Housekeeping manager charged with homicide

NEW YORK — A housekeeping manager at The Essex House, a 45-story Art Deco apartment building, was arrested and charged with the second-degree murder of Andree Bejjani, according to the New York Times.

Derrick Praileau, a longtime employee at The Essex House, placed himself at the scene of the crime early Saturday in a recorded confession, having gained access to the apartment Bejjani was staying in by using several key cards, including one from a fellow employee, the story stated.

According to the story, the victim was found by a maid strangled with a rope around her neck and a bread knife sticking out of it in a 10th-floor apartment she had been leasing.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said that the cause of death was strangulation.

Law enforcement officials said investigators are looking into the possibility that there was a sexual motive in the killing; there are no signs of a previous relationship between Praileau and Bejjani, the story noted.

Praileau, who neighbors say is a quiet family man, is being held without bail, the story added.

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