Delivery driver convicted of murder after DNA found in fingernails of Google employee killed on morning jog

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A Massachusetts man has pleaded guilty to killing a Google employee six years ago.

Thirty-six-year-old Angelo Colon-Ortiz, who worked as a delivery worker, killed Vanessa Marcotte, 27, while she was on a morning jog on 7 August 2016. Marcotte’s body was found partially clothed in a wooded area just half a mile from her mother’s house in Princeton, where she had been visiting from New York.

Under the plea agreement with the prosecution, Colon-Ortiz accepted charges of second-degree murder and unarmed robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison and will not be eligible for parole in 45 years, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Investigators determined DNA underneath Marcotte’s fingernails matched Colon-Ortiz’s after a warrant was obtained for his arrest in April 2017. He had been in custody without bond since and had initially pleaded not guilty to the murder of Marcotte.

“We are thankful and gratified the legal process has accomplished what we always wished for, that this man will now be in a place where he can’t hurt anyone else like the way he hurt Vanessa,” Marcotte’s family said after the hearing.

“The completion of this case is the result of the tireless and committed work of the Massachusetts State Police, Princeton Police and Assistant District Attorneys who were involved in the investigation and prosecution of Vanessa’s killer,” Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D Early said.

“We know nothing can bring Vanessa back, but we know, through the meticulous work of the prosecutors and investigators involved, justice will be served, and the plea allows Vanessa’s family to move on from this tragedy.”

Marcotte graduated from Boston University in 2011 and stayed in the Boston area for several years. In January 2015, she started a new job as a healthcare account manager at Google in New York City.

She was found partially clothed and with burned marks on her body.

An autopsy determined that she was strangled. She also suffered blunt-force trauma to the head and her torso and a fractured nose.

Marcotte’s mother, Rossana Marcotte, gave a victim impact statement during the Wednesday hearing.

“One thing I remember very clearly is the smile on her face as she left to go for her walk,” Ms Marcotte told the court. “That is the last time I would see her lovely smile. When she smiled, I smiled. My heart was full.”