ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – One of the suspects in the disturbing Chemung County kidnapping-torture-murder case has pleaded guilty in court, and another, who also appeared in court, is already in prison for a separate kidnapping case. This marks the first real update in the case since the accusations in September 2021.
Malik Weems and Eddie Marte appeared in Chemung County Court on May 5, 2023. Weems pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree Murder for killing Juan Jose Gotay. His sentencing is scheduled for July 14, with a potential sentence of 18 years to life in prison.
Weems also pleaded guilty to 1st-degree Kidnapping in a separate case from late April 2021 in Geneva. Marte, who also appeared in court, is already in prison for the Geneva case.
The Chemung County Case
Their court appearance was two years to the day after police combed through two houses on Elmira’s southside in connection to the case. Four months later, the dots were connected, and details came to light that accused four men of kidnapping, torturing, disfiguring, and murdering 38-year-old Juan Jose Gotay before dumping his body in a remote part of Potter County, Pa. in January 2021.
This is one of many court appearances from the two, along with Thomas Bovaird (a Horseheads man and the first to be accused in the case); however, few, if any, new details have come to light since September 2021. A fourth man was arrested and indicted for the case when he was 17; the indictment said that he was only 16 at the time of the murder. Though he is now at least 18 years old, officials have not released his name.
The Other Kidnappings
In their indictment regarding Gotay’s murder, the two were also accused of kidnapping a man in Chemung County in early April 2021 with intent to hold him for ransom, physically harm him, and terrorize him.
Marte and Weems were also accused of a kidnapping and torture case in Geneva in April 2021, just months after the Gotay murder. In February 2023, Marte was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the Geneva case. At the time of his arrest, Marte, Weems, and one other were accused of punching and kicking the victim in the face and torso, as well as burning them with a hot knife and beating them with belts and cords.
The recap of the case, above, originally aired on WETM on September 14, 2022.
For the Geneva case, the Ontario County DA’s office confirmed Marte pleaded guilty to two counts each of 1st-degree Burglary, 1st-degree Robbery, 3rd-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, and 2nd-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon. He also pleaded guilty to one count of 2nd-degree Kidnapping. He’s currently in the Attica Correctional Facility in Western New York.
In their indictment regarding Gotay’s murder, the two were also accused of kidnapping a man in Chemung County in early-April 2021 with intent to
This case is ongoing. Check back for updates as the four men accused of Gotay’s murder proceed through Chemung County Court.
