EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) – An ex-convict and his girlfriend, suspects in a string of jewel heists in which three people were shot dead in New York and Connecticut, pleaded not guilty at their Long Island hospital bed arraignments Wednesday.

Christopher DiMeo and Nicole Pearce, both 23, were charged in Nassau County with murder and robbery in connection with two jewelry store holdups on Long Island: one on Dec. 21 in Glen Head in which they allegedly shot to death jeweler Thomas Renison, and the other on Dec. 1 in Westbury in which a weapon was brandished but not used.

Each pleaded not guilty to the charges through appointed Legal Aid attorneys. They were ordered held without bail.

DiMeo was charged with one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of robbery; Pearce was charged with one count of murder in the second degree and two counts of robbery.

DiMeo and Pearce were arraigned separately by Nassau County Judge Adam Moser in their rooms at the Nassau University Medical Center while secured to their beds. They had been taken to the hospital Tuesday after suffering apparent narcotics withdrawal symptoms during processing at Nassau police headquarters, police said.The suspects, clad in hospital gowns, propped up in bed with pillows and with intravenous tubes in their arms, showed no emotion as they were told the charges against them, prosecutors said.

“Mr. Renison was gunned down in cold blood when he refused to give up his money and jewels,” prosecutor Bob Biancavilla told reporters following the arraignments. “This act was horrendous.”

If convicted, DiMeo and Pearce each would face up to life in prison without parole. The death penalty in New York was invalidated by the Court of Appeals last July.

DiMeo also is accused of killing a husband and wife in their Fairfield, Conn., jewelry store during a robbery last week. An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday evening charging him with capital felony, felony murder, murder, robbery and criminal possession of a firearm.

DiMeo and Pearce were captured Friday night at a $39-a-night motel in Atlantic City, N.J., after U.S. marshals acting on a fugitive warrant received a tip that the suspects were heroin addicts and may have gone there to gamble in the casinos, police said.

Pearce was arrested when she left the motel room to pay the bill, and DiMeo surrendered after talking to a negotiator on the phone from the room for about an hour, police said. They were transported to Nassau County on Tuesday.

DiMeo and Pearce are suspects in the killing of Timothy Donnelly and his wife, Kimberly Donnelly, during a robbery of their Fairfield jewelry store Feb. 2 and in the robbery of a jewelry store in Nanuet, in Rockland County, on Jan. 26.

Bullets used in the Fairfield killings matched those used in the Glen Head jewelry store slaying, Fairfield Detective Sgt. Gene Palazzolo said.

DiMeo was one of 16 suspects Nassau County police had originally been investigating, but they determined it was DiMeo from evidence found at the Fairfield crime scene, Nassau police Officer Vincent Garcia said.

DiMeo, a native of Glen Head, was paroled in June 2004 after serving 2 1/2 years for a robbery in 2001.

He apparently went to live with his grandparents in California as a condition of his parole but never reported to a parole officer. He allegedly stole a 1999 black Honda SUV in San Marcos, Calif., and drove back to New York in October. Police said they believe Pearce is from California and drove across the country with DiMeo.

The couple then started their jewelry stickups to support their drug addictions, police said. An estimated $300,000 worth of rings and bracelets was taken during the four robberies.

DiMeo’s mother, of Hicksville, N.Y., was arrested on Sunday by Nassau police on charges of murder and robbery stemming from the slaying of the Glen Head jeweler. She allegedly helped Pearce case the store and acted as the getaway driver.

Police said they believe DiMeo entered the jewelry stores and engaged employees in friendly conversation by saying he was looking for an engagement ring before pulling a gun and helping himself to the jewelry.

Officials from the three jurisdictions will meet next week to determine which one will proceed first with a trial.

A recorded message at Legal Aid said the office was closed Wednesday evening.

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Associated Press writer John Christoffersen in Fairfield, Conn., contributed to this story.

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