Alleged Kensington strangler arrested

Philadelphia Police have arrested a man who they say is a DNA match for the Kensington Strangler.  Antonio Rodriguez has been linked to the sexual assault and murder of three women using a DNA sample in the state’s convicted felon database.

 

Philadelphia Police announced Monday evening they had identified the 22-year-old Rodigruez as a so-called “person of interest” in the case.  Minutes later, an anonymous tipster called police with the address of a house in Kensington.

 

“We received an anonymous call up in homicide telling us, giving us the location where the individual was at, we dispatched task force members to that location, they were let in, he was arrested without incident,” said Captain James Clark.

 

At a press conference Monday night, Mayor Michael Nutter congratulated the police for the big break, but said he wouldn’t be totally at ease until swabs of DNA from Rodriguez have been tested against samples from the victims, confirming the match.

 

“For me, I think somewhere in the next 24 hours, I’ll also have that greater sense of comfort knowing that we absolutely, positively have the person off the street that we’ve been looking for for some time,” said Nutter.

 

Two other people were in the house on Mutter Street, near Westmoreland, when Rodriguez was apprehended. They were also taken into custody and were said to be cooperating with the investigation.