Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of Clarence Dean, 43, to 25 years-to-life in state prison for murdering a 33-year-old woman, Kristine Yitref, in his Times Square hotel room. On December 6, 2016, a New York State Supreme Court jury found the defendant guilty of the sole count in the indictment against him: Murder in the Second Degree.
As proven at trial, at approximately 4:00 a.m. on August 28, 2007, Dean met Ms. Yitref on the street in Times Square. After she accepted his invitation, Dean escorted the victim to his hotel room on the sixth floor of the nearby Hotel Carter for a sexual encounter. He checked out of the hotel the following morning.
On August 30th, a hotel housekeeper entered Dean’s room and found that the room had been meticulously cleaned and vacuumed. Under the hotel bed, however, she discovered the victim’s body stuffed in a plastic garbage bag, along with blood-soaked sheets and towels. The victim had sustained fatal injuries consistent with a brutal assault and strangulation, including a skull fracture, a broken neck bone, a shattered breast bone, and at least twelve broken ribs. NYPD detectives identified Dean as a suspect, and he was apprehended on August 31st.
“Clarence Dean committed a merciless and brutal act of violence against a vulnerable woman,” said District Attorney Vance. “After inviting the victim to his hotel room, Dean repeatedly struck her with such force that he reduced her bones to dust. He squeezed her neck so tightly that it snapped. He showed a complete disregard for human life, and now he will serve the maximum sentence possible for this barbaric crime.”
