A 34-year-old suspect was arrested Monday for the murders of two men who were partying at separate nightclubs in New York City last year after cops found a gruesome video of one of the victims’ bodies on his cellphone.
Police recently ran a search warrant on Robert DiMaio’s mobile phone and found video footage of him and another suspect in the apartment of political consultant John Omberger before he was found dead last May.
An unnamed source told the New York Post that one of the videos showed Amberger lying face-up on the bed and apparently unconscious.
Amberger, 33, was lying in the same position when first responders discovered him dead.
A medical examiner ruled his death — along with that of 25-year-old Julio Ramirez — a murder, saying both victims died in a “drug-facilitated robbery.”
Robert DiMaio, 34, turned himself in to authorities on Monday after cops discovered a video of John Amberger’s lifeless body on his cellphone.
Umberger, 33, a political consultant in Washington, D.C., was the victim of a murder after leaving a gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen in May 2022. Umberger was in New York on business
Julio Ramirez, 25, a social worker from New York, was another victim who was murdered in April 2022 after spending a night in Hell’s Kitchen. He was found dead in the back of a taxi
Umberger and Ramirez were last seen leaving gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen with strangers before they were found dead of a suspected drug overdose with fraudulent charges on their cards.
It is believed that they were targeted by thieves who drugged them into emptying their bank accounts before leaving the victims to die.
Authorities now say DiMaio, as well as his accomplices Jacob Barroso, 30, and Jaiquan Hamilton, 35, served lethal drug cocktails to Amberger and Ramirez when they were partying at gay clubs in Hell’s Kitchen in separate cases last year.
The crew allegedly stole thousands of dollars from their victims in at least 17 drug-related robberies last year, in which they would befriend unwitting victims at a prime Manhattan club and knock them out with a cocktail of drugs they would pass. Just cocaine.
They then took over the victims’ cellphones to electronically transfer money from their bank accounts.
“Drunken individuals leaving bars and nightclubs were approached by the defendant and others,” prosecutor Emily Chang said of DiMaio.
She continued, “The targeted victims would be offered a substance that was promoted as cocaine, and intoxication with this drug left the victims incapacitated.” “The deficit led to the death of two people.”
Jacob Barroso, 30, has been charged with murder in connection with Ramirez’s death. He was ordered held without bail on Monday
Third gang member, Andre Potts, ordered held on $100,000 cash bail or $150,000 bond
Amberger’s body was found on June 1 in the midtown Manhattan townhouse (pictured) where he was staying
Umberger, a political consultant from Washington, D.C., was found on May 28, 2022 on the fifth floor of an Upper East Side townhouse, days after he disappeared from Q NYC gay club.
Police later traced subsequent credit card purchases and linked his death to a series of nightclub robberies last year.
Meanwhile, Ramirez was found dead in the back of a cab on the Lower East Side after he was seen partying at The Ritz Bar and Lounge on April 21, 2022.
Both men died of “acute intoxication” from the same lethal cocktail of “fentanyl, fluorofentanyl, cocaine, lidocaine, and ethanol.” The coroner revealed that Ramirez also had ‘heroin’ in his system.
“Our entire city continues to mourn the tragic losses of Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Omberger,” Alvin Bragg Manhattan said in a statement.
“In addition to the unimaginable pain their families and loved ones are experiencing, I know that many other New Yorkers fear for their safety when they experience New York’s vibrant nightlife.”
Authorities are now investigating a separate gang for the alleged murder of fashion designer Katie Gallagher (pictured here in 2014)
DiMaio was charged with murder and robbery last month, and turned himself in to police in the Fifth Precinct on Monday — two days after Barroso turned himself in.
DiMaio and Barroso, as well as the alleged third member of the gang, Andre Potts, were arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday.
Police are still searching for another gang suspect, Gaekwan Hamilton, 34, who has been charged with murder by a Manhattan grand jury in the deaths of the two victims.
Judge Angela Badamo ordered that DiMaio and Barroso be held without bail, while Potts — also charged with a burglary in June — was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail or a $150,000 bond.
Police are still searching for another gang suspect, Gaekwan Hamilton, 34, who has been charged with murder by a Manhattan grand jury in the deaths of the two victims. Barroso was also charged with Ramirez’s death, but not Amberger’s.
Another member of their crew, Shane Haskins, was arrested Thursday and is being held at Rikers Island on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
This investigation led to a second pattern of at least 26 drug attacks and robberies with different suspects and possibly involving an additional five overdose deaths.
In these cases, the suspects befriend their victims inside bars where they offer them drugs or sneak their drinks before forcibly stealing money, phones, and jewelry.
The gang has been blamed for the drugged death of fashion designer Kate Gallagher, and a body was found dead in her Lower East Side apartment in July after being fed a lethal mixture.
Police have already identified Kenwood Allen, a 33-year-old career criminal, as a person of interest in the designer’s death.
Allen – who has 17 previous arrests – is already charged with the March 18, 2022 death of Norbu Çıra at a club on Seventh Street and the July 30, 2022 death of Erdjan Berisha.
