Prosecutor: Serial Scammer Looted Homes of Men He Drugged Unconscious

BOSTON, June 8, 2016—A man with prior convictions for embezzlement and fraud is now accused of a scheme in which he targeted gay men, drugged them unconscious, and stole their artwork, silverware, and even jewelry he was wearing at the time of his arrest, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

RICCARDO D’ORSAINVILLE (D.O.B. 5/17/65), currently a resident of Norwood but previously of Boston, with one count of kidnapping and three counts each of poisoning, larceny over $250, and receiving stolen property. The indictments supersede a pending Boston Municipal Court case in which he was charged with one count of larceny over $250 after his arrest by Boston Police in February.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Doherty of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit recommended that the $250,000 cash bail imposed at D’Orsainville’s BMC arraignment remain in place. Clerk Magistrate Lisa Medeiros instead reduced it to $100,000 over prosecutors’ objections.

Doherty told the court that D’Orsainville is accused of strikingly-similar thefts from three men between March and April 2013.

D’Orsainville allegedly met the first victim, a man in his 50s, on the evening of March 1, 2013, at The Alley, a bar in downtown Boston. Speaking with an accent that prosecutors believe was affected as part of a cultivated air of sophistication, he allegedly bought the victim a drink – after which the victim blacked out. The victim awoke the next morning at his Dorchester home with his hands behind tied behind his back and discovered that paintings, sculptures, clothing, and expensive luggage were missing from the residence.

D’Orsainville allegedly met the second victim, a man in his 60s, on a dating web site. On April 2, 2013, they met in person at a bar on Newbury Street. The victim recalled him as meticulously dressed and speaking with a British accent. They had a drink at the bar and went to the victim’s Back Bay home for another. D’Orsainville prepared this drink. The victim consumed it and blacked out. He woke up the next morning to find paintings, jewelry, luggage, and other items stolen from his home. Because of the victim’s age, D’Orsainville is charged in this case with larceny over $250 from a person over 60.

D’Orsainville met the third victim, a man in his 50s, on April 7, 2013, at a South End bar that was known at the time as Fritz. Stylishly dressed and speaking with a British accent, D’Orsainville allegedly approached the victim and the two had a drink. They later went to the victim’s Dorchester home and each had another drink – after which the victim blacked out. When he awoke, he found many of his clothes – including two tuxedos – were missing, as was a framed Renoir print.

All three victims had experience with alcohol, prosecutors say, and described black-outs that were inconsistent with traditional intoxication.

D’Orsainville was arrested in July 2013 on a federal embezzlement charge for which he was later convicted and sentenced to 21 months in prison. This conviction followed a 2010 credit card and identity fraud conviction in Suffolk Superior Court for which he served 17 months.

In the course of their investigation into the Boston druggings and thefts, Boston Police reached out to media serving the LGBTQ community to raise awareness of the apparent spree and identify the then-unknown assailant. The perpetrator remained unidentified until last year, however, when one of the victims mentioned his case to an acquaintance.

That acquaintance, prosecutors say, recognized the assailant’s description as matching that of D’Orsainville, whom the acquaintance knew had been convicted on the federal embezzlement charge. This in turn led to a photo identification and investigators’ first break in the case.

Boston Police detectives obtained a search warrant for D’Orsainville’s home and recovered items stolen from each of the victims’ homes after they had been drugged: their clothing hung in his closet and their artwork hung on his walls. D’Orsainville, who was wearing a ring that prosecutors say had been stolen from the second victim, was placed under arrest.

D’Orsainville’s next court date is June 30 for a bail review. He is represented by attorney Daniel Solomon.

 

 

 

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All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt