Ex-Cop Nick Tartaglione Charged in Chester Quad Murder

Four men vanished without a trace in April 2016 from the Likquid Lounge in Chester, New York—no bodies, no leads, just silence. Now, federal prosecutors say the man behind their brutal killings is Nicholas Tartaglione, a 49-year-old retired police officer from Otisville. Charged in a five-count federal indictment, Tartaglione stands accused of participating in a cocaine conspiracy and orchestrating the cold-blooded murders of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez—all in furtherance of a drug operation that turned deadly.

The indictment, unsealed in White Plains federal court, alleges that between June 2015 and April 2016, Tartaglione conspired to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. When the deal went sideways—or simply turned lethal—he allegedly didn’t call for backup. He pulled the trigger. The victims, some of whom were merely present during the confrontation, were executed in and around the bar, their bodies never recovered. For years, their families lived in agonizing limbo. Now, prosecutors say, the truth is out.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara didn’t mince words: ‘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.’ Bharara emphasized that Tartaglione, once sworn to uphold the law as a Briarcliff Manor officer, allegedly used his training and access to carry out calculated violence—betraying the badge and the public trust.

The FBI’s William F. Sweeney Jr. called the crimes ‘despicable,’ underscoring the twisted irony of a former protector becoming a predator. ‘The alleged murderer once swore to serve and protect,’ Sweeney said. ‘Instead, he’s accused of unleashing terror in a small-town bar.’ The FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, alongside the New York State Police and the Village of Chester Police Department, spent years piecing together forensic, digital, and witness evidence to close the case.

NYSP Superintendent George P. Beach II stressed the deadly link between narcotics and violence. ‘These brutal murders are prime examples of the dangerous crimes that are associated with drug distribution,’ he said. Chief Peter J. Graziano, Jr. of the Chester PD added that the crime showed ‘how destructive the drug trade is’—not just in cities, but in quiet rural towns like Chester, where a bar on a back road became a crime scene straight out of a mob thriller.

Tartaglione was arrested yesterday and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison in White Plains. He faces charges carrying the maximum penalties prescribed by Congress, though any actual sentence will be determined by the court. As the case moves forward, the families of the four men who disappeared that April night may finally see justice—not just for the victims, but for the rule of law itself.