NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A housekeeping manager allegedly has confessed to strangling a 44-year-old woman at New York's Essex House hotel, sources tell the New York Post.
The Post said Monday the report from unidentified sources regarding Derrick Praileau comes after the father-of-two was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Andree "Sara" Bejjani.
"I just lost it," the sources quoted Praileau, 29, allegedly telling police.
Bejjani, an investment adviser, was found half-naked in her sister's condo in the posh Manhattan hotel the apparent victim of a sexually-motivated attack, police said.
An autopsy on Bejjani's body confirmed the Lebanese-born woman had been strangled to death. A 10-inch bread knife reportedly had been stuck in Bejjani's neck following Saturday's killing.
The sources told the Post that Praileau, who is married, allegedly used a maid's electronic key card to enter the Essex House condo following the killing to remove bed linens that possibly could have incriminated him.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said it does not appear Praileau and Bejjani were previously acquainted, The New York Daily News reported.
