Each faces life in ex-husband's disappearance

A federal judge upheld the convictions of a former Beacon couple found guilty in September of killing the wife's ex-husband, who disappeared in April 2020 after dropping off his two teenage daughters following a custody visit.

In an opinion released on Friday (Jan. 23), Judge Philip Halpern rejected motions for acquittal or a new trial by Jamie Orsini and Nicholas Orsini, who a jury found guilty of carjacking resulting in death and conspiracy to commit carjacking in the disappearance of Steven Kraft.

Prosecutors say they were the last ones to see Kraft before he disappeared on April 28, 2020, after returning his daughters to the West Church Street apartment his ex-wife shared with Nicholas Orsini. His disappearance came six weeks before a court hearing as Kraft sought either sole custody of his daughters or greater visitation.

Both Orsinis, who were initially charged in June 2023, claim that prosecutors failed to prove that Kraft was killed. According to Jamie Orsini, surveillance video capturing Nicholas Orsini driving Kraft's car in the City of Newburgh showed evidence of a passenger, suggesting her ex-husband was still alive after he returned their daughters to Beacon.

They also claimed that supplies bought from the Home Depot and Walmart in Fishkill before and after Kraft's disappearance — including a tarp, duct tape, painters coveralls and galvanized trash cans — should not have been used as evidence because they were "everyday household items" used in barbecuing and painting, not tools for disposing of Kraft's body as alleged by prosecutors.

In addition to rejecting those claims, Halpern ruled against the Orsinis' arguments that the carjacking statute is "unconstitutionally vague" and that the trial court erred by allowing the testimony of two neighbors — one who reported a "foul" smell wafting through her window and another who described an "acrid, awful" smell from two large containers "being attended to by Nicholas Orsini" in the couple's backyard.

Each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison on the carjacking resulting in death charge and five years on the conspiracy charge. In scheduling Jamie Orsini's sentencing for June 16 and Nicholas Orsini's for June 18, Halpern said the evidence "cannot be said to have been insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict."

According to that evidence, said prosecutors, the couple began plotting Kraft's murder before he disappeared, buying items that could be used to dismember and burn a body. Police recreated their movements using GPS and cellphone data, along with surveillance video from public and private cameras.

Security footage and a store receipt from April 8, 2020, from the Home Depot on Route 9 in Fishkill showed that Jamie Orsini bought a 10-foot-by-100-foot tarp, duct tape and a Tyvek suit and boots, according to prosecutors. Video from the parking lot captured Nicholas Orsini helping load the supplies into the couple's GMC Envoy.

That same day, according to the complaint, the pair drove to Newburgh to determine how to dispose of Kraft's car. Data from their phones and video footage tracked the couple driving from West Church Street over the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to the City of Newburgh.

Prosecutors said that Kraft, a former U.S. Marine who was 34 when he disappeared, had custody of his daughters from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and noon to 3 p.m. every other Saturday. On the Tuesday he disappeared, Kraft picked up the girls and drove to a Sonic restaurant in the Town of Newburgh and then to his apartment in Marlboro, before returning to Beacon at 7 p.m. Police said cellphone data confirmed that Jamie and Nicholas Orsini followed him to the restaurant.

The next day, Kraft failed to show up to his deli job in Marlboro, and on May 4, investigators found his 1999 Camry abandoned at Third Street and Carpenter Avenue in the City of Newburgh.

One of the earliest pieces of evidence was surveillance footage showing Kraft's ...