NEW YORK (PIX11) --- The man accused of brutally killing a Queens woman in a SoHo hotel last month did not sign an extradition waiver during a court hearing in Arizona Monday afternoon, authorities said.
Raad Almansoori, 26, faces murder charges in New York City and was indicted on attempt to commit murder, assault, attempt to commit armed robbery, and sexual assault charges in Arizona for allegedly stabbing two women. Since the suspect declined to sign the extradition waiver, similar hearings will be held in the future, with the next one on March 25, according to a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Prosecutor's Office.
Whether Almansoori agrees to extradition or not, the suspect won't be shipped to the Big Apple until he's prosecuted and sentenced in Arizona, per state law, officials said. Maricopa County Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell previously said she would not agree to extradition because New York City's bail laws are too lenient.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office could not immediately be reached Monday.
Almansoori was arrested in Arizona after allegedly stabbing two women and implicating himself in the death of a Queens woman at the SoHo 54 Hotel at 54 Watts St. in Lower Manhattan last month, authorities said.
Almansoori told the officers he was wanted for a homicide in New York and allegedly told them to “Google SoHo 54 hotel,” according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. Authorities tried to extradite the suspect to Manhattan before Mitchell squashed the request.
“Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by Manhattan DA there Alvin Bragg, I think it’s safer to keep here and to keep him in custody so that he cannot be out doing this to individuals either in our state or county or anywhere in the United States,” Mitchell said.
Bragg’s office accused Mitchell of playing political games with a murder investigation while citing the decrease in murders and shootings in New York City, according to spokesperson Emily Tuttle.
“New York’s murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Arizona, because of the hard work of the NYPD and all of our law enforcement partners. It is a slap in the face to them and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker’s death,” Tuttle said.
Almansoori allegedly confessed to the gruesome killing of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38, during an interrogation, Arizona police officials said. The suspect allegedly bludgeoned the sex worker to death with an iron after the two fought inside room 1109 at the hotel, authorities said.
A hotel employee discovered the victim’s body in the room on the morning of Feb. 8, police said. The Oleas-Arancibia had pieces of plastic in her head from a bloody iron, which was found near her body, police said. She died of blunt force trauma, officials said.
Almansoori allegedly left his bloody pants in the room and walked out of the hotel in the victim’s leggings before hopping on a plane from Newark Liberty International Airport to Arizona, police said. The suspect then allegedly carjacked a woman at knifepoint in Phoenix and stabbed a McDonald’s worker several times in the restaurant bathroom over the, authorities said. Both victims were stabbed multiple times, police said.
Almansoori was nabbed while allegedly driving a stolen vehicle at a mall parking garage in Surprise, AZ, officials said. Police body-worn cameras captured the arrest.
The suspect has an extensive arrest history in several states, including an alleged kidnapping and a sexual assault in April 2023 in Florida, officials said. Authorities believe there may be more victims in other states and have reached out to the FBI for assistance.
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