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Police: Killer may be targeting prostitutes

A man who has violently attacked at least two prostitutes in Kensington over the last month may be responsible for the stabbing and beating death of a prostitute Saturday night in the same section of the city, police said.

A man who has violently attacked at least two prostitutes in Kensington over the last month may be responsible for the stabbing and beating death of a prostitute Saturday night in the same section of the city, police said.

"They've all been pretty violent, but the last one resulted in murder," Homicide Capt. James Clark said Tuesday.

The man, who remains unidentified, approached a 35-year-old woman in Kensington on Saturday night and propositioned her for sex.

When the two went to the rear of an abandoned property on the 1900 block of East Cumberland Street, he stabbed the woman with a knife and beat her with a brick, Clark said.

She escaped and ran from the scene, but then collapsed, naked and covered in blood, on the 2400 block of Jasper Street, where she was pronounced dead at 11:22 p.m., police said.

Clark said the description of the killer - a man in his 30s or 40s with a full mustache and beard, riding a blue-and-black mountain bicycle - matches the description of a man wanted in the assaults of at least two other prostitutes in Kensington in the last month.

The victims in all three cases were been female prostitutes in their 30s, according to police.

"He fits the profile on a couple of other attacks that Special Victims Unit has had," Clark said. "Obviously, we're working together to get this guy off the streets."

One of the earlier attacks was on the 3800 block of Jasper Street around 12:30 a.m. July 12. In that case, the man, who was on a bicycle, grabbed the victim from behind and choked her until she lost consciousness, police said. When she awoke in the rear of a house, the victim was naked and had severe facial and head wounds.

In the other case, the date and location of which Clark said were not immediately available, the attacker slashed the victim's vocal cords, but she survived.

In 2010, three women were murdered in Kensington by Antonio Rodriguez, 27, who was dubbed the Kensington Strangler. Rodriguez, who was arrested based on DNA evidence and a confession to police, is serving life in prison.

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