Four from Goshen and Chester are charged with murder

Four people from Goshen and Chester have been arrested and charged with the murder of a Chester man who was found severely beaten and bound on Wednesday night.

Michael Partridge, 28, of Chester was discovered by a passing motorist on North Hudson Street in the Village of Chester, at approximately 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, according to a report from Trooper Steven Nevel, public information officer for Troop F in Middletown. The motorist called 911. The Village of Chester Police Department and emergency medical technicians responded to the scene.

Partridge was transported to Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, where he was pronounced dead as a result of his injuries, the report said.

An investigation by the New York State Police, Village of Chester Police Department, Town of Goshen Police Department, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office lead to the arrest of Seth Pelsang, 30, of Goshen;Timothy D. Smith, 36, of Goshen; Courtney Clemenza, 31, of Chester; and Robert Haskell, 54, of Goshen.

All four defendants were charged with second-degree murder. They were arraigned in the Town of Wallkill Court and remanded to Orange County Jail without bail. They are scheduled to return to the Town of Goshen Court at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 24.

This is an ongoing investigation. The state police is asking anyone with information to call the state police barracks in Middletown at 845-344-5300.

Police say they believe this is an isolated incident, and that there is no reason to believe a danger exists to public safety.

This is first homicide in Chester since the notorious case of Nicholas Tartaglione, a former Briarcliff Manor police officer now serving time for killing four men in 2016 in the former Likquid Lounge, which his brother operated in the Quickway Plaza on Brookside Avenue.