POUGHKEEPSIE – Roy Johnson, the man accused of murdering Paul Kutz at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in the Town of Poughkeepsie last year, has been indicted on another murder charge. The new indictment accuses Johnson of being involved in the August 2022 robbery and murder of Darren Villani on Mansion Street in Poughkeepsie.
Johnson, according to the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, participated in the Villani murder with his accomplice in the Courtyard shooting, 26-year-old Devin Taylor. Taylor recently pled guilty to murdering Villani and also entered a guilty plea for a felony weapons charge related to the Courtyard murder. His sentencing is scheduled for April 19, 2023.
A grand jury indicted Johnson, 36, on two felony robbery charges and felony murder in the Villani case on March 27, 2023, according to Dutchess County Chief Assistant District Attorney Matt Weishaupt. The prosecutor said, “This indictment is a product of an ongoing investigation which developed additional evidence necessary to present this matter to a grand jury,” noting that the investigation into the Villani murder is still active.
Johnson was arraigned on the new charges before County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin, who remanded him to jail without bail, where he has been in custody since the Courtyard incident. Johnson was originally in the custody of the Dutchess County Jail but was relocated to the New York State Sing-Sing Correctional Facility in Westchester after he posed a security risk to staff and other inmates at the county jail.
Parolee Johnson maintains that he was not the shooter at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
The next court appearance for Johnson on the new charges that could result in a 25-year-to-life sentence if convicted, is April 18, 2023.
According to court documents, Johnson and Taylor conspired to rob Villani on that August morning. At one point, Villani, driving his Mercedes, picked up Johnson on Smith Street at approximately 1:15 a.m. while Taylor was in another parked car in the area. When Villani stopped on Mansion Street, with Johnson in the passenger seat, Taylor approached with a gun and reached through the open front passenger window. Villani attempted to flee, striking a parked car, reversing, and stopping a short distance later. Taylor returned to his vehicle and followed Villani’s car, which was driving erratically, as a result of Johnson and Villani fighting in the front seat of the vehicle. When Villani stopped again on Mansion Street near Bement Avenue, Villani pulled Johnson out of the car, and the two fell to the pavement, fighting.
Taylor exited his vehicle and approached Villani and shot him in the torso, and the victim collapsed in the intersection. Taylor approached the dying man, bent over him, and stole his gold chain and medallion. Taylor fled on Bement Avenue, hiding the gun under a children’s pool in a yard and hiding the gold chain in the foundation of the house at 32-34 Bement Avenue.
While Taylor was scurrying away, Johnson crouched over Villani’s lifeless body and then walked away, returning moments later. Upon returning, Johnson rifled through Villani’s car, taking a fanny pack containing cash before going back to Villani’s body to steal another chain and the victim’s watch before fleeing the area at approximately 1:45 a.m.
