Murder trial begins for 3 men charged in NYC gay bar drugging scheme
The trial of three men who prosecutors say facilitated a drugging and robbery scheme that terrorized New York City’s gay bars and led to two deaths began Wednesday in a downtown Manhattan courtroom.
The trial of three men who prosecutors say facilitated a drugging and robbery scheme that terrorized New York City’s gay bars and led to two deaths began Wednesday in a downtown Manhattan courtroom.
Jayqwan Hamilton, 36; Robert Demaio, 35; and Jacob Barroso, 30, are accused of working together to drug and rob five men after meeting them outside Manhattan gay bars and nightclubs from March 2021 to June 2022. Prosecutors alleged that the crimes led to the deaths of social worker Julio Ramirez, 25, and political consultant John Umberger, 33, in the spring of 2022. The crimes didn’t come into broad public view until May 2022 — more than a year after the scheme began — when NBC News reported on Ramirez’s mysterious death.
Hamilton, Demaio and Barroso pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the scheme that included murder, conspiracy and grand larceny. Attorneys for Hamilton and Demaio declined to comment. An attorney for Barroso did not immediately return a request for comment.
In her opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Emily Ching said the three men — along with three others who had previously pleaded guilty to lesser charges — lurked outside several Manhattan gay bars, befriended seemingly intoxicated men and then suggested the victims continue the night with them at subsequent locations.
Once in private, Ching said, the defendants worked together to drug the victims to the point of incapacitation using a concoction that included fentanyl. Next, she said, the defendants would use the victims’ unconscious faces to access their bank accounts and payment apps using facial recognition technology. They would then steal thousands of dollars and use the victims’ payment apps to pay for food, shoes, alcohol and other items, according to Ching.
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