The death of two men who were drugged and assaulted at a New York City gay bar was homicide, according to the prosecutor.
In both cases, the men were last seen leaving gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen with strangers before being found dead of a suspected drug overdose with fraudulent charges on their cards.
They were allegedly targeted by thieves who drugged them to drain their bank accounts before leaving the victims to die.
John Umberger, 33, a political consultant from Washington, D.C., disappeared in May 2022 and Julio Ramirez, 25, disappeared in April 2022 after a night out at Hell’s Kitchen. Both were later found dead.
The Chief Medical Examiner said the cause of death was “drug-facilitated robbery.” NBC news reported.
Both men died from ‘acute intoxication’ of the same deadly cocktail ‘fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol’. Ramirez also had “heroin” in his body, the coroner revealed.
John Umberger, 33, a political consultant from Washington, D.C., fell victim to a murder after leaving a gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen in May 2022. Umberger was in New York on business
Julio Ramirez, 25, was a New York social worker and was another victim killed in April 2022 after a night out at Hell’s Kitchen. He was found dead in the back of a taxi
Q Bar was one of the gay bars the men went to in Hell’s Kitchen before they were found dead.
Ramirez, who was a social worker, was found dead in the back of a taxi before his bank account was emptied after a night out at the Ritz Bar and Lounge.
Umberger, who was in New York on business, was staying in an apartment on the Upper Eastside where he was found dead.
When DailyMail.com contacted the NYPD to find out if there were any more attacks, they did not respond.
But in November, police said they believe their Umberger and Ramirez deaths are part of a pattern and are continuing to investigate similar robbery patterns where victims were given drugs in Manhattan bars before being assaulted and robbed.
Linda Clary, Umberger’s mother, shared it CBS news she was “relieved” that people were putting the pieces together.
“For me, the greatest tragedy would be to label someone’s death an overdose when that’s not what happened.”
But she also expressed concern about others who may become victims.
“People are still getting hurt because potentially these people are still out there,” she said.
Police believe their deaths were part of a pattern with more than a dozen other victims surviving.
In any case, detectives believe that a group of four men approached the victims by offering them drugs, and after drugging them, they steal their cell phone and transfer money electronically from their accounts.
This investigation has led to a second pattern involving several suspects and possibly five more overdose deaths, the news outlet reported.
In these cases, the suspects befriend their victims in bars where they offer them drugs or slip their drinks before violently stealing money, phones, and jewelry.
Linda Clary pictured with her son John
Umberger’s body was found June 1 in the Midtown Manhattan townhouse (pictured) where he was staying
Erick Bottcher, a member of the New York City Council whose district includes Hell’s Kitchen, called on the Manhattan district attorney’s office to immediately move forward with the charges.
“We demand justice for the people who killed Julio Ramirez and John Umberger,” Bottcher said in a text message.
“As we approach the one-year anniversary of their murders, the pain experienced by their families, friends and our entire community is only compounded by the fact that their killers have not been brought to justice.”
A spokesman for the prosecutor told DailyMail.com on Friday that “the investigation is ongoing.”
