Pimp and madam are charged after trying to cash in $200k life insurance policies they took out on Brooklyn prostitute whose dismembered body was found in a park two years ago
- Dismembered body of Brandy Odom, 26, found in Brooklyn park in April 2018
- Cory Martin, 33, and Adelle Anderson, 32, have been arrested over the killing
- Police say Martin, a pimp, and Anderson, a madam, took out two life insurance policies on Odom worth $200,000 and then killed her to claim the money
- Pair arrested last week after Anderson allegedly confessed, fearing for her life
Two people have been arrested over the murder of a prostitute whose dismembered body was found in a Brooklyn park two years ago.
Cory Martin, 33, and Adelle Anderson, 32, were arrested last week over the murder of Brandy Odom, 26, whose remains were discovered in Canarsie Park in April 2018.
Prosecutors say Martin and Anderson, a pimp and a madame, took out two life insurance policies worth a total of $200,000 on Odom shortly before she was killed, then tried to cash them in after she was dead.
Brandy Odom has been identified as the woman whose remains were found dumped in Brooklyn's Canarsie Park on Monday and Tuesday
Police investigate a crime scene on April 9, 2018 in Canarsie Park in Brooklyn where the torso of a woman was found
Prosecutors believe Martin carried out the killing, but he has not yet been charged with murder.
Instead, both Martin and Anderson have been charged with federal wire fraud and identity theft.
'The murder of Brandy Odom and the subsequent dismemberment and disposal of her body reflects Martin's utter disregard for human life,' Assistant US Attorney Tanya Hajjar wrote in the court papers.
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'The crime was premeditated, gruesome, and motivated by greed.'
Prosecutors say Martin and Anderson hatched their murder plot in March 2017, when they applied for a $50,000 life insurance policy in Odom's name from Globe Life Insurance Company.
The policy lists Anderson as Odom's sister, and names her the sole beneficiary.
In December, another life insurance policy was taken out - this time for $150,000 - from American National Insurance Company.
Again, Anderson was listed as Odom's sister and sole beneficiary of the policy.
On April 6, 2018, Martin bought a reciprocating saw, five blades and black trash bags from a Home Depot in Long Island.
The park has been closed to the public since Monday; on Tuesday, investigators found Odom's leg and a bag full of other body parts in the park as well
His phone was then used to search YouTube for 'how to insert blade for reciprocating saw' and 'using reciprocating saw.'
On April 7, the night before the body was found, cameras captured Martin backing his car into the drive of his Queens home that he shared with Odom and Anderson.
He and Anderson can then be seen loading black trash bags into the boot, which police believe contained Odom's body.
On April 8, her dismembered torso was found in Canarsie Park by a dog walker. Investigators later found Odom's leg and a bag full of other body parts.
The following day, prosecutors say Martin's phone was used to make dozens of Google searches about the murder.
Seventeen days after the body was found, Anderson allegedly tried to make a claim on the $50,000 insurance policy, calling the company and telling them that her sister had passed away.
Asked whether the death was 'natural, an accident, homicide or suicide', Anderson replied 'the third one'.
Anderson was told that, because the policy was less than two years old, she would need a certified death certificate, a doctor’s statement and a coroner’s report to make her claim.
The following day, the woman's leg and a bag containing more dismembered body parts were found in the park
Prosecutors say she called back three more times to check the progress of the claim, but there is no evidence she sent any of the paperwork.
Two months after Odom's body was found, Anderson called the second insurer - again claiming to be Odom's sister and saying she had been killed.
'Hate saying it. It’s just, it’s unbelievable,' she told the insurer. Anderson then made two follow-up calls about the claim, but it is again unclear whether she provided any evidence to substantiate it.
Police initially questioned Martin as a suspect in Odom's death, but he was never arrested or charged.
He was finally arrested on November 4 in New Jersey alongside Anderson.
About a week before the arrest, police say Anderson confessed that Martin had killed Odom and said that she was scared for her own safety.
She also allegedly confessed to helping dispose of Odom's remains after she had been cut up using a saw.
The pair appeared in a Brooklyn court via videolink the same day for a bail hearing.
Martin was remanded in custody while Anderson was freed on a $200,000 bond.
Odom’s cousin Juwana Newman told the New York Daily News that she was 'full of joy' after leaning about the arrests, two years after Odom died.
'We lost a family member in a crucial situation, my heart does feel a little bit at ease... Two years of emotional pain, not knowing why,' she said.
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