Elmont man convicted in triple murder

An Elmont man who was convicted of murdering three family members in 2010 faces life in prison without parole when he is sentenced in Nassau County Court on July 25.

Dario Ormejuste, 25, shot his brother, Guerby, 30, and his 65-year-old parents, Rose and Bob, at the Elmont home they shared on June 21, 2010.

A jury took two days to convict Ormejuste of one count of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Ormejuste used his brother’s automatic service weapon to carry out the murders; Guerby was a New York City corrections officer.

On the day of the shootings, a relative stopped by the Ormejustes’ 238th Street home looking for Guerby, who had not shown up for work. When the relative tried to enter the home, he was unable to do so, and called Nassau County police.

When officers arrived, they found Bob Ormejuste in the kitchen, fatally wounded. As they exited the home to call for backup, Dario Ormejuste stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, and they arrested him. When police investigated further, they found Guerby dead in the basement, shot 10 times in the back of the head.

At the time, Rose Ormejuste was missing from the home. Nearly a week later, police found the family’s 1998 Lexus sedan on a street in Brooklyn and discovered her body in the trunk. Residents in the area had reported a foul odor coming from the car, and witnesses later identified Dario Ormejuste and said they saw him driving the car on the day of the shootings.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice praised the police investigative work after the verdicts were announced June 29. “While nothing will bring these innocent victims back, [the] verdict ensures that this killer, who brutally shot his closest family members, will spend the rest of his life in prison,” Rice said. “I am grateful for the outstanding police work of the Nassau County and New York City police departments that helped bring this murderer to justice.”

Ormejuste’s attorney, Dana Grossblatt, maintained that Ormejuste was living in a separate part of the home at the time the murders took place and was unaware that his family members had been slain. Gross-blatt said she plans to appeal Ormejuste’s conviction.