Suspect in Manhattan hotel murder may be multistate serial attacker of women: Police

(SURPRISE, Ariz.) — The man suspected in the beating and strangulation death of a Queens woman inside a New York City hotel earlier this month is under arrest in Arizona, where he is charged in two stabbings, according to police.

Raad Almansoori, 26, is accused in the death of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38, who was found at New York’s SoHo 54 Hotel on Feb. 7 or Feb. 8. A broken iron was recovered at the scene and bits of plastic were embedded in the victim’s skull, detectives said.

Almansoori made statements while in custody in Arizona linking himself to a string of assaults on women, including the stabbings in Surprise, Arizona, and Phoenix, an attack in Florida and the deadly attack in the New York City hotel, according to the NYPD.

Several of those crimes involve women who work as escorts, police said.

“He tells the cops they should Google SoHo 54 Hotel,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenney said.

Almansoori also made statements about hurting as many as three woman in Florida, Kenney said.

In the Arizona city of Surprise, police responded to a McDonald’s on Sunday morning and found a woman who had been stabbed multiple times. The suspect, later identified as Almansoori, then stole a car nearby and was later arrested with the car by the Scottsdale Police Department, police said. It was at this time Almansoori admitted to the stabbing a few days earlier in Phoenix, Surprise police said.

Almansoori is facing charges of attempted homicide, theft of means and aggravated assault in Surprise and robbery, assault, theft and criminal damage in Phoenix, police said.

He is being held without bond.

Detectives are now looking at unsolved crimes in Florida and Texas, where Almansoori has lived and has prior arrests, including the kidnapping and sexual assault of a female, according to police.

“The majority of arrests involve domestic violence and assault,” Kenney said.

Kenney said the NYPD is working with the FBI and asking the public and members of law enforcement to come forward with information. The NYPD shared photos last week of Almansoori allegedly leaving the SoHo 54 Hotel wearing the leggings of Oleas-Arancibia.

Almansoori is believed to have arrived in New York City in late January, when credit card information shows he visited an escort in upper Manhattan. Later credit card use shows the purchase of a plane ticket to Arizona where he allegedly committed two crimes.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office sent prosecutors to Maricopa County, Arizona, to seek Almansoori’s extradition.

However, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell indicated Wednesday that she will not agree to send him to New York, saying if he’s convicted for the stabbing in Arizona, he’ll face a mandatory prison sentence.

ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.

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