Man convicted of murdering ex at Belmont

Franco-Martinez, of Elmont, traveled from Kansas to kill former girlfriend

BY BRANDON DUFFY

An Elmont man was convicted Tuesday of murdering his ex-girlfriend at Belmont Racetrack, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced Wednesday.

Jose Franco-Martinez, 58, stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Maria Larin, multiple times around her body with a silver kitchen knife as she was working with horses on the track, the DA’s office said.

He faces a potential maximum of 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of murder in the second degree. He is due back in court May 19 for sentencing.

Franco-Martinez wasupset with Larin after their romantic relationship ended, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“This defendant drove more than 1,000 miles across the country to murder his ex-girlfriend after he began to suspect that she was seeing another man. Without warning, on Father’s Day morning in 2018, he showed up to the Belmont Racetrack where she worked, waited for her to appear, and without uttering a single word, viciously attacked her with a knife,” Donnelly said in a statement.

“He stabbed and cut her 23 times as her co-workers ran over to try and

Pugs Bunny