At a Thursday morning news conference, police announced the arrest of 22-year-old Herman Burton of the 2400 block of South 63rd Street in Philadelphia. Officers say he has a lengthy arrest record for prostitution and violent crimes.
He is charged with killing 49-year-old Patrick Brady of Thorndale, Chester County by strangulation and starting a fire to cover up the crime.
The autopsy showed that Brady suffered blunt force trauma to the head and body and died as a result of strangulation.
The struggle was apparently loud enough to be heard by other hotel guests.
"We talked to people who were there at the time and there was a report that they did hear a struggle inside of the room," said Capt. James Clark of the Philadelphia Police.
Capt. Clark said police were not looking for any other suspects in this crime.
"As far as we're concerned we got the killer, he's in custody, he's arrested and charged and the case is closed," he said.
Brady's body was found in his hotel room after the fire at 10:18 a.m. Saturday.
Police say Brady checked into the hotel on Friday night and, between then and Saturday morning, let Burton into his room. During that time, police say Brady was beaten, strangled and robbed.
Burton then set the room on fire, police said, in an attempt to cover his tracks.
Police said they did not know how, or if, Burton and Brady knew each other. They also did not know why Burton was in Brady's room.
Investigators said Burton was identified by hotel surveillance video and, because he used Brady's credit card, they were able to obtain more pictures.
On Tuesday evening, Burton was arrested in the area of 12th and Spruce. Investigators said he still had some of Brady's personal possessions on him at the time, including a cell phone, credit cards and ID.
Action News has learned that Brady worked in the IT Department at Thomas Jefferson Hospital, and would often stay in a hotel when work required him to be in the city.
The manager said Brady had been a guest of The Omni before.
Brady leaves behind a wife and 9-year-old daughter.
In a statement, Thomas Jefferson Hospital said that the staff was "saddened" by Brady's passing and their hearts and prayers go out to his family.
