The likely remains of four Hispanic men who went missing eight months ago in upstate New York were discovered by investigators Tuesday while searching property linked to a retired police officer accused of their murder.
Nicholas Tartaglione, 49, was arrested Monday on charges of murder and conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine in connection with the unsealing of a superseding indictment in U.S. District Court.
The former member of the Briarcliff Manor Police Department remains in custody after pleading not guilty in White Plains federal court Monday, the Lower Hudson Valley’s Journal News reported.
The 5-count indictment unsealed against Mr. Tartaglione on Monday accuses the former cop of intentionally killing four men in April 2016 inside a Chester, N.Y. bar owned by his brother, the Likquid Lounge, during an apparent drug deal gone awry.
On Tuesday authorities executed a search warrant at property tied to Mr. Tartaglione located roughly around 20 miles west of Chester in the village of Otisville, and in doing so discovered the remains of four men believed to be his alleged murder victims.
The four men – Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez – hadn’t been seen or heard from since April 11 when surveillance cameras captured them exiting a vehicle parked in the same plaza as the Likquid Lounge where prosecutors believe they were senselessly murdered by Mr. Tartaglione.
Chester Police Chief Peter Graziano told the Journal News that the four bodies were found on property rented by the former cop and were being sent to a local medical examiner’s office to be positively identified.
Speaking to the Journal News, the police chief said the incident was likely the first quadruple homicide ever to occur in the quaint village of Chester.
“It’s just despicable and heinous you know that a guy who has taken an oath and sworn to protect the people turned around and just because he’s no longer a police officer then turns to these kinds of things, whether it’s drugs, or money, or murder,” he told a local CBS News affiliate.
“While all murders tear at the fabric of our communities, when the alleged perpetrator of a gangland-style, quadruple homicide is a former police officer, that strikes at the heart of civilized society,” added U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Mr. Tartaglione served as a police officer in Mount Vernon and Pawling prior to joining the Briarcliff Manor PD in 1996, the Journal News reported. He retired from the force on disability in 2008, and in the interim had a checkered history with law enforcement that included a suspension in 1999 following an arrest for perjury.
Mr. Tartaglione is due in back court for an initial conference Jan. 5. Each of the five counts he faces carries a mandatory minimum of at least 10 years in prison upon conviction, and four of the charges are capital crimes.
His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.