Charges Approved For Arrest Of Suspect In ‘Kensington Strangler’ Case

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Charges have been approved for the arrest of a man in connection to the murders of three women in the city’s Kensington section.

Antonio Rodriguez, 21, is expected to be formally arraigned Wednesday evening for the rape and murders of Elaine Goldberg, Nicole Piacentini and Casey Mahoney.

Rodriguez, recently released from prison and believed to have been wandering the streets and staying in abandoned homes, was arrested Monday night after being linked by DNA to the sexual assaults and strangling deaths of three women in a gritty, high-crime section of the city, police said.

He was taken into custody on an unrelated bench warrant after someone phoned in a tip, police said. The arrest came shortly after a news conference at which Capt. James Clark said Rodriguez was being sought as a “strong” person of interest in the murders in the Kensington section, a few miles north of downtown.

The attacks, in what’s called the Kensington Strangler case, had left the neighborhood shaken — and police fearing that outraged residents might take matters into their own hands.

Rodriguez, who was sought on a bench warrant from a missed court appearance in an unrelated case police wouldn’t discuss, was in custody Monday night and couldn’t be reached for comment.

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