Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) --- The suspect who allegedly killed a Queens woman in a SoHo hotel bragged about the brutal murder after he was recently apprehended for allegedly stabbing two women in Arizona, authorities said.
"You should Google SoHo 54 hotel," Raad Almansoori allegedly told Arizona cops after he was arrested allegedly driving a stolen car, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Almansoori, 26, told the officers he was wanted for a homicide in New York, Kenny said Tuesday at a press briefing in Lower Manhattan. Authorities believe there may be more victims in other states and have reached out to the FBI for assistance.
The suspect allegedly bludgeoned Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38, to death with an iron after the two fought inside room 1109 at the SoHo 54 Hotel at 54 Watts St. in Lower Manhattan earlier this month, authorities said.
"It appears there was a dispute over time allowed to stay in the room after services were rendered," Kenny said, adding that Almansoori allegedly met with an escort in Manhattan the day before the slaying.
A hotel employee discovered Oleas-Arancibia’s body in the room on the morning of Feb. 8, police said. The victim had pieces of plastic in her head from a bloody iron, which was found near her body, police said. She died of blunt force trauma, officials said.
Almansoori allegedly left his bloody pants in the room and walked out of the hotel in the victim's leggings before hopping on a plane from Newark Liberty International Airport to Arizona on Feb. 12, police said. The suspect then allegedly carjacked a woman at knifepoint in Phoenix and stabbed a McDonald's worker several times in the restaurant bathroom over the weekend, authorities said.
Authorities in Arizona contacted law enforcement in New York and the sides are working out an extradition treaty, Kenny said. It is unclear when Almansoori will be brought to New York City to face charges.
The suspect has an extensive arrest history in several states, including an alleged kidnapping and a sexual assault in April 2023 in Florida, officials said. Almansoori told authorities he hurt three additional girls in Florida.
Most of his arrests are for reports of domestic violence.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.