Police Arrest Woman in Connection With Cipriani Chef’s Hostel Death

Police have reportedly made an arrest in connection to the Cipriani chef who went missing last week and was found dead in a Queens hostel.

Angelina Barini, 41, was charged with conspiracy to distribute substances containing fentanyl after she was reportedly found in a hotel room with Cipriani Dolce chef Andrea Zamperoni’s dead body, according to the Daily Beast. She’s allegedly linked to his death as well as two others, ABC7 reports.

Barini reportedly told law enforcement that Zamperoni paid her for sex, and he was given liquid ecstacy. Zamperoni did not wake up after taking the drug, she reportedly told police, though his cause of death is pending toxicology reports, the Daily Beast reports. Barini is also allegedly linked to two other fatal fentanyl-related overdoses this summer, and she’s scheduled to make a court appearance in Brooklyn today.

Zamperoni, 33, was last seen at his home in Elmhurst last Monday. Coworkers at Cipriani reported him missing that day when he didn’t show up for his shift that afternoon and could not be reached. Cipriani manager Fernando Dallorso told CBS2 that the chef was “not a guy that goes out or parties,” and in a statement, the restaurant called Zamperoni “good-hearted, kind and very hard-working.”

• Source: Prostitute arrested in 3 deaths, including head chef found dead in Queens [ABC7]
• Sex Worker Tied to Drug Deaths of Cipriani Chef, Two Others [The Daily Beast]
• Missing NYC Cipriani Chef Found Dead [ENY]