Detectives review hotel attack evidence

WARWICK, RI (WPRI) - Warwick police met with Boston police Friday afternoon to discuss an attempted robbery at a hotel in Warwick they believe is connected to the Craiglist hotel murder in Boston.

Warwick's police chief, Col. Stephen McCartney said detectives from both cities reviewed the evidence collected from Thursday night's attempted assault and robbery at the Holiday Inn Express on Jefferson Blvd.

McCartney said the surveillance video from the hotel has significant evidence on it, but it is not being released to the public.

During a news conference late Friday morning McCartney confirmed the victim was a 26-year-old woman from Las Vegas.

He said the suspect tied the woman up with cord in a room at the Holiday Inn Express, and held a gun to her head. The suspect fled when the victim's husband returned to the room, McCartney said. Nothing was taken and the woman was not physically hurt.

The woman told police she worked at The Cadillac Lounge, a strip club in Providence and was offering massage services that she advertised on Craigslist. McCartney said investigators are still trying to locate the online ad.

"She may have been involved in some sort of a sex-for-money transaction at the point in time when she had the confrontation with this alleged assailant," McCartney told WPRO-AM radio.

McCartney said the suspect matches the description of a man wanted in connection with the murder of a woman at the Marriott Copley Hotel in Boston.

Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City was shot multiple times in the torso late Tuesday night on the 20th floor of the Boston hotel. She advertised masseuse services on Craigslist, and investigators believe she was the victim of an attempted robbery.

The same man is wanted for questioning in a similar attack at the nearby Westin Hotel a few days earlier, and now may be connected to the attempted robbery in Warwick. 

McCartney said the Warwick crime could have been much worse.

"Who knows where the crime would have led, whether it would have led to something more serious than just the demand for money and items," said McCartney.

Warwick police said they are working with Boston detectives on the case.

The suspect is described as a clean-cut white man, medium build, about 6-feet tall with blonde hair.

Police said they have sent alerts out to area hotels to be on the lookout. Anyone with information should call the Warwick Police Department.