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2 Women Die in Hotel Rooms and Police Seek Ex-Con 'Person of Interest'

By  Murray Weiss Aidan Gardiner and Trevor Kapp | September 15, 2015 12:43pm | Updated on September 15, 2015 2:37pm

 Joseph Danclair is wanted for questioning in the deaths of two women, police said.
Joseph Danclair is wanted for questioning in the deaths of two women, police said.
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NYPD

MANHATTAN — Investigators are hunting an ex-con sources said allegedly raped two women and is linked to the deaths of two women found in separate hotel rooms this year, police said.

Investigators don't know how the women died and haven't officially identified a suspect, but sources believe Joseph Danclair, 36, is behind the two deaths and two other rapes.

Danclair, who's been convicted numerous times on drug charges was a suspect in a 2010 rape, but never charged, sources said.

Danclair is also suspected of raping and choking a prostitute in Brownsville earlier this year, sources said.

Then, on July 23, Danclair ran into Chrissy Bevelaqua, 35, and her friend on Avenue D on July 23rd, sources said.

 Joseph Danclair has distinctive tattoos on each bicep of a rose and hands in prayer.
Joseph Danclair has distinctive tattoos on each bicep of a rose and hands in prayer.
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NYPD

Danclair invited them to hang out, but the friend, who had previously hooked up with him and knew his predilection for drugs and violence, warned Bevelaqua because she was in rehab, sources said.

"Don't go with him," she said, according to sources.

Danclair and Bevelaqua checked into the Bushwick Hotel at 171 Bushwick Ave., near Stagg Street, later that day, police said.

After some time, he left without settling the bill, sources said.

Hotel staff found Bevelaqua, of Staten Island, lying dead in the room with bruising around her neck about 4:30 p.m., sources said. It wasn't immediately clear if the bruises played a role in her death.

Months later, he ran into Antoinette Marin, 43, on Eastern Parkway on Sept. 8, sources said. Video shows him pass her and then double back to strike up a conversation, sources said.

Later that day, the pair checked into a room at the Manhattan Broadway Hotel at 273 W. 38th St., near Eighth Avenue, but again, Danclair left without settling up, sources said.

Hotel staff found Marin, a Bronx mother with several children, lying face down on the hotel bed, sources said. She was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

It wasn't immediately clear how either Bevelaqua or Marin died, police said. The city's medical examiner will determine their causes of death, police said.

Surveillance footage shows Danclair, whose last known address is in East Flatbush and who sports distinctive tattoos on each bicep — one of a rose and another of hands in prayer, at both hotels, NYPD officials said.

Investigators found Danclair's palm print in the Manhattan hotel and got a hit last Friday, sources said.

Investigators are also seeing if there are any connections to similar cases in which women have been found dead in hotels, sources said.

Danclair, who has been arrested 28 times before on charges including drugs and assault, is not considered a suspect in the hotel deaths but is a "person of interest" wanted for questioning, police said.

He was convicted in February 2003 for criminal possession of a controlled substance for which he spent the nine months behind bars, prison records show.

While out of prison, he started living with a woman in East Flatbush and had a child with her, sources said.

In March 2008, she took out an order of protection against Danclair because he threatened to beat the kid to death and shoot her, sources said.

He was then arrested for crack possession and convicted on April 2009 and served the next seven months behind bars, according to records and sources.

He was on parole until November 2010, records show.

He was arrested again in 2012, but an NYPD spokesman did not know on what charge.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).

With reporting by Trevor Kapp