A man was discovered dead in a hotel room in southwest Houston, leading police to begin an investigation.
Detectives were called to the Palace Inn about 12:30 p.m. Monday after the property manager notified the owner, Raj Das, about a body in one of the hotel’s rooms. The victim is described by police as a heavyset Hispanic male in his 30s. He’d been decapitated and was missing a few limbs.
According to Das, a person checked into the hotel room with the victim on Sunday afternoon. He states that guests did not describe any loud noises, and that none of the hotel’s 24 monitors observed any suspicious activity.
“No one busted down the door. There wasn’t any other activity. Anybody that entered the room entered with a key, and they let them in,” he said.
According to police, a preliminary report indicates that the man was killed as a result of an altercation involving several people that occurred later Sunday. Investigators suspect the murder occurred between 9 p.m. and midnight, when three people arrived: two men and a woman.
“It looks like there were two Hispanic males that were with [the victim] at the time,” said Homicide Detective Alexander Vinogradov with Houston Police. “They were inside the room [and] there was a lookout in that room.”
The investigation is still in its preliminary stages. Anyone with details, or who might have stayed at the hotel, is asked to call the police.
