2nd person arrested in hotel killing and fire

A second person has been arrested in the Oct. 30 killing of a suburban man at a luxury hotel in Center City.

Richard Collins, 20, of Bridgeton, N.J., was arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy, theft, abuse of a corpse, and related offenses.

Police said Collins helped a transgender prostitute try to cover up the slaying at the Omni Hotel at Fourth and Chestnut Streets.

Patrick Michael Brady, 49, checked into the hotel Oct. 29. Brady, who lived in Chester County with his wife and 9-year-old daughter, worked at Jefferson University Hospital. He sometimes stayed overnight at the Omni rather than commute home.

In the early hours of Oct. 30, Brady let 22-year-old Herman Burton into his eighth-floor room. Burton, police said, is a prostitute who identifies as a woman.

Investigators say they believe a fight erupted between Brady and Burton. Brady died in the fracas.

Police said Burton called Collins after the killing. Collins hurried to the hotel and allegedly helped the prostitute arrange the slain man's body to appear as if he had died accidentally, said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

After staging the crime scene, the pair allegedly took Brady's cell phone, credit cards, and identification. Collins took a Bose radio belonging to the hotel, police said.

After Burton set the dead man's body on fire, the two left the hotel. Burton later was recorded by store surveillance cameras using Brady's credit cards, Evers said.

Burton was arrested three days later in Center City and charged with murder, arson, and related offenses. Burton has a record of arrests for prostitution, robbery, and violent offenses.

Burton has served time for promoting prostitution and remains on probation for that charge, according to court records.

Collins also has previous arrests for robbery, theft, and assault, according to court records. In addition, he has previously faced charges of loitering and obstructing the highway, counts usually associated with prostitution arrests.