Housekeeping Boss Held in NYC Hotel Murder

(CBS/AP)  A housekeeping manager at a luxury hotel next to Central Park has been arrested in the death of a woman who was found in a room strangled with a knife sticking from her neck, police said on Sunday.

Longtime hotel employee Derrick Praileu was arrested in the hours after the body of Dubai businesswoman Andree Bejjani was found in a condo at the Jumeriah Essex House, a 44-story art deco tower featuring hundreds of posh rooms, police said.

The Manhattan hotel, which is near Broadway and upscale Fifth Avenue shops such as Tiffany&Co. and Bergdorf Goodman, said in a statement on Sunday that an employee had been arrested in Bejjani's death.

"Our sincere condolences go out to the victim's family, and we have offered our full support during this difficult time," the statement read.

Watch CBS 2's Report on the Arrest

There was no answer Sunday at a Bronx telephone number listed for Praileu, and police said they didn't know if he had an attorney.

One neighbor in the Bronx neighborhood where Praileu lives with his wife and two children described him to CBS affiliate WCBS as a quiet, family man.

"I've never seen him in arguments, nothing," neighbor Sean Johnson told the CBS 2. "Never seen him yell at nobody, nothing. So this is a shock to me."

Employees wouldn't answer questions, but guests were willing to talk. Most said the security appears tight.

"I feel secure. I mean, we have been here for five days - there is always security at the elevator lobby," Guven Dundar, a tourist from Turkey, said.


A maid found Bejjani, 44, face down and naked on the kitchen floor on Saturday afternoon. Bejjani's throat had been slashed. An exercise rope was wrapped around her neck, though police said it did not appear to be a factor in her death.

The cause of death was strangulation, the medical examiner's office said.

[314Diva]

This is horrible, my condolences to her family.
This story is horrific, how can you do something like that to a person and then walk around like nothing happened.
As far as the Florida family, that's horrible as well, but you know that the media picks and chooses which stories will go on the site based on ratings.....but my prayers go out to both of those families...i'm going to research the other one now....

[jclark7613]

Amazing a man in Florida kills his wife and 5 innocent children and that's not even on cbs site anymore but a rich business women is murdered and it's still top news.....amazing

[stuart-johns]

So if the cause of death was strangulation, why did he feel the need to slash her throat and stick the knife in her neck?

This world is sooooooo bizarre.