Husband Rushes to Motel After Wife Stops Answering Texts, Finds Her Killed by a Guest Whose Room She'd Cleaned

Mar. 15, 2025

Tina Strader.Photo:gofundme

gofundme

A Florida man accused of killing a housekeeper and leaving her battered body in a motel closet in 2021 has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

On Monday, Feb. 3, Stephen Havrilka was sentenced to two life sentences in connection with the death of 46-year-old Tina Strader, an employee at the Rodeway Inn in Venice.

“We could never discern a motive,” Assistant State Attorney Karen Fraivillig tells PEOPLE. “However, he is an extremely violent person with prior episodes and I think he just wanted to kill another human being. He needs to go away forever.”

“There was no relationship between the defendant and victim,” she adds.

Bloodstains covered the bed, theHeraldreported. She was rushed to a local hospital where she died from her injuries hours later, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Stephen Havrilka.Mike Lang/Sarasota Herald-Tribune/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mike Lang/Sarasota Herald-Tribune/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Strader was allegedly beaten right after she texted her husband at 8:49 a.m., theHeraldreported.

The video showed Havrilka entering the room at 8:50 a.m. just one minute after Strader had gone inside, theHeraldreported.

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He allegedly stayed in the room for 14 minutes before he was seen leaving the room carrying a white towel and his shoes.

source: people.com