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Man Found Under Midtown Hotel Mattress Was Beaten & Strangled To Death


By

Emma Whitford

Published May 19, 2015

Modified May 19, 2015


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By

Emma Whitford

Published May 19, 2015

Modified May 19, 2015


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


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The 28-year-old man who was found unconscious and unresponsive underneath a mattress in a Hilton Garden Inn hotel room near Herald Square early Monday morning was beaten and strangled, an autopsy report has since revealed.

NYPD officers responded to the call just after 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning, and found the victim, since identified as Roderick Goodwin of Bridgeton, New Jersey, "unconscious and unresponsive, under a mattress with trauma to the back of the head." He was pronounced dead upon arrival at Bellevue Hospital.

Today's autopsy report determined that Goodwin suffered blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner's office said. Sources told DNAInfo that Goodwin used a fake name to check into the hotel on Sunday night, with two women "believed to be prostitutes," and three other men. A group of men was reportedly seen fleeing the hotel around the same time Goodwin's body was recovered.

The NYPD has deemed the incident a homicide. As of this afternoon, no arrests have been made.

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