Ex-Cop Nicholas Tartaglione Gets 4 Life Terms for 2016 Quadruple Murder

NEW YORK – In a gruesome case that shocked the nation, former police officer Nicholas Tartaglione was sentenced to four consecutive life terms for orchestrating the 2016 quadruple murder of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, 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. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, who described Tartaglione as a “monster” who has shown no remorse for his conduct.

The victims, all in their 30s and 40s, were killed execution style with a single gunshot to the back of the head. Martin Luna, 41, was killed because Tartaglione believed he had stolen approximately $250,000 meant for the purchase of cocaine. The other three victims were killed because they witnessed Martin’s murder and were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tartaglione tortured Martin Luna by restraining him and beating him for over an hour, but when he did not provide the location of the missing money, Tartaglione strangled him to death with a zip-tie. The victims were then buried in a mass grave on Tartaglione’s 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.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the New York State Police, and the Village of Chester Police Department. He also thanked the City of Middletown Police Department and the Houston, Texas Police Department for their assistance in the case.

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, led the prosecution. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (“OCDETF”) operation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles criminal organizations using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.