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"Kensington Strangler" Suspect Confesses, Claims Murders "Just Happened," Say Phila. Police
Antonio Rodriguez (CBS/Philadelphia Police Dept.)
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/KYW) Police say the man they call the "Kensington Strangler" has confessed to three murders, after a month-long series of fatal attacks on women in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia.
Antonio Rodriguez, who was linked to the sexual assaults and murders of Elaine Goldberg, 21, Nicole Piacentini, 35, and Casey Mahoney, 27, via DNA, told detectives Tuesday that he picked his victims at random, paid them for what he described as "rough sex," and then killed them during that act.
Rodriguez's confession came one day after police had identified the 22-year-old drifter as a "strong person of interest" in the case, reports The Philadelphia Daily News.
Detectives told CBS affiliate KYW that Rodriguez showed very little remorse during questioning and offered very little in way of a motive for the murders, other than the violent attacks "just happened."
Police say they were able to link Rodriguez to the crimes after his name, along with a DNA sample he submitted to state police after he was jailed on drug charges, appeared in the state's offender database.
As of now, Rodriguez has not been charged in the murders and is being held on what is known as a "wanted card" for skipping a meeting with his probation officer, reports The Philadelphia Daily News.
All three of the slain women were murdered in November and December in a stretch of Kensington known for open prostitution and drugs.
Other women came forward, claiming to have barely survived sexual assaults and strangulation attempts. In all, Rodriguez is believed to have sexually assaulted three other women who survived.
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