Drugged hotel guest beats housekeeper to death, forces towel into her mouth: ‘He is an animal’

3years ago

Venice news, Florida news.

The husband of a Florida hotel housekeeper called 911 Tuesday after discovering the body of his murdered wife inside a closet.

Tina Strader, 46, was mercilessly beaten until she passed away and had a towel forced into her mouth when her horrified husband Gerald Strader found her.

“Protocol would be for her to have the door open while she is cleaning the room,” Strader, who lived with the victim at the Rodeway Inn said.

“They were so shorthanded yesterday that I just assumed with the door closed that they had moved her to one of the other floors or something like that. Nobody had seen her and then when I went and finally opened the door, I found her.”

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  • Police arrested 30-year-old Stephen Havrilka and charged him with second-degree murder in connection with Strader’s murder. The suspect had been staying at the hotel for the entire week.

    “He was literally speaking in tongues, acting very erratic, combative, and was clearly under the influence of narcotics or some type of stimulant,” Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman said.

    “There is no other way to describe Mr. Havrilka – he is an animal. He also has tattoos that depict his certain symbols of white supremacy…and his neo-Nazi alliances.”

    The late housekeeper is survived by four children and two grandchildren, according to her husband.