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On Thursday, April 6, former NYC police officer Nicholas Tartaglione was convicted by a federal jury of killing four men in the 2016 Hudson Valley murder spree. The victims were identified as Martin Luna, two of his nephews - Miguel Luna and Urbano Santiago, and a family friend, Hector Gutierrez.
The 55-year-old former NYC police officer retired from the Briarcliff Manor Police Department in 2008 due to an injury he suffered five years ago, according to The Associated Press.
Federal prosecutors stated that Nicholas Tartaglione was involved in the sale of a variety of drugs from cocaine to steroids. He had suspected Martin Luna of stealing $200,000 from him and lured Martin, his two nephews, and their family friend into a "deadly trap," US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said.
The brutal murders were called a "gangland-style" execution by prosecutors, a report by Fox News stated.
Nicholas Tartaglione used a zip tie to strangle Martin Luna
After he suspected Martin Luna, 41, of stealing from him, Tartaglione lured him to a New York bar called the Likquid Lounge. Unaware of what lay ahead, Martin Luna came along with two nephews and a friend, Hector Gutierrez.
When the four arrived at the bar, Tartaglione killed Martin Luna in cold blood by strangling him to death with a zip tie in front of his nephews and Gutierrez.
The accused and his two associates then took the other three victims to his Otisville, New York property, a remote and a wooded location. Once there, he forced them to kneel and executed them with gunshots to the back of their heads.
All four victims were reportedly buried in a mass grave at that location.
Following the conviction, Attorney Damian Williams said:
"Tartaglione’s heinous acts represent a broader betrayal, as he was a former police officer who once swore to protect the very community he devastated."
According to the family and prosecutors, Miguel Luna, Santiago and Gutierrez were not part of the alleged drug dealings.
According to CBS New York, Nicholas Tartaglione’s trial in White Plains federal court was three-weeks long. At the trial, Tartaglione’s lawyers pointed to the alleged involvement of fellow bodybuilders and enforcers Joseph Biggs and former cop Gerard Benderoth, with hopes of creating reasonable doubt in the case.
Nicholas Tartaglione will be sentenced to life in prison.
Tartaglione and the Jeffrey Epstein connection
The former cop-turned-drug dealer grabbed the spotlight for being the cellmate of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein at the now-closed Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
On July 23, 2019, Epstein was found in his cell in a semi-conscious state with marks on his neck. This led to accusations that the former New York police officer "roughed him up."
Although Tartaglione was questioned, his lawyers fought back and no charges were filed.
Epstein died a month later on August 10, 2019, but Nicholas Tartaglione was not in the cell at the time. His death was later ruled a suicide by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.
After Epstein's death, Nicholas Tartaglione even requested a transfer to a different prison on grounds of harassment by prison guards, as per court documents.
