A well-known journalist from Portugal was brutally beaten and mutilated inside a room of a posh Times Square hotel during a fight with his younger companion over money, police sources said.
The naked body of Carlos de Castro, 65, was found face-up in a pool of blood inside his 34th-floor room at the InterContinental New York Times Square on W. 44th St. about 7 p.m. Friday, the sources said. The prominent gay activist and society columnist had been bludgeoned in the head and his scrotum cut off, sources said.
His suspected killer - Renato Seabra, a Portuguese male model who was staying with Castro at the InterContinental - was found four hours later at Roosevelt Hospital in Midtown, the sources said. Investigators believe Seabra, a former Portuguese reality show contestant, attacked his older lover after Castro accused him of stealing cash, the sources said.
After the savage slaying, Seabra took a cab to the hospital for treatment for scrapes and cuts on his hands and face. The cab driver who dropped off a nervous Seabra later saw a newscast and recognized Seabra's -and immediately called 911.
"I think I just dropped your guy off at the hospital," said the driver, who recalled Seabra as "frantic," according to NYPD sources said. Moments later, a nurse from Roosevelt walked home from the end of her shift and, also seeing Seabra's photo on the news, called police and said the suspect was in the hospital's waiting room.
Seabra was arrested just after midnight and taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation Saturday afternoon, the NYPD sources said. Castro's body was found shortly after Monica Pires, a friend of the writer and producer, grew concerned after she went to the swanky hotel at 6 p.m. Friday and could not reach him, sources said.
"We asked the front desk to call up to Carlos but he didn't respond," Pires told the Portuguese news agency Lusa. "So we tried his cell phone and nobody answered." Just then, Pires and her mom Wanda saw the tall, chiseled Seabra walk through the lobby - and stop in a panic when he saw the worried women.
"We asked him about Carlos, and he looked panicked," a shaken Pires said. "He never expected to see us in the lobby and he told us, 'Carlos isn't leaving the room,'" she said. "This answer surprised us and we told the hotel manager." Pires screamed, which prompted the hotel staff to check room 3416, where they made the gruesome discovery. They quickly called 911.
Detectives said the couple dated for several months and that Castro paid for his younger companion to join him in New York for New Year's Eve. The couple checked into the hotel on Dec. 29, toured the city, took in several shows, and frequently dined with Wanda Pires - and the woman's family said the couple seemed fine until a tense dinner Thursday night.
Investigators believe the fighting intensified Friday, and a couple staying in a room two doors down heard the two men arguing hours before the murder. "There was a lot of noise, talking," said Suzanne Divilly, 40, who was celebrating her honeymoon in the city.
"You could hear them arguing in the corridor and even in our room," she said. "We didn't think anything of it, because it was none of our business." Detectives think Seabra grabbed a laptop and bashed Castro over the head with it, police sources said.
As the journalist lay bleeding on the floor of the disheveled room, the model used a broken wine glass to castrate his lover. Detectives think Seabra's wounds - including cuts to his wrists - were suffered during the struggle and were not a suicide attempt, sources said.
"We're all in shock more than anything else," said Luis Nascimento, the husband of Monica Pires. "He was a very nice man and very well-known Portugal for his work. Castro, aside from his gay rights advocacy, has worked for several television and radio stations in Portugal during his career, according to a biography page on his website. The site also notes his work for several national modeling competitions.
