Nicholas Tartaglione is a killer from New York State who was convicted of the murders of four people
According to court documents Nicholas Tartaglione at one time was a police officer in Westchester County in New York State before he retired and started his sexond career as a drug dealer
On April 11 2016 Nicholas Tartaglione would murder Martin Luna, 41, by strangulation and executing Urbano Santiago, 35; Miguel Luna, 25; and Hector Gutierrez all to further his drug dealing business
On top of the murders Nicholas Tartaglione would also be convicted of kidnapping and narcotics conspiracy.
Nicholas Tartaglione would be sentenced to four life sentences with no chance of parole
Of course Nicholas Tartaglione would receive a ton of attention while awaiting his court date as he was the cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein. Apparently two weeks before Epstein committed suicide he would tell his lawyer that the prior suicide attempt was not an attempt but injuries sustained during an altercation with Tartaglione
Nicholas Tartaglione Case
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that NICHOLAS TARTAGLIONE was sentenced today to four consecutive life sentences for his leadership role in the 2016 murders of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez. TARTAGLIONE, who is a former police officer, orchestrated the kidnapping and murders of all four victims on April 11, 2016. TARTAGLIONE was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Nicholas Tartaglione brutally and senselessly murdered Martin Luna over money, and then ruthlessly executed Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He tried to cover up his crimes by burying all four victims in a shallow grave on his property. Thanks to the tireless efforts of countless law enforcement officers at the federal, state, and local level, and the relentless pursuit of justice by the career prosecutors in my Office, Tartaglione has now been held accountable for his reprehensible crimes. Today’s sentence of four consecutive life terms justly reflects the pain and suffering each victim underwent at Tartaglione’s hands. I hope that this outcome brings some measure of closure to the victims’ families and to their community.”According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, the evidence offered at trial, statements made in open court, and matters included in public filings:
On April 11, 2016, NICHOLAS TARTAGLIONE, a former police officer, orchestrated the kidnapping and murders of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez. Martin was 41 years old when he died. Urbano was Martin’s nephew by marriage and was 35 years old when he died. Miguel was Martin’s nephew and was 25 years old when he died. Hector was a close family friend of all three and was 43 years old when he died. All four victims left behind a loving family, and many of their family members attended the trial in this case.
Martin was killed because TARTAGLIONE believed Martin had stolen approximately $250,000 meant for the purchase of cocaine. TARTAGLIONE tortured Martin by restraining him and beating him for over an hour, but when Martin did not provide the location of the missing money, TARTAGLIONE strangled Martin to death with a zip-tie. Urbano, Miguel, and Hector were killed — each with a single gunshot to the back of the head, execution style — because they witnessed Martin’s murder and were in the wrong place at the wrong time. TARTAGLIONE buried all four victims in a mass grave on his remote property in Otisville, New York. The four victims remained in the ground until the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (“FBI”) Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force located the grave in December 2016.
At today’s sentencing, Judge Karas described TARTAGLIONE as a “monster” who has shown no remorse for his conduct.
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TARTAGLIONE, 56, of Otisville, New York, was found guilty of 11 counts of murder, four counts of kidnapping resulting in death, one count of kidnapping conspiracy, and one count of narcotics conspiracy.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the New York State Police, and the Village of Chester Police Department. Mr. Williams also thanked the City of Middletown Police Department and the Houston, Texas Police Department for their assistance in the case.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (“OCDETF”) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles criminal organizations using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maurene Comey and Jacob R. Fiddelman, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Shannon Becker, are in charge of the prosecution.
Nicholas Tartaglione News
former suburban New York cop who turned drug dealer and orchestrated the executions of four men in 2016 was sentenced Monday to four back-to-back life sentences, federal prosecutors said.
Nicholas Tartaglione suspected a man of stealing from him in 2016 and lured him into a trap, after which he and others executed the man, as well as three family members or friends who happened to be with him, the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said.
“Nicholas Tartaglione brutally and senselessly murdered Martin Luna over money, and then ruthlessly executed Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
A jury convicted Tartaglione, 56, in April 2023 on 11 counts of murder, four counts of kidnapping resulting in death, one count of kidnapping conspiracy and one count of narcotics conspiracy.
He had been a police officer in Briarcliff Manor, a village in Westchester County, around 20 miles north of New York City.
Tartaglione tortured Martin Luna, whom he had suspected of stealing $250,000, and then strangled him with a zip tie, prosecutors said.
He then took the three other men — Luna’s nephews, Urbano Santiago, and Miguel Luna, and family friend Hector Gutierrez — to some woods and forced them to kneel, Williams has said. They all were then shot in the back of the head.
Those three men just happened to be with Martin Luna when the kidnapping occurred.
They were killed “because they witnessed Martin’s murder and were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing letter, in which they called Tartaglione’s offenses “monstrous.”
The bodies of all four men were buried on Tartaglione’s property in Otisville in upstate New York, officials said. An FBI task force found the bodies in December 2021.
Tartaglione was sentenced Monday to four life sentences, which are to run consecutively.
His attorney, Inga Parsons, said they are appealing and will continue to fight to show Tartaglione’s innocence.
In March, Tartaglione filed a motion through his attorney for a new trial, arguing that his legal counsel failed to challenge crucial evidence, as well as other missteps. Tartaglione said he was innocent.
The judge denied the motion for a new trial, records show.
Tartaglione is a former police officer and body builder who sold steroids to other body builders in the Hudson Valley area, prosecutors said, including to two people who assisted in the kidnapping and killings, Joseph Biggs and Gerard Benderoth.
Biggs, Tartaglione and Benderoth each shot one of the three men they’d forced to kneel, according to prosecutors.
“Under Tartaglione’s direction, Urbano, Miguel, and Hector were forced out of the car and onto their knees at gunpoint. Then one by one, each was executed,” prosecutors wrote in the sentencing letter. “The terror the last victim to die must have felt borders on the incomprehensible.”
As the four victims remained missing, their families reported their disappearance to police, which eventually led to the FBI task force’s finding their bodies.
Benderoth has died. Biggs pleaded guilty and in April was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison.
Two other men, Jason Sullivan and Marcos Cruz, were also involved and pleaded guilty. Sullivan was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison, and Cruz was sentenced in November to time already served