew up wanting to be an astronaut, an ambitious dream that put her in Martinez’s evil orbit.
Relatives and Minerliz’s best friend Kimberley Ortiz told the court about the victim’s shattered dream.
“Minnie was more than just a victim,” Ortiz said. “She’s a daughter, a friend and a beautiful soul who deserves a full life. She had dreams, laughter and a future that was taken from her in an instant.”
Martinez, known by the name “Jupiter Joe,” lived in the same apartment building as Mineritz, and offered adults and children free astronomy lessons about the planets and stars.
He was not considered a suspect at the time. But DNA found on the girl’s sweater partially matched that of Martinez’s deceased father, who was in a law enforcement database because of a years-earlier arrest.
Investigators followed up on the astronomy link.
One detective reached out to Martinez, posing as a mom who was looking for an astronomy lesson for her daughter, and they set up a meeting at a diner in New Rochelle, N.Y., where Martinez was then living.
Despite the conviction and the DNA match, Martinez has maintained his innocence.
