Tartaglione
MOUNT HOPE – A former police officer is charged with killing four men who disappeared last April in Chester.
Charges were filed against Nicholas Tartaglione for the quadruple murder
committed in Chester. He was arrested on Monday and charged in a five-count
indictment for his participation in a conspiracy to distribute five kilograms
and more of cocaine and for the murders of Hector Gutierrez, Martin Luna,
Miguel Luna, and Urbano Santiago.
Dozens of police cars lined up along Old Mountain Road, about a mile north of Otisville, in Mount Hope as an investigation was underway all day Tuesday.
State and local police and FBI agents scoured Tartaglione’s property and found the bodies of the four victims.
Tartaglione, 49, of Mount Hope , a former cop in Briarcliff Manor and
Pawling, allegedly participated in the murder of the four men in the Likquid
Lounge, a Chester bar, owned by a relative. He was charged with
conspiracy to distribute and possession five kilos of cocaine and the
murders of the four men. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of
life in prison or death.
Martin Luna
Miguel Luna
Urbano Santiago
Participating in the investigation along with the FBI were the State Police, Village of Chester Police and Middletown City Police.
“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,” said US Attorney Preet Bharara.
“These brutal murders are prime examples of the dangerous crimes that are associated with drug distribution,” said State Police Superintendent George Beach II. “Narcotics destroy communities and put lives at risk.”
