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Suspect in Soho hotel homicide arrested in ArizonaHe is a suspect in a homicide case of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia (38), who was working as an escort for him on February 7. The two reportedly had a heated argument over how much time he could spend in the room.
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<div class="paragraphs"><p>Raad Almansoori.</p></div>

Raad Almansoori.

Credit: X/@JospehOlberding

Man suspected of murdering a woman in a Soho hotel room in Manhattan got arrested in Arizona on Sunday for stabbing a McDonalds employee.

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Raad Almansoori (26) was nabbed by Arizona police in a stolen car on Sunday for alleged kidnapping and stabbing of a McDonalds employee. Apart from this case, Almansoori is a suspect in other crimes committed against women, the New York Post reported.

He is a suspect in a homicide case of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia (38), who was working as an escort for him on February 7. The two reportedly had a heated argument over how much time he could spend in the room.

Chief of Detectives at New York Police Department Joseph Kenny told the New York Post that he (Almansoori) also carjacked another woman at knifepoint in the Grand Canyon State.

He has previously been arrested in Florida and Texas as well.

Kenny told NYPost, "Almansoori was charged last year with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in Florida but was free on bail in that case when he showed up in New York late last month."

He further said that New York is seeking to extradite him to New York City to face the charges in Oleas-Arancibia’s death.

Arizona authorities told NYPost that Almansoori was held there without bail on those cases.

Oleas-Arancibia was a mom of two who worked as an escort to make ends meet. She checked into the hotel at 2:14 pm the day before her death, wearing leggings that Almansoori was seen wearing when he left the hotel, making the distinction easy for police.

“We have video of the woman arriving at the location, wearing a distinct pair of leggings and later on we have a male leaving the hotel wearing the same leggings and we also have a pair of male pants in the hotel room. There was blood all over the pants,” Kenny said.

On the evening of February 8, several wellness calls were made to the front desk for Oleas-Arancibia. One employee did walk into the room, despite a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door handle, but quickly left after seeing her covered by a blanket on the floor, thinking she was asleep.

Her body was discovered the following morning when her 18-year-old son made additional calls and filed a missing person’s request in Jackson Heights.

Investigators have found bits of plastic embedded in her head and believe that bloody iron was "one of the methods that was used to kill her."

According to her son, Oleas-Arancibia appeared nervous in the days leading up to her death.

“In the week (before) she was like, sad,” Edwin Cevallos said. “She was so nervous and she was worried."

She had moved to New York from Ecuador where she’d been living with Cevallos and a nephew while her parents and a younger son stayed in South America.

Almansoori has lived in Texas, Florida and Arizona where his family still lives.

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(Published 21 February 2024, 17:54 IST)