NEW YORK, NY – Raad Almansoori, a 26-year-old male suspect linked to the murder of a Queens woman in a SoHo hotel, has been apprehended in Arizona. Upon being arrested, Almansoori mentioned his involvement in multiple assaults against women.
In addition to the SoHo murder, Almansoori is implicated in a couple of stabbing incidents in Arizona where he reportedly attacked a woman in a theft attempt outside a Starbucks, inflicting several stab wounds. He is also suspected of a separate stabbing at a McDonald’s in Surprise, Arizona, leading to local police proposing homicide charges.
Upon his arrest in a stolen vehicle by Scottsdale authorities, Almansoori mentioned other assaults that he carried out in Florida and on the 38-year-old Queens woman, Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, in SoHo. Oleas-Arancibia’s body was found in the SoHo 54 Hotel under a blanket near a bloodied iron. Investigators theorize that Almansoori might have worn Oleas-Arancibia’s leggings because his own jeans, found at the crime scene, were blood-stained.
Detectives are currently scrutinizing unresolved cases in Florida and Texas, where Almansoori resided, that involve assaults on women working as escorts. Almansoori has no prior arrest record and no apparent connections to New York. His purpose for being in New York City earlier this month remains unclear.
Investigators plan to travel to Arizona to question him. No charges have yet been filed for the SoHo incident.