Judge sticks it to NYC prosecutors and refuses to send Soho hotel murder suspect back to Big Apple to face murder charges after Arizona DA feared Alvin Bragg would let accused killer walk

An Arizona judge has refused to send the Soho hotel murder suspect to the Big Apple to face murder charges for the heinous killing inside a hotel. 

On Monday, Court Commissioner Barbara Spencer said Raas Almansoori, 26, will stay in Arizona to stand trial for the attempted murder of the two women he reportedly stabbed after he fled NYC. He is currently being held without bond. 

He has also been accused of killing Denisse Oleas-Arancibia who was found beaten to death at New York City's SoHo 54 hotel on February 8.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had hoped that Almansoori would be sent back to the Big Apple, but Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has insisted that the criminal stay in her jurisdiction. 

She ripped Bragg and his lax bail policies in explaining why she did not want to see the suspect extradited despite the most serious charges. 

'The local charges by law, have to be resolved before anything can happen with your New York case,' Spencer said on Monday. 

On Monday, Court Commissioner Barbara Spencer said Raas Almansoori, 26, will stay in  Arizona. He is seen with his head down in court on Monday as he listened to the judge's decision

Spencer's decision came after Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has insisted that the criminal stay in her jurisdiction after he fled to Arizona from New York City in early February. She ripped Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his lax bail policies in explaining why she did not want to see the suspect extradited despite the most serious charges.

Although Bragg did not get his way, he still has the chance to petition Arizona's Governor Katie Hobbs - a fellow Democrat - to get involved and potentially reverse the decision. 

Amansoori's fate has sparked a political battle between the two states after Mitchell said she would not send him back to New York for trial.

'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 so that he cannot be out doing this to individuals either in our state, county or anywhere in the United States,' she said.

A spokeswoman for Bragg said it's 'deeply disturbing' that Mitchell is 'playing political games in a murder investigation.'

'New York's murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Arizona, because of the hard work of the NYPD and all of our law enforcement partners.

'It is a slap in the face to them and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker's death.'

Almansoori was caught leaving the Soho 54 Hotel on surveillance footage as he wore Oleas-Arancibia's catsuit along a well-lit Manhattan street after allegedly leaving his own blood-soaked pants at the scene, police said. 

Almansoori strangled Oleas-Arancibia, wrenched her head from side to side in a bid to snap her neck, before battering her with an iron, investigators said

Surveillance footage of Almansoori caught after the murder of Oleas-Arancibia wearing her catsuit along a well-lit Manhattan street after allegedly leaving his own blood-soaked pants at the scene, investigators said

The suspect then left the city and made his way to Arizona, where he was accused of stabbing a woman in her car in Phoenix, the day before he stabbed an 18-year-old woman multiple times in the neck inside of a McDonald's restroom in a nearby town. 

Arizona police detective Jeremy Goebel told the court that Almansoori allegedly followed the 18-year-old victim into the McDonald's bathroom, crawled under the door into her stall before pepper spraying her and stabbing her in the neck as she screamed. 

She later described him as having 'evil eyes'.

The officer said Almansoori had also spoken of a plan to kill his father and stepmother and burn down their house.

Almansoori was soon found and pulled from a stolen vehicle and arrested at gunpoint in a Phoenix car garage on February 18. 

On February 27, he appeared at a detention hearing where he went into 'graphic detail' about how he gruesomely murdered Oleas-Arancibia. 

Arizona police detective Jeremy Goebel said Amansoori told about how he began strangling her after an argument erupted over how long he could stay. 

The body of Oleas-Arancibia was found in a room at New York's SoHo 54 hotel on February 8, and four days later, Almansoori is said to have flown back to Arizona from Newark, New Jersey

The suspect then left the city and made his way to Arizona where he was accused of stabbing a woman in her car in Phoenix, the day before he stabbed an 18-year-old woman multiple times in the neck inside of a McDonald's restroom in a nearby town

'In his words, 'She just wouldn't die',' the court heard.

When the strangling did not work, Amansoori wrenched her head from side to side in a bid to snap her neck, before battering her with an iron.

She was already dying from her injuries by the time he tried to suffocate with a sock and blanket, according to Goebel.

'Not a single woman on this planet likes me so I was very upset,' he told the officer. 

The body of Oleas-Arancibia was found on the morning of February 8, and four days later, Almansoori is said to have flown back to Arizona from Newark, New Jersey.

At a press conference in February, the NYPD revealed that Almansoori was on bail at the time of the murder for attacking and sexually assaulting another woman in Florida in April 2023.

Leah Palian, 26, says Almansoori, 26, held her captive in her Orlando, Florida home before choking and sexually assaulting her.

'I hate that I have to do this. I hate that I have to kill you,' Almansoori reportedly told Palian during the terrifying ordeal.

The NYPD revealed that Almansoori was on bail at the time of the murder. Leah Palian (pictured) has revealed that Almansoori held her captive in her Orlando, Florida home before choking and sexually assaulting her in April last year 

Alamsoori was arrested but freed on $2,500 bail in September of last year.

'Despite my chilling warning to the Florida state attorney that his actions were indicative of a potential serial killer, they callously released him, dropping all but one charge (car theft),' Palian wrote on Facebook. 

'The blood of an innocent mother stains their hands. Florida's justice system has not only failed me but has turned a blind eye to the impending danger he posed to countless other women.' 

He was also charged with robbery, assault, theft and criminal damage in the separate Phoenix investigation. 

On Tuesday, he was indicted in Arizona for the stabbings on two counts of first-first-degree attempted murder for each victim, along with aggravated assault, attempted sexual assault, attempted armed robbery and theft of means of transportation.