A New York grand jury returned an indictment on Friday against Raad Almansoori for the brutal death of Denisse Oleas Arancibia (38), an Ecuadorian mother found in a Manhattan hotel in February.
Almansoori, 26, is in Maricopa County, Arizona, his home state, where he was arrested and charged in other cases involving violence against women. He is also suspected in attacks in Florida and Texas.
In Arizona he was charged with two stabbings and pleaded “not guilty.” He will be prosecuted in Arizona before being extradited to New York to face murder charges, he noted. ABCNews.
“With this indictment we are one step closer to ensuring justice for Denisse Oleas Arancibia,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said yesterday. “Our professional and dedicated prosecutors and investigators will continue to build the strongest case possible and we will be prepared to prosecute Raad Almansoori for these horrific allegations when he returns to New York.”
When Almansoori was arrested in February, the case sparked a political dispute between Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, a Republican, and Bragg, a Democrat.
Mitchell refused to send Almansoori to New York before he stands trial in Arizona, saying Bragg is too soft on crime. “Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, it is safer to keep him here,” the prosecutor said then.
In response, Bragg accused Mitchell of using “politics” in the name of justice. “I find it deeply troubling that a member of my profession, a member of law enforcement, would decide to engage in political games in a homicide case,” he said.
In Arizona, Almansoori attempted to rape and murder sex workers in addition to killing members of his own family, authorities said.
Detective Jeremy Goebel said Almansoori described to him in detail how he tried to kill Oleas Arancibia after he felt she had taken away his time for paid sex and defrauded him. According to her alleged confession, she attempted to break her neck while he strangled her, stomped on his head several times, and then put a sock over her face in an attempt to suffocate her.
According to Goebel, Almansoori described Oleas Arancibia’s death as his “first homicide,” as he did not know if the 18- and 22-year-old girls he admitted to stabbing in Arizona survived their injuries. He also said that the motivations behind his alleged crimes were due to his failed attempts to find someone who would love him.
“He said he’s been looking for love his whole life and hasn’t been able to find it,” Goebel said in court during an evidentiary hearing in February. “He had said numerous times during my interview with him that no one loves him. His mother doesn’t love him. His family doesn’t love him. That all the attempts he has made with the opposite sex have been unsuccessful.” And then he described himself as a “sex addict.”
Almansoori also told police that he planned to kill his father and stepmother before burning down their house, but that he wanted to wait until his sister was out of the area.
Dakota Johnson, Almansoori’s public defender, noted that her client had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and claimed to have heard voices in the past, although Goebel said he gave her logical answers during questioning.
Oleas Arancibia did not have a known profession or trade. She lived in Queens (NYC) with her oldest son, but for about a year she had been staying several nights a month at the “SoHo 54” hotel located on Watts Street in Manhattan. There she was found dead under a blanket next to a bloody clothes iron on the morning of February 8.
He died from neck compression and blunt head trauma, according to a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner (OCME). Preliminary evidence indicated that a fight may have taken place in the room, as she had injuries to her head and entire body. The victim’s parents and her other 13-year-old son still live in Guayaquil.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.