Update on Joselyn Martínez Solving the Cold Case Murder of Her Father and Finally Getting Justice

Joselyn Martínez, holding a photo
of her late father, José Martínez.

In 2013, actress-singer Joselyn Martínez was able to solve the cold case murder of her father in 1986, leading the police to the accused killer, Justo Santos (who fled New York to his native Dominican Republic and later returned to the United States, living in the Miami area, where he was apprehended).

While Santos served a short prison sentence in connection with the murder of José Martínez upon his return to the Dominican Republic under his country's law against killing another Dominican national, he was never tried in the United States.

Joselyn Martínez, at right, with her
mother, Idalia Martínez, in court.

While the Manhattan District Attorney's office brought a murder indictment, the case was deemed too old to stick by a judge in 2014. However, Santos failed to disclose to immigration officials that he was connected to the Martínez murder when he re-entered the United States. As a result, he was charged with immigration fraud and tried.

Thirty years after the murder of José Martínez, a Miami court found Santos guilty of immigration fraud on Wednesday, July 27, 2016; he faces a maximum of 10 years when sentenced this October. Both Joselyn Martínez and her mother Idalia Martínez were present in court for the decision.

For more information, click here, here and here.