Murder mystery at the Omni cracked

An alleged transgender prostitute was arrested and charged with the murder of a Chester County man in a luxurious Old City hotel.

Herman Burton, 22, is accused of beating, strangling and robbing Patrick Brady, 49, of Thorndale at the Omni Hotel on Saturday and then setting the room ablaze to try to cover it up. Investigators said Brady is seen on surveillance footage checking into the hotel Friday night, and sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning Burton was let into his room.

“For whatever reason, there was an extreme physical altercation inside of the room,” Homicide Capt. James Clark said. “And then the defendant set the room on fire in an attempt to cover their tracks.”

Burton, of the 2400 block of South 63rd Street, who dressed in women’s clothing, was arrested Tuesday night at 12th and Pine streets with some of Brady’s belongings, Clark said. He has a long criminal record, which includes a conviction for prostitution this year and multiple arrests for aggravated assault and robbery that were dropped because witnesses failed to show up.