SoHo hotel murder suspect Raad Almansoori crawled under bathroom stall to attack Arizona woman, police say
Maricopa County prosecutors asked a judge Monday to hold NYC murder suspect Raad Almansoori without bail as he faces a slew of violent charges in Arizona.
Raad Almansoori, the suspect in a string of violent crimes against women around the country including a murder in Manhattan's SoHo 54 hotel and two stabbings in Arizona, was denied bond after a bail hearing in Maricopa County Monday.
Scottsdale Police arrested him last week after tracking a stolen car to a parking garage in the city. The car belonged to a woman who had been stabbed – one of two authorities allege Almansoori attacked after fleeing south following the murder of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia in New York.
Police allege he strangled her and then crushed her skull with an iron before surveillance video appeared to show him stepping out onto the streets wearing her leggings.
In Phoenix, he allegedly stabbed a woman, stole her car and drove to a suburban McDonald's, where prosecutors say he stabbed another woman.
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The Arizona attacks were equally brutal, according to authorities.
The McDonald's victim told police that the suspect followed her into the public restroom and climbed underneath the stall door with a gun, according to testimony at the hearing. Detectives interviewing her after she was released from intensive care said she was afraid he was going to rape her and slit her throat.
Almansoori allegedly told her to shut up twice, pulled out an orange-handled knife and stabbed her three times in the neck as she screamed for help, a detective testified at the hearing.
"Not a single woman on this planet likes me," he allegedly told police, who indicated that may have been his motive.
He also allegedly said he wanted to kill his father and stepmother and burn down the house – but had to wait for his sister to be out of the home before striking.
The suspected killer has also had his bail revoked in Orlando, Florida, where he had pending charges in connection with the sex assault and carjacking of another woman.
In Arizona, he faces two counts each of attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted sexual assault – in addition to the carjacking charge. After Scottsdale Police captured him, he also allegedly admitted to stabbing "an attractive younger female" later identified as a 22-year-old woman in Phoenix, and to killing Oleas-Arancibia in New York.
On top of those charges, he is being held on $5 million bond on fugitive from justice charges connected to the New York case, jail records show.
Almansoori is due back in court next Monday and has a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
"In this situation, I am not making a determination about the bail and his eligibility therefore based on any information related to a separate proceeding in New York City," the Arizona judge explained at the end of Monday's hearing. "I'm only making a decision about this case today. So that's my decision about this case."
He is expected to face trial in Arizona first after Maricopa County District Attorney Rachel Mitchell said she would not honor an extradition request from her Manhattan counterpart, Alvin Bragg.
"Even though there is a homicide in New York, we can guarantee that he is going to stay in custody here," Mitchell told "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning. "Let me be very clear, my heart goes out to the next of kin of the victim in New York, [and] I'm not casting aspersions on the NYPD either… but we have a case here, and we have him in custody."
If convicted, he would be sent to New York to stand trial for Oleas-Arancibia's murder before he begins his Arizona sentence.
Court records show Almansoori has prior charges in Arizona as well, including a 2018 conviction for aggravated assault.