Simone WilsonMaids at the Olympic Hotel near MacArthur Park stumbled across a gruesome scene as the clock struck midnight, bringing Christmas to a close.
A woman in her 40s whose name has not yet been released lay dead in a vacated room, LAPD homicide detectives tell City News Service. And the man who had rented the room was long gone — he took off on Christmas morning, mere hours after renting the room.
Needless to say, “Yes, we would consider the man who rented the room at least a person of interest at this point…”
… LAPD Sergeant Michael Mabie tells the wire.
The woman was found with blunt force trauma to the face and head, so it appears her attacker bludgeoned her to death.
A CBS2 video report shows detectives coming and going from the rundown hotel earlier this morning. Across the entrance hangs a banner reading “daily, weekly, monthly rentals now available” — so it looks like the kind of place that drifters might live for a while.
The hotel is located at 725 South Westlake Avenue, on the shoddier side of MacArthur Park. This summer, one Google reviewer called it “as trashy on the inside as it is on the outside,” saying it has bed bugs, mice and “the hallways smell of pee and decay.” More from the review:
“This is no place anyone should stay. This place is horrible. Not too long ago there was a murder and raids throughout te building during my stay.”
Another user writes:
“Rooms get broken into and there are a lot of drugs in and around the building. Not a good place for children or to stay period.”
[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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