Political marketing consultant John Umberger was discovered robbed and murdered after an evening out whereas visiting Manhattan on a piece journey in Might.
Courtesy Linda Clary
A gang that preys on homosexual males at Hell’s Kitchen nightclubs is suspected of killing no less than two victims and of drugging and robbing greater than a dozen different males — however Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg’s workplace is impeding the investigation, legislation enforcement sources say.
An NYPD murder investigation into the serial killings has expanded to incorporate robberies with the unexplained deaths of two well-heeled younger males, who had been attacked beneath practically an identical circumstances 5 weeks and two blocks aside final spring.
Their telephones had been lacking when their our bodies had been discovered, and their financial institution accounts had been emptied of tens of hundreds of dollars. Every sufferer was final seen with three unidentified males within the hours earlier than they died.
5 months later, New Yorkers nonetheless haven't been warned that the predatory gang is on the free.
However the mom of 1 sufferer has determined to interrupt her silence to guard different younger males from struggling the identical destiny as her son, John Umberger, 33, a Washington, DC, political marketing consultant who disappeared after an evening out in Might whereas visiting New York for work.
“I can’t be quiet anymore,” Linda Clary informed The Submit.
“Phrase must get out, particularly within the homosexual group, that they're focusing on homosexual males. … This similar group of killers have drugged, robbed and murdered numerous younger homosexual males in New York.”
Last moments
Her son final used his bank card round 3 a.m. Saturday, Might 28, at The Q NYC, a multistory homosexual nightclub at 795 Eighth Ave., the place he had gone alone after a late dinner with mates at Tao Downtown in Chelsea.
He ordered and canceled a cab at 3:15 a.m. and was final seen about an hour in a while a surveillance digicam with three unidentified males in a automobile exterior the Higher East Facet townhouse the place he was staying. The footage from a close-by constructing reveals Umberger getting out of the automobile with two of the boys, who entered the townhouse with him however left with out him after about 45 minutes.
Between 5:19 a.m. and 5:37 a.m., somebody responded to 6 textual content messages on Umberger’s cellphone, however Clary believes it was not her son. At 9:18 a.m., Umberger’s cellphone stopped sharing its location together with his youthful sister and two brothers. A textual content message despatched by Clary to her son at 8:24 p.m. was marked as “learn,” so she thought he was secure.
“I assumed John was studying my texts however was too busy and ignoring me. You let a day go by, a day go by and you then say, ‘That is bizarre.’”
Her son’s physique was discovered 4 days later, on June 1, in a fifth-floor condo of a townhouse at 34 E. 61st St., which is owned by conservative lawyer Jay Sekulow’s American Middle for Regulation and Justice, the place Umberger was director of diplomacy and political packages.
His cellphone was lacking, and his bank cards had been stolen from his pockets. Greater than $25,000 had been transferred out of his accounts by money apps on his cellphone resembling Venmo and PayPal, by altering the passwords, says his mother. There additionally was a failed try and empty his Charles Schwab belief fund account.
His bank cards later had been used to purchase booze at a liquor retailer close to a homeless shelter and objects at a Foot Locker.
5 weeks earlier, in comparable circumstances, Brooklyn social employee Julio Ramirez, 25, was captured by a safety digicam leaving the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a homosexual membership on West forty sixth Avenue, two blocks from The Q NYC, with three unidentified males round 3:17 a.m. Thursday, April 21.
He was discovered useless behind a taxi an hour later, on the Decrease East Facet. His cellphone and pockets had been lacking, and his financial institution accounts had been emptied of about $20,000. Like Umberger, his cash was cleaned out by his tech-savvy killers through apps resembling Venmo and Zelle; his bank cards had been maxed out on costly dinners and spa providers.
Earlier that night time, Ramirez and a good friend had visited two different Hell’s Kitchen homosexual bars inside a half-mile of The Q NYC and the Ritz: Mickey Spillane’s and Rise Bar, each on Ninth Avenue.
Preliminary toxicology reviews present each Umberger and Ramirez died of drug overdoses, however proof suggests that they had been “roofied,” the colloquial time period for somebody spiking their drinks with date-rape medicine, sources say.
“We have to cease this,” says Clary, who believes the gang has killed different younger males and can proceed to prey on New York’s homosexual group.
She has nothing however reward for the detectives investigating Umberger’s loss of life, who she says have labored arduous to determine suspects, however she accuses the District Legal professional’s Workplace of “refusing to prosecute my son’s killers.”
“New York is unnecessarily unsafe, and it breaks my coronary heart as a result of John was so excited to be in Manhattan. He liked being there,” she stated, paying tribute to her late eldest baby. “He was a little bit ray of sunshine.”
Clary has come to New York from her dwelling in Atlanta to demand motion for her son and the opposite victims.
Assist us, Lee
Over the weekend, she recorded a video message for the Save Our State group urging a vote for Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in Tuesday’s gubernatorial election: “Lee Zeldin has promised to revive security to New York and to fireside District Legal professional Alvin Bragg on day one. This election would be the final alternative to carry my son’s killers accountable.”
An NYPD spokesperson didn't reply The Submit’s questions concerning the serial killings of homosexual males, apart from to say: “The investigations stay ongoing, [and] the health worker will decide the causes of loss of life.”
A five-month delay in toxicology reviews could also be a loss of life sentence for potential future victims, nevertheless it’s commonplace at health worker’s places of work, which have been hit by staffing shortages, an overload of circumstances as a result of COVID-19, an elevated murder charge and a spike in fentanyl overdoses as a result of open southern border.
Thus, the breakdown of legislation and order in New York — because of disastrous polices of Democrats on the federal, state and native ranges — has ramifications all through the felony justice system that go effectively past policing.
Prosecutors in Bragg’s workplace, for example, look like paralyzed — whether or not from overwork or ideology, it’s unclear. However since his woke Day One memo in January ordering employees to cease looking for jail sentences and downgrade felony fees in numerous circumstances, he has been hit by an unprecedented variety of resignations of assistant district attorneys.
Zeldin can have his work reduce out for him to repair this mess, however no less than he is aware of what the issue is, in contrast to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who nonetheless is in denial that we face a criminal offense emergency.
In that she is aided by a compliant media, together with Bravo TV star Andy Cohen, who endorsed Hochul on Saturday, paradoxically sufficient, at a Stonewall occasion to attempt to rally LGBTQ turnout.
Not a point out of the menace stalking New York’s homosexual group.
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