Underreported Murders in NYC Echo 'AHS' Narrative
The current season of Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story: NYC" is set four decades ago and follows the murders of a number of gay men who frequent the city's lively West Side leather scene. But while the murders go on, they are largely unreported save for a fiery journalist from an LGBTQ+ weekly who berates the lack of law enforcement interest in solving the murders.
The New York Post reported that gay men appear to be the victims of a gang luring people to nightlife venues, then drugging them and robbing them, often by using their own cellphones to drain their accounts, and in two cases, have led to deaths.
"A gang that preys on gay men at Hell's Kitchen nightclubs is suspected of killing at least two victims and of drugging and robbing more than a dozen other men — but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is impeding the investigation, law enforcement sources say."
"Both John Umberger, 33, a Washington, DC, political consultant who disappeared in May and Julio Ramirez, 25, who vanished in April had been out enjoying a night out on the city's gay scene before ending up dead the following day," the Daily Mail said.
The Post reported that an "NYPD homicide investigation into the serial killings has expanded to include robberies with the unexplained deaths of two well-heeled young men, who were attacked under nearly identical circumstances five weeks and two blocks apart last spring."
"Five months later, New Yorkers still have not been warned that the predatory gang is on the loose," the Post added.
But victim John Umberger's mother — Linda Clary — is speaking out about the lack of official attention and public knowledge of what she sees as her son's targeted murder.
"I can't be quiet anymore," Linda Clary told the Post. "Word needs to get out, especially in the gay community, that they are targeting gay men. ... This same group of killers have drugged, robbed and murdered countless young gay men in New York."
Umberger last used his credit card around 3 a.m. Saturday, May 28, at The Q NYC, a multistory gay nightclub at 795 Eighth Ave., where he had gone alone after a late dinner with friends at Tao Downtown in Chelsea.
The Post reported that Umberger ordered and canceled a cab at 3:15 a.m. and was last seen about an hour later on a surveillance camera with three unidentified men in a car outside the Upper East Side townhouse where he was staying. The footage from a nearby building shows Umberger getting out of the car with two of the men, who entered the townhouse with him but left without him after about 45 minutes.
"Between 5:19 a.m. and 5:37 a.m., someone responded to six text messages on Umberger's phone, but Clary believes it was not her son. At 9:18 a.m., Umberger's phone stopped sharing its location with his younger sister and two brothers," the Post said. "A text message sent by Clary to her son at 8:24 p.m. was marked as 'read,' so she thought he was safe."
"I thought John was reading my texts but was too busy and ignoring me. You let a day go by, a day go by and then you say, 'This is weird.'"
The Post added that her son's body was found four days later, on June 1, in a fifth-floor apartment of a townhouse at 34 E. 61st St., which is owned by conservative lawyer Jay Sekulow's American Center for Law and Justice, where Umberger was director of diplomacy and political programs.
He was missing his cellphone and his credit cards had been stolen. More than $25,000 was transferred out of his accounts through cash apps on his phone such as Venmo and PayPal, his mom said. There also was a failed attempt to empty his Charles Schwab trust fund account. His credit cards later were used to buy booze at a liquor store near a homeless shelter and items at a Foot Locker.
The second victim to die under similar circumstances five weeks earlier was Brooklyn social worker Julio Ramirez, 25. He was last seen by a security camera leaving the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a gay club on West 46th Street, two blocks from The Q NYC, with three unidentified men around 3:17 a.m. on Thursday, April 21, according to the Post.
"He was found dead in the back of a taxi an hour later, on the Lower East Side. His phone and wallet were missing, and his bank accounts had been emptied of about $20,000. Like Umberger, his money was cleaned out by his tech-savvy killers via apps such as Venmo and Zelle; his credit cards were maxed out on expensive dinners and spa services," the Post said.
Preliminary toxicology reports show both Umberger and Ramirez died of drug overdoses, but evidence suggests they had been "roofied," the colloquial term for someone spiking their drinks with date-rape drugs, sources say.
"We need to stop this," says Clary, who believes the gang has killed other young men and will continue to prey on New York's gay community.
"An NYPD spokesperson did not answer The Post's questions about the serial killings of gay men, other than to say: 'The investigations remain ongoing, [and] the medical examiner will determine the causes of death.'"
There is also political context for Clary stepping forward. The Atlanta resident spoke about her son in a video message recorded for a group supporting Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin for New York State Governor.
"Lee Zeldin has promised to restore safety to New York and to fire District Attorney Alvin Bragg on day one. This election may be the last opportunity to hold my son's killers accountable," she said.