Police this week arrested a sex worker for the murder of a suburban man in a Center City hotel.
Police apprehended Herman Burton, 22, in the 1200 block of Spruce St., Tuesday night and charged him with last weekend’s murder of Patrick Brady, 49.
Fire and police squads were called to the Omni Hotel, at Fourth and Chestnut streets, around 10:15 a.m. Oct. 30 for reports of a fire inside room 812. The rescue personnel extinguished the small fire and found Brady’s body in the room, with trauma to his face, hands and ribs, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police believe Burton allegedly set the fire to cover the crime.
The Medical Examiner’s office later determined the cause of death to be manual strangulation.
In a press conference Thursday morning, Homicide Capt. James Clark said surveillance video at the hotel showed Burton, who was dressed as a woman at the time, entering and exiting the hotel alone between Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Clark said Burton has a long arrest record for prostitution and is well known to the police.
Police are unsure how Burton and Brady knew each other and if they met before last weekend. Omni Hotel employees did not report ever seeing Burton at the hotel before.
Clark said guests at the hotel reported hearing a struggle at some point during from Friday night into Saturday morning coming from Brady’s room. He said police are unsure what led Burton to allegedly murder Brady and if the two had sexual contact.
Burton allegedly robbed Brady during the incident, and several of Brady’s personal belongings, like a credit card and cell phone, were found on him during his arrest. Police said Burton used Brady’s credit cards several times before his arrest.
Burton, who lives in the 2400 block of S. 63rd St., was dressed as a woman when he was arrested, but it is unclear at this time whether Burton identifies as transgender. A police source said the suspect has never been arrested under a different name.
Brady lived in Thorndale, Pa., and was married with a 9-year-old daughter.
He was an IT worker at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and reportedly stayed in the hotel frequently when he had early work meetings the following day.
— Jen Colletta