Elderly Missouri Man Visiting New Orleans With Wife Killed After Stranger Breaks Into Their Hotel Room: Police

A suspect was arrested in connection with the beating death of a Missouri man who was staying in a New Orleans hotel with his wife, authorities said.

Martin Hurtado, 29, of New Orleans, was arrested on a second-degree murder charge and booked into jail on a $350,000 bond, the Associated Press reported.

According to police, around 11 p.m. on Dec. 1, police responded to the Avenue Plaza Hotel in the Garden District after someone pulled a fire alarm in the building and broke into a sixth-floor room.

The victim’s wife told investigators she did not recognize the intruder and ran into a bathroom from where she saw the man punch her 75-year-old husband in the face. She then fled the room for help.

Officers responding to the seen found the elderly man on the floor of the hotel room and he was rushed to an area hospital where he died.

The victim’s identity will be released once an autopsy is complete.

Police said the suspect does not have any connection with the couple.