Housekeeper Battered To Death Inside A Florida Inn By Convicted Felon

A woman, who worked as a housekeeper at an inn in Venice, Florida, was found battered to death inside a room.

Tina Strader was found bloody and bruised by her husband Gerald Strader while he was searching for her at Rodeway Inn on South Tamiami Trail where she worked, ABC Action News reported. Gerald was worried after he failed to reach his wife.

"I thought well they moved her to the third floor or first floor or even laundry room so I went and checked all those places and nobody had seen her, nobody had heard from her, nothing. I went back to the room then when I opened the door, I saw her," the news outlet quoted Gerald as saying.

A shocked Gerald immediately yelled for help, and another employee rushed to the room to perform CPR on Tina until emergency responders showed up. She later died in hospital.

A 30-year-old man, Stephen Havrilka, who has 19 felony convictions, was arrested in connection with the murder. Deputies took him to custody after they were alerted about a "suspicious person" who was acting erratically near Alligator Drive and South Tamiami Trail.

"He was literally speaking in tongues, acting very erratic, combative and was clearly under the influence of narcotics or some type of stimulant," Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told WFLA, an
NBC-affiliated news outlet.

The sheriff added it took five deputies to take Havrilka into custody. He has a long criminal history with 34 prior felony charges and 19 felony convictions. He has also served prison time on four separate occasions.

Hoffman said the surveillance video from the hotel showed the accused enter the room where Tina was found. He had been staying in a room at the hotel for six days. Detectives found evidence related to the aggravated battery from Havrilka's room.

"I can only imagine he may have spent his days observing her at the Rodeway Inn where she was employed and he was staying," Hoffman said. "As a husband, I cannot imagine what this victim’s husband is going through right now. Having tried to contact her, not been able to contact her, and then he was the one who found her unresponsive in the hotel room."

"There is no other way to describe Mr. Havrilka – he is an animal,” Sheriff Hoffman said. "He also has tattoos that depict his certain symbols of white supremacy…and his neo-Nazi alliances."