Prostitute arrested in connection to deaths of 3 men, apparently including well-known chef: Officials

QUEENS, NYC (WPIX) -- A prostitute has been arrested on drug charges in connection to the deaths of three men, all found dead in Queens hotels, officials with the United States Department of Justice said Monday.

One of those men is believed to be a well-known chef whose body was located last Wednesday after a days-long search for the missing man.

Angelina Barini was to be charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one or more substances containing fentanyl, officials said.

Barini has been linked to the deaths of three men in Queens, officials said. The men were found dead on July 4 at the Airway Inn at LaGuardia, July 11 at the Crown Motor Inn in Woodside and Aug. 21 at the Kamway Lodge in Elmhurst.

The victims are identified as John Doe 1, 2 and 3 in the criminal complaint.

While Andrea Zamperoni, a chef at Grand Central Terminal's Cipriani Dolci, is not named, several details involving John Doe 3 in the complaint match the case involving Zamperoni — including his age, the dates he disappeared and was found dead, and the location where his body was found.

Zamperoni was found dead Wednesday in a first-floor room of the Kamway Lodge, police said. He had been been reported missing, with co-workers saying they last saw the 33-year-old chef Saturday night when he left work at the famed Grand Central restaurant.

Between Aug. 18 and 21 — the day the chef's body was found — Barini is allegedly seen exiting and re-entering the room several times with at least two other people, one being her pimp. John Doe 3 is never seen re-emerging from the room, the complaint states.

When law enforcement entered the room last Wednesday, they were met with the smell of a dead body and burning incense, according to the complaint.

Barini then allegedly claimed "that she did not do it, her pimp made her do it and it was not her."

The complaint also notes John Doe 3's body was in wrapped in bed linens, with his bare foot sticking out, inside of "what appeared to be a garbage can." Sources confirmed last week that the chef's body was found wrapped in a blanket.

The pimp, who has not been identified, gave John Doe 3 liquid ecstasy before his death, Barini allegedly claims.

After the victim died, the pimp allegedly would not let Barini call police, went in and out of the room several times between Aug. 18 and 21, and discussed whether or not to cut up the victim's body.