A 59-year-old man was charged on Thursday with the cold case murder of an unidentified woman in Queens, a crime that dates back nearly three decades. This development comes years after he was convicted of a similar murder in Brooklyn, according to prosecutors.

Jose Velasquez, who used to reside in Astoria, is now facing charges related to the strangulation of a woman known only as “Jane Doe.” The victim, estimated to be between 25 and 35 years old, was killed in Room 119 of the Turf Motel on 14th Street near Broadway in 1998, as stated by the District Attorney’s office.

The woman, lacking any form of identification, was found under a mattress, wedged into the box spring with a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. This grim discovery was made on January 12, 1998, according to prosecutors.

Later that year, the medical examiner’s office confirmed that the cause of death was ligature strangulation.

During the autopsy, investigators collected DNA samples from the victim’s underwear as well as from scrapings and clippings of her fingernails.

That evidence was retested in May 2023, and investigators ultimately linked the DNA to Velasquez, prosecutors said.

Velasquez, meanwhile, was being held in an upstate lockup on a second-degree murder conviction for allegedly strangling another unidentified woman to death inside Park Slope’s Lincoln Plaza hotel – which is also now shuttered – in 1999, according to cops and online records.

That woman was found by a maintenance worker in a filled-up bathtub on April 29 and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. 

Velasquez was arrested in connection to her murder on May 2 and convicted on April 27, 2000, following a jury trial, according to cops and Brooklyn prosecutors.

Already holed up in prison for 25 years on the Brooklyn case, Velasquez denied ever having been to the Queens motel during an interview with members of the NYPD Cold Case Squad last year, the DA’s office said. 

He was arraigned Thursday on a grand jury indictment, charging him with second-degree murder, and ordered held without bail by Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant, according to the DA’s office. 

Velasquez faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

“For almost three decades, this female victim remained unidentified and without justice, but she was never forgotten,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement.

“Every victim matters, and we are committed to holding offenders accountable, no matter how long it takes. I thank members of my Cold Case Unit and our partners at the NYPD Cold Case Squad for their work on this case.”