New York couple charged in ‘sophisticated’ murder plot against wife’s missing husband

Jamie and Nicholas Orsini from Beacon New York are charged with the murder of Jamie’s ex-husband and the father of her two daughters

Body of victim, ex-marine Steven Kraft, 34, is still to be found and he was considered missing for three years before charges were brought against the Orsinis

Police said couple bought burner phones, angle grinder, axe, giant galvanized steel drums and did a ‘dry run’ before allegedly killing victim and burning the body

NYPD accused couple of ‘killing Kraft and taking his car’ before ‘ultimately disposing of his body by burning it’.

Steven Kraft’s body is still to be found and he was considered missing for three years before charges were brought against the Orsinis

Jamie and Nicholas Orsini (pictured), from Beacon, are accused of burning the body of Steven Kraft, 34 – who was Jamie’s ex-husband and the father of her two daughters – after killing him on April 28, 2020

“A little over three years ago, Nicholas and Jamie Orsini allegedly plotted to and did kill Jamie’s ex-husband, Steven Kraft. Their alleged scheme was sophisticated — it involved burner phones, stealing and dumping Kraft’s car, and, ultimately, disposing of Kraft’s body” – U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Thursday.
A New York couple has been charged with murdering an ex-Marine after buying burner phones, an axe, angle grinder, and giant galvanized steel drums as part of the sordid scheme.
Steven Kraft, a 34-year-old deli worker, vanished after dropping off his two daughters at the couple’s Beacon, N.Y., home on April 28.
Jamie and Nicholas Orsini, from Beacon, are accused of burning the body of Steven Kraft, 34, Jamie’s ex-husband and the father of her two daughter, after killing him on 28 April 2020.
They have both been charged with one count of carjacking resulting in death and one count of conspiracy, three years after the Marine went missing.
New York State Police investigator Joseph Merla, accused them of ‘killing Kraft and taking his car’ before ‘ultimately disposing of his body by burning it’. Kraft’s body is yet to be found.

Victim: Body of Steven Kraft [photo], is still to be found. He was considered missing for three years before charges were brought against the his ex-wife and her current husband

He said GPS data from their phones and surveillance video shows they traveled in a GMC Envoy from their home on West Church Street in Beacon, New York, to a Home Depot in Fishkill on April 26. 
In the first step of what US Attorney Damian Williams described as a ‘sophisticated’ scheme, Jamie allegedly paid in cash at the store for a 10×100 foot paint tarp, duct tape, and a Tyvek suit and boots. 
‘A little over three years ago, Nicholas and Jamie Orsini allegedly plotted to and did kill Jamie’s ex-husband, Steven Kraft,’ Williams said in a statement.
‘Their alleged scheme was sophisticated, it involved burner phones, stealing and dumping Kraft’s car, and, ultimately, disposing of Kraft’s body.’ 
The next day, they traveled to a Walmart in the same town, where Nicholas bought a ‘burner phone.’
Two days later, Kraft picked up his two daughters from the Orsinis’ home before taking them to Sonic in Newburgh. The couple allegedly trailed Kraft to the restaurant and activated their burner phone before returning home. 
Kraft drove back to their house at about 7pm to drop off his daughters, and he died that evening. 
It is unclear what the cause of his death was, and he was considered missing for three years before charges were brought against the Orsinis. 
On April 28, after falsely telling a coworker that he was not coming to work because his wife’s car had broken down, Nicholas Orsini drove Kraft’s car along the same circuitous route the pair traveled in their dry run the day before from their home in Beacon to the same location in Newburgh in Orange County.

Surveillance footage from a Newburgh gas station shows Nicolas Orsini wearing a blue bandana on his face, a Levi’s stadium baseball cap, and a green Jets sweatshirt with the hood up, after he allegedly carjacked his wife’s ex-husband Steven Kraft on April 28, 2020

Orsini allegedly drove Kraft’s Toyota Camry to Newburgh and abandoned it at Third Street and Carpenter Avenue, before walking over a mile to Sunoco gas station, where prosecutors say he got rid of one of Kraft’s phones.
He used the burner phone to call for a taxi ride home, the affidavit says.
Surveillance footage from the gas station shows a man wearing a blue bandana on his face, a Levi’s stadium baseball cap, and a green Jets sweatshirt with the hood up which matches one investigators found Orsini wearing on his social media account.
Kraft drove back to their house at about 7pm to drop off his daughters, and he died that evening. 
It is unclear what the cause of his death was, and he was considered missing for three years before charges were brought against the Orsinis. 
On April 28, Nicholas allegedly drove Kraft’s Toyota Camry to Newburgh and abandoned it at Third Street and Carpenter Avenue, before walking over a mile to Sunoco gas station, where prosecutors say he got rid of one of Kraft’s phones. 
He used the burner phone to call for a taxi ride home, the affidavit says. 
Surveillance footage from the gas station shows a man wearing a blue bandana on his face, a Levi’s stadium baseball cap, and a green Jets sweatshirt with the hood up which matches one investigators found Orsini wearing on his social media account. 

Evidence in Steven Kraft murder case – Executing in August, detectives found “a patterned, blue bandana, latex gloves, and a Levi’s stadium baseball cap identical to the ones worn at the Sunoco gas station” at the Orsinis new home in Amsterdam, NY

On May 2, Nicholas allegedly returned to Home Depot and purchased ‘two 31-gallon galvanized steel round trash cans, a coarse stainless-steel rod, an angle grinder with grinding wheel, 13 five metal disks, three 32-ounce bottles of odorless charcoal lighter fluid, two charcoal grates, an axe, and a flame lighter.’ 
According to the affidavit, he purchased 16 bundles of firewood the next day.  
The couple allegedly Googled ‘How to view your location history in google maps’ and ‘is galvanized steel fireproof.’ 
Kraft’s father, Dean, told the Poughkeepsie Journal that he was ‘just flabbergasted’ to hear about the alleged plot against his son, who was a Marine veteran from Ulster County.
‘I couldn’t believe two people could have that much hate for another person. It’s like two or three horrors movies combined into one,’ he said. 
‘In the days after the murder, the Orsinis continued the coverup, traveling extensively between Beacon and upstate New York, ultimately disposing of Kraft’s body, which still has not been found, by burning it,’ Merla wrote.