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

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.

Strader was discovered by her husband, who grew worried when he didn’t hear back from her after texting her multiple times on April 20, 2021. The mother of four and grandmother of two had been severely beaten and bruised, and was unconscious, with a towel stuffed in her mouth, according to deputies, the Miami Herald reported.

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

Authorities discovered video surveillance that showed Havrilka, who had been staying at the motel, had entered the room where Strader was working that day.

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

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

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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.

“The last thing my mother tasted was cotton,” Strader’s children said in a statement read by Fraivillig, per ABC7. “It was a dry towel that was shoved in her mouth, down her throat, and which ultimately led to her death. Our mother will never be at our weddings. She will never be able to meet her grandchildren, kiss their heads, tell them stories, tell them fond memories she used to share about being pregnant with us.”