Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen
Andree Sara Bejjani Found With Throat Slashed at NY's Opulent Essex House Hotel
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 11:50 am
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| Police say he tried to rape Sara, but she fought back |
The body of a nude woman -- her throat slashed with a knife sticking out -- has been found in the lavish Jumeirah Essex House hotel, which sits on the edge of New York's Central Park. A maid found Andree Sara Bejjani, 44, in her luxury condo yesterday. The native of Lebanon also had a jump rope wrapped around her neck.
This isn't a place you'd expect to find a murder. Bejjani is the president of Royal Investments, a real estate investment company from the United Arab Emirates. Apartments at Essex House go for $7,000 a month and up.
So far, the investigation seems focused on hotel employees. There were no signs of forced entry or burglary. Nor does it appear Andree was sexually assaulted, though more tests are being conducted. Police seem to be centering on hotel housekeeping manager Derrick Praileau as their main suspect...
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| Derrick Praileau had been stalking Sara for weeks |
Praileau, 29 and a 10-year- employee, is reported to have made statements to police implicating himself. Video caught him entering her room early yesterday morning. He's admitted to police that he entered the condo, but didn't do anything else. And he initially raised detective's suspicions when he returned to the condo after the murder, possibly to clean up evidence.
UPDATE: Police say Derrick Praileu has confessed to killing Andree Sara Bejjani.
According to the NYPD, it went down like this:
Praileau snuck into the apartment of the beautiful investment adviser with a 10-inch knife. He found Sara sleeping and pulled her nightgown over her head. When she fought back, he strangled her and slashed her throat, then left the knife sticking out the back of her neck as she lay dead on the floor. He later returned in an attempt to clean up the murder scene.
A prosecutor says Praileau has confessed to the killing, but refuses to admit to attempted rape, even though the 44-year-old exec was found naked. He'd apparently been stalking her for weeks, though the two didn't know each other.UPDATE II: According to police. Derrick Praileau was so drunk the morning of the murder that he prowled the Essex House looking for a woman to attack.
So reports the New York Post. It says the Praileau had been drinking all night before reporting to work that morning, and "when I drink, I lose control -- and I want what I want."
He was so hammered a copy of his work schedule fell out of his pocket at the crime scene. He also failed to dispose of his bloody shoes, pants and shirt at his Bronx apartment. The father of two admitted to drinking all night before arriving at work at 5 a.m.
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