Jupiter Joe Guilty: DNA Straw Trap at New Rochelle Diner Ends 26-Year Hunt for Bronx Girl’s Killer

BRONX, NY (November 15, 2025) — Joseph Martinez, the New Rochelle resident known as “Jupiter Joe” for sidewalk astronomy lessons in the Bronx, was convicted Thursday of murdering 13-year-old Minerliz Soriano in 1999 after a discarded diner straw provided the DNA match to semen on the Bronx girl’s clothes.

Martinez, 53, who lived on Memorial Highway in New Rochelle at the time of his 2021 arrest, faced trial in Bronx Supreme Court on two counts of second-degree murder. Jurors found him guilty of intentional murder in the course of sexual abuse and felony murder after a month-long proceeding that ended Nov. 14, 2025.

Soriano vanished Feb. 24, 1999, after leaving Junior High School 127 in the Eastchester section of the Bronx. Her body was found four days later inside a green garbage bag in a Co-op City dumpster, bound with green gaffer’s tape. The medical examiner ruled she had been strangled; semen was recovered from her sweatshirt.

Detectives reopened the cold case in 2018. Familial DNA searching in 2019 produced a partial match to Martinez’s deceased father in the state database. In late 2021, an NYPD Detective, posing as a mother seeking an astronomy lesson for her daughter, met Martinez at a diner in New Rochelle near his Memorial Highway home. Investigators retrieved the straw Martinez used and matched its DNA to the semen on Soriano’s sweatshirt.

Martinez was arrested without incident Nov. 30, 2021. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark praised the verdict, saying, “Bronx detectives and my ADAs never gave up in the quest to hold accountable the killer of this beautiful little girl. It was their relentless dedication and compassion, coupled with advanced technology in DNA, that led to the arrest and conviction.”

Sentencing is set for Jan. 8, 2026; Martinez faces up to 25 years to life.

Joseph Martinez, a 53-year-old former Citibank employee and Bronx community astronomer known as “Jupiter Joe,” ran Jupiter Joe’s Sidewalk Astronomy, offering free telescope viewings on Bronx sidewalks and subway platforms to teach kids about stars and planets. Featured on News 12 and YouTube

This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.