A former U.S. Marine from Ulster County was killed by his ex-wife and her husband in a “sophisticated” plot involving a dry run, a carjacking and burner phones, federal prosecutors allege.
Jamie Orsini and her husband Nicholas Orsini were charged Thursday with conspiracy and carjacking resulting in death in the April 28, 2020, disappearance of Steven Kraft after he dropped off his daughters at the Orsinis’ home in Beacon following one of his regular visitations with the girls.
The body of the 34-year-old deli worker has never been found . The criminal complaint against the couple details the items they bought before and after the disappearance that could have been used in the dismemberment and burning of a body, including a large paint tarp, duct tape, a Tyvek suit, boots, two 31-gallon steel trash cans, an angle grinder with grinding wheel, odorless charcoal grates, an axe, a flame lighter and 16 bundles of firewood.
Kraft was allegedly carjacked after dropping the girls off. According to the complaint, Nicholas Orsini then drove Kraft’s 1999 Toyota Camry to Newburgh, where he left it before walking a mile to a gas station. There he bought an energy drink with a $100 bill and called a cab to return him to Beacon. The New York Jets hoodie, blue bandanna and Levi’s Stadium ball cap that surveillance video showed him wearing at the gas station were later found by authorites when the Orsinis’ homes – in Beacon and where they later moved to Amsterdam – were searched in August 2020.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that the case showed that no matter how hard criminals work to cover up their “heinous” acts, law enforcement will relentlessly work to uncover them.
“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,” Williams said in a statement. “In doing so, the Orsinis denied Kraft’s family — including Kraft’s children with Jamie — the dignity of having a proper burial.”
The couple could face the death penalty or life in prison.