Man Sentenced to Life for Murdering and Dismembering Roommate in to Collect Life Insurance Benefits
A federal court sentenced Cory Martin to life in prison after convicting him of murdering and dismembering a woman to cash in $200,000 in life insurance. Photo credit: U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York.
Cory Martin was convicted in March of murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and fraudulent use of identification, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York. On Nov. 6, a federal court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy plus another two years for aggravated identity theft to run concurrently with his life sentence.
“The defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison for this ghastly, cold-blooded crime that was motivated by greed and executed after extensive planning,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
A Sordid Story
Martin lived with the victim, Brandy Odom, in a house located in Rosedale, Queens. Odom was a sex worker, while Martin was her pimp. Another resident of the house, Adelle Anderson, who was also a sex worker, was named as a co-conspirator in the complaint. Martin and Anderson colluded to obtain a fraudulent life insurance policy under Odom’s name in March and December of 2017. They named Anderson the beneficiary of the life insurance policy.
After fraudulently taking out the policy on Odom, the pair then made premium payments of the insurance policies using a debit card in Odom’s name, along with money orders from Western Union. During the trial, Anderson testified that she and Martin watched the TV shows “The First 48” and “Dexter” to get an idea of “what not to do, and what things to avoid being caught by the police,” according to the press release.
Murder Most Foul
In early 2018, Martin strangled Odom in her bedroom. Martin and Anderson purchased a vacuum and cleaning supplies to clean up the murder scene. Anderson also testified that Martin dismembered the victim in a bathtub using an electric saw after covering surfaces with black garbage bags to make clean-up easy.
After dismembering her, Martin and Anderson then disposed of Odom’s body in Canarsie Park in the early hours of April 8 and April 9. Martin’s browser history showed he had searched dozens of times for news articles relating to a body found in Canarsie Park.
Filing the Life Insurance Claim
Seventeen days after the body was discovered, Anderson called the insurance company’s customer service number to make a claim. Anderson claimed to be the sister of Brandy Odom and inquired about filing a claim on the policy.
Anderson placed additional calls the following June and August to check the claim’s status. The voice of Anderson on those calls was the same voice that claimed to be Brandy Odom when the policy was set up, according to the indictment.
More Telephonic Evidence
Detectives seized a cell phone belonging to Martin while serving a search warrant on the residence he shared with Anderson. After obtaining a warrant to search the phone, authorities discovered incriminating search information and communication between Martin and Anderson detailing various aspects of the crime.
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