On Aug. 21, Ms. Barini opened the door to Room 15 at 8:30 p.m. when the police knocked, then quickly shut it. Officers heard what sounded like someone moving around in the room, then smelled the stench of Mr. Zamperoni’s body in the trash can.

Ms. Barini “stated in sum and substance and in part that she did not do it, her pimp made her do it and it was not her,” the criminal complaint said.

Inside the room, investigators also found Mr. Zamperoni’s American Express credit card, glass pipes used for smoking narcotics, bottles of bleach, bleach-covered towels, cellphones, a power saw and an empty suitcase. They also found a glass of purple liquid with powder around the rim.

Ms. Barini told investigators that her pimp and several other men had been in the room and had discussed cutting up Mr. Zamperoni’s body. She said the pimp, who was not identified by name, would not allow her to call the police, according to the criminal complaint.

Norrele Silvero, who was in court for the arraignment, said her son, Jean-Alessander Silvero, was one of the men who died while with Ms. Barini. She said Mr. Silvero lived near the Crown Motor Inn in Woodside, where he was found dead on July 11.

Image Jean-Alessander Silvero, 28, died in early July, his mother said.

Ms. Silvero fought back emotion as she described Mr. Silvero, 28, a construction worker with a girlfriend. She said he had left home the night he died to hang out with friends, and she did not know how he had met Ms. Barini.