Retired cop who once shared cell with Jeffrey Epstein is convicted of quadruple murder

The retired cop-turned-drug dealer who shared a prison cell with Jeffrey Epstein shortly before the notorious sex predator was murdered has been convicted of the murders of four men.

Nicholas Tartaglione, 55, was convicted on all counts on Thursday by a federal jury in White Plains, New York, after he strangled a man and shot three others execution-style in 2015.

“Tartaglione’s heinous acts represent a wider betrayal, as he was a former police officer who once vowed to protect the community he devastated,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said after the verdict.

Tartaglione, a muscular bodybuilder and former police officer at Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, briefly shared a cell with Epstein at the Manhattan Correctional Center in 2019.

On July 23 of that year, Tartaglione alerted guards, his lawyer said at the time, and Epstein was found on the cell floor with neck injuries after an apparently failed attempt to commit suicide.

Epstein (seen in 2005) was found dead in a solitary cell on August 10, 2019 in what the New York City medical examiner ruled a suicide

Epstein was placed on suicide watch and transferred to a solo cell, and on August 10, he was found dead in the cell, hanging from a makeshift noose, in what officials ruled a suicide.

Prosecutors say Tartaglione masterminded the brutal gangland murders of four men in 2015 after he suspected one of the victims, Martin Luna, stole money from him.

Tartaglione lured Luna into meeting him at a bar in Chester in what became a “death trap” for the man and three others he brought with him, Williams said.

Martin Luna brought his cousins ​​Miguel Luna and Urbano Santiago and a family friend, Hector Gutierrez, to the meeting.

“What happened next can only be described as sheer terror, when Tartaglione tortured Martin and then forced one of his cousins ​​to watch as Tartaglione strangled Martin with a zipper,” Williams said.

Tartaglione and two of his accomplices then tied up and transported the other three victims to a remote wooded location in Otisville, forced them to kneel and executed them with gunshots to the back of their heads, the court heard.

All four bodies were buried together in a mass grave, which was discovered by investigators in December 2016.

Willems said the conviction will see “Tartaglione receive a life sentence for his unconscionable murder of four men.”

Martin Luna (left) was strangled with a zipper by Tartaglione in 2015. His cousin Miguel Luna (right) was one of three other victims shot execution-style

The other victims were Urbano Santiago (left) and Hector Gutierrez (right). All four bodies were buried together in a mass grave

Tartaglione, a muscular bodybuilder and former police officer at Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, briefly shared a cell with Epstein at the Manhattan Correctional Center in 2019

During the trial, Tartaglione’s lawyers insisted he had nothing to do with the murders and was being used by the government as a convenient scapegoat for the crimes.

Tartaglione’s two alleged accomplices in the murders were Gerard Benderoth, who was also a retired police officer and bodybuilder, and Joseph Biggs, a school security guard.

Benderoth shot himself in 2017 when police and FBI agents tried to stop him at a traffic stop.

Biggs was arrested and charged along with Tartaglione, but agreed to cooperate and testified that he and Benderoth worked to collect debts from customers who bought steroids from Tartaglione at local gyms.

He also explained how he, Benderoth and Tartaglione carried out the quadruple murder, according to the journal news.

The conviction came nearly four years after Tartaglione briefly rose to national fame for his connection to Epstein.

In the incident when they were cellmates, Epstein was found semiconscious in a fetal position on the floor of the cell.

Epstein accused Tartaglione of assaulting him, which the former agent denied, saying the disgraced financier self-inflicted the injuries. A prison investigation later cleared Tartaglione of assaulting Epstein.

A noose that Epstein allegedly made from bedding is seen in his prison cell

Prison officials at the time said they believed Epstein’s story about the assault was an attempt to avoid being placed on suicide watch.

Weeks later, Epstein was found dead in a solitary cell in what the New York City medical examiner ruled a suicide, though his lawyers disputed that finding.

His death, at age 66, came just over a month after he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14 from at least 2002 to 2005.

Epstein’s extensive ties to some of the world’s cultural, financial and political elite placed the case at the center of international investigation.

In June 2022, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple underage girls over the course of a decade. Maxwell is appealing against her conviction.