Andrea Zamperoni | NYPD
Aug. 26, 2019 By Allie Griffin
The Elmhurst resident and well-known Cipriani chef who was found dead inside a hostel last week died from an apparent fentanyl-laced drug overdose and now a prostitute is facing charges for allegedly peddling the fentanyl that killed him and two other men, according to law enforcement sources.
Andrea Zamperoni, 33, was initially reported missing until police found his body Wednesday night at Kamway Lodge, a hostel on 77th Street around the corner from his home. The hostel has a history of drug use and prostitution, according to CBS NY.
Kamway Lodge | Google Maps
When police arrived at the scene they smelt burning incense mixed with the strong odor of a decay bodying coming from Room 15. Inside the room was 41-year-old Angelina Barini and a dead body belonging to the Italian chef, according to a criminal complaint.
Zamperoni’s body was wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a garbage can.
“In the corner of the room, law enforcement authorities noticed what appeared to be a garbage can with bed linens stuffed inside and what appeared to be a bare human foot sticking out of the bed linens,” the document stated.
Barini was seen on video entering the hostel and then Room 15 with Zamperoni on Aug. 18 shortly before 5 a.m. Later that day at about 1:30 p.m., surveillance footage captures Barini leaving the room alone and bringing a garbage can from alleyway inside, according to the document.
Several men were also caught on video entering and leaving the room, where police later found a purple liquid in a glass with powder at the top of the liquid and around the rim, glass pipes for smoking narcotics, bottles of bleach and bleach-covered towels, electronics, a power saw and an empty suitcase, the complaint said.
Barini told police the men on the video footage came into Room 15 to discuss whether to cut up the body. She said Zamperoni paid for sex and her pimp gave him liquid ecstasy. She then said he began bleeding from the nose and mouth and passed out never woke up, according to the court document. She added that her pimp would not let her call the police.
Additional video footage shows Barini at the scenes of two other Queens fatal overdoses with the victims — one on July 4 at the Airway Inn at LaGuardia Airport and one on July 11 at the Crown Motor Inn in Woodside, according to the complaint.
According to the court papers, Barini told the arriving officers who discovered Zamperoni’s body that “her pimp made her do it and it was not her.”
Barini faces charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
A toxicology report is still pending for Zamperoni.
