Extradition fight over SoHo murder suspect 'cheapens justice,' DA Bragg says

DA Bragg responds to Arizona prosecutors

FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt has the latest on this high-stakes war of words between dueling prosecutors.

NEW YORK - DA Bragg says the extradition fight over the SoHo murder suspect "cheapens justice."

Bragg held a press conference Thursday to fire back at the prosecutor in Maricopa County, Arizona after she bashed him and his policies on Monday.

Bragg's office sent out a statement Wednesday night but decided on Thursday that a statement wasn't enough.

Raad Almansoori, the man police said is wanted for beating and strangling a 38-year-old mother to death inside a SoHo hotel room, has an extensive criminal history spanning multiple states, including New York.

The 26-year-old is also connected to multiple crimes in Florida, Arizona and Texas, according to the NYPD. Almansoori has a history of targeting women, some of whom are escorts, police said.

Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, a 38-year-old Queens woman, was found unconscious next to a bloody iron on Thursday, Feb. 8 inside the SoHo 54 Hotel on Watts Street. She had been bludgeoned with an iron. According to police sources, Almansoori is responsible for the death.

Days later, Almansoori was arrested in Maricopa County, Arizona for stabbing two women in separate attacks.

One of the attacks took place inside a McDonald's where he is accused of stabbing the woman several times.

The suspect later stated that he pepper-sprayed the victim and intended to rape her – dead or alive – when she screamed, officials said.

Law enforcement says he has a long rap sheet, including crimes in Florida and Texas.

DA Bragg wanted him extradited to New York for the murder, but the Republican prosecutor instead slammed Bragg at a press conference Wednesday there, saying his policies cannot be trusted to keep a murderer behind bars and refused to extradite the suspect.

"Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the Manhattan DA there, Alvin Bragg, I think it's safer to keep him here and keep him in custody," Rachel Mitchell said.

"It cheapens justice, and it does not center the victims," Bragg said. "It is inappropriate. She professes concern that a murder suspect in Manhattan would be released. I do not know what they do in Arizona, but here in this county, we routinely seek and get remands in our murder cases."

Bragg responded Wednesday by calling her comments political grandstanding at the expense of a murdered mother.

The next step is that there will be a hearing in Arizona where the suspect will either consent or not to extradition. If he does not, DA Bragg will give an extradition package to Gov. Hochul's office, which will then deal with Arizona's governor.

This is the standard operating procedure.

FOX 10 Phoenix and FOX 35 Orlando contributed to this report.