Another arrest in Omni hotel slaying

A 20-year-old man from Bridgeton, N.J., was arrested Monday in connection with the Oct. 30 murder of Patrick Michael Brady at the Omni Hotel.

Police said Richard Collins was charged with criminal conspiracy, theft and abuse of a corpse.

Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney said Collins was a friend of Herman Burton, the transgender prostitute who was charged earlier this month with beating and strangling Brady, of Thorndale, Chester County, inside his eighth floor room at the Old City hotel.

Burton, who identifies himself as a woman named Peaches, invited Collins to hang out in Brady's room after the murder, Cooney said. Collins didn't know about the slaying until he arrived about 1 a.m. Collins and Peaches moved Brady's body to another section of the hotel room and spent several hours partying, Cooney said.

Collins stole a hotel radio, but didn't take any of Brady's belongings, Cooney said. A few hours after Collins left the hotel, at 4th and Chestnut streets, Peaches allegedly set fire to Brady's room. Firefighters found the body of the 49-year-old man after they extinguished the small blaze.

Cops apprehended Peaches when they spotted her walking with a man near 12th and Spruce streets a few days after the murder. The prostitute was carrying Brady's cell phone and credit cards, police said.