DA to seek death for alleged Kensington strangler

Prosecutors said today they plan to seek the death penalty against Antonio Rodriguez, the 22-year-old Philadelphia man charged last month with being the Kensington strangler.

During a preliminary hearing this morning, two detectives took turns reading the separate confessions Rodriguez gave for each of the three victims, killed between Nov. 3 and Dec. 15.

Rodriguez said he approached each on the street and asked if they were "working" as prostitutes. Each victim, he said, agreed to go with him for sex.

Prosecutors said all the women were beaten, showing that they fought back as Rodriguez strangled them.

In his statement, Rodriguez described the strangulation of his first victim, Elaine Goldberg, as an accident. He said she asked to be choked and he didn't intend to kill her.

"She didn't tap me," Rodriguez said, according to his statement. "She didn't let me know if she couldn't breathe."

Detectives asked him that, if Goldberg's death was an accident, why didn't he try to revive her or call 911.

Rodriguez said he panicked. He said he didn't know if Goldberg was dead, but "I didn't want to stick around to find out."

He also began his statement about the second victim, Nicole Piacentini, by saying he "let her go" after he noticed she had a bloody nose. The detectives reminded him that scientific evidence would prove whether he was telling the truth.

He then admitted that he killed Piacentini and that she tried to fight back.

With the last victim, Casey Mahoney, he told detectives from the start that she fought back, scratching him.

"I kind of lost it," Rodriguez said in his statement. "I threw her down and forced myself on her."

He also admitted to having sex with each victim after they were dead.

Rodriguez, charged with three counts of murder and rape, was ordered held for trial. DNA has linked him to each death, prosecutors said.