Man pleads guilty in Old City murder

The second man arrested in connection to the murder of a Chester County businessman in his Old City hotel room pleaded guilty Wednesday morning.

Richard Collins, 20, of Bridgeton, N.J., pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse, theft and conspiracy, stemming from the Oct. 30 slaying of Patrick Michael Brady, 49.

The married father of one daughter was found beaten and strangled in his burning 8th-floor room at the Omni Hotel, 4th and Chestnut streets.

Police have charged a friend of Collins', transgender prostitute Herman Burton, 22, with the murder and with setting the fire.

After slaying Brady and before setting the blaze, Burton called Collins to the room to party, police said.

Burton - known on the streets as Peaches - and Collins moved Brady's body to another section of the hotel room and spent several hours there, police said.

Collins stole a hotel radio from the room before leaving, said Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore, who is prosecuting both defendants.

"It's a horrible case," she said after Collins' 10-minute plea hearing.

"My client's involvement is rather minimal and after the fact," defense attorney Dan Stevenson, of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, said when asked why Collins decided to plead guilty.

If given the maximum sentence on all counts, Collins would be incarcerated for 6 to 12 years - though a shorter term is more likely.

Although Municipal Judge Jimmie Moore reduced Collins' bail to allow him to go free on his own recognizance, he remains behind bars on a bench warrant related to an August robbery charge.

Burton was supposed to have his preliminary hearing this morning, but Moore rescheduled it to Feb. 8 because the defendant's attorney was unavailable.

Brady, an information-technology specialist who worked for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, often stayed at hotels in town because of his working hours, according to those who knew him.

Pescatore said she did not know how Burton and Brady crossed paths.