Indictments are handed up in connection with NYC gay bar killings, sources say
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • last year • 12 commentsBy: Matt Lavietes, Jonathan Dienst, Stephanie Gosk and Kenzi Abou-Sabe
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A Manhattan grand jury has indicted several suspects in connection with the deaths of two men who were drugged and killed in separate incidents following visits to New York City gay bars last year, two law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
The officials said the suspects were indicted in the deaths of John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant, and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker. It was not clear how many suspects were charged with murder, but they were among six people indicted on robbery charges in a pattern that police say involved a total of 17 victims.
At least four people have been arrested, according to two law enforcement sources.
The officials added that police believe the victims were targeted for financial gain and not because of their sexual orientation. Still, the officials said, the New York City Police Department's Hate Crime Task Force is assisting in the investigation.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment, as did an NYPD spokesman, citing the ongoing investigation.
John Umberger and Julio Ramirez.Linda Clary / Family photo
Umberger and Ramirez were both found dead after visiting gay bars in the city's lively Hell's Kitchen neighborhood last spring. Both had left the bars with at least one unknown person before their bank accounts were drained of thousands of dollars using facial recognition access on their phones, according to their family members. This month — nearly a year after they were found dead — the medical examiner's office ruled their deaths as homicides caused by a "drug-facilitated theft." Multiple drugs were found in their systems, including fentanyl, lidocaine and cocaine.
"I am relieved because it means we're one step closer to these people not being able to hurt anyone else," Linda Clary, Umberger's mother, said of the indictments. "These people are hurting too many people, and they need to be taken off the streets."
Linda Clary and John Umberger.Courtesy Linda Clary
The New York City medical examiner's office also confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating "several additional deaths in similar circumstances" to those of Ramirez and Umberger. It is unclear, however, if they were of gay men found dead after visiting gay bars or whether they were connected to the indicted suspects.
A spokesperson for the medical examiner's office said they "could not comment further due to the ongoing criminal investigations."
In the months following the deaths of Ramirez and Umberger, more gay New Yorkers stepped forward with eerily similar accounts. NBC News has spoken with several gay men who said they survived similar incidents from December 2021 to October 2022, both before and after the deaths of Ramirez and Umberger.
The NYPD confirmed in mid-November that it was investigating additional accounts of grand larceny at other Manhattan gay bars that had similarities to the Umberger and Ramirez cases. Police also said they were investigating comparable incidents that occurred at bars in the city without LGBTQ affiliations.
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It was not clear how many suspects were charged with murder, but they were among six people indicted on robbery charges in a pattern that police say involved a total of 17 victims.
That kind of conflicts with the impression one gets from the title. In other words, the killers were simply thugs who didn't discriminate.
Yep.
There’s no conflict, and it’s too early to come to that conclusion. They were, factually, patrons of gay bars who were killed. That’s really all the headline says.
Two things can be true. The killers may be primarily motivated by greed, but also prefer to prey on gay victims.
Always
The killers may be primarily motivated by greed, but also prefer to prey on gay victims.
Yup, that could be. And they may not have even know or cared that they were gay.
That's your takeaway? What I got was they're investigating similar crimes to see if there's a connection and following the evidence while being careful to not make assumptions.
Too bad NY doesn't have the death penalty
We do not, and had we, the Central Park 5 would have been executed, instead of exonerated.
Didn't they confess?
Even if they were executed, who could be blamed?
The cops who pounded them for over 24 hours without council told them that if they confessed they would be let go, and a ton of other misconduct done by them. The were kids, no older than 15. So if there is blame, it was the cops and our legal process.
I know that, but the public didn't. In the end they got a $41 million settlement.
I used to have a friend (a surviving member of the Winter Hill Gang) who had friends in NYC. Believe it or not his friends there were retired NYC detectives. He had that sickness that causes blindness gradually. He used to have me drive him to and from a restaurant in NYC to meet with them. On the way back I would ask "what do you guys talk about?" He used to tell me how they got confessions using baseball bats.
They were not exonerated.
They did have that guy who was already sitting in prison FOR LIFE suddenly say "I DID IT"