Carlos Castro, a well-known 65-year-old journalist and gay activist from Portugal, was brutally murdered and castrated Friday night inside a room at the InterContinental Hotel on West 44th Street. Castro was found nude in his hotel room with his scrotum cut off, having been bludgeoned in the head. Monica Pires, a friend of the writer, grew concerned after she went to the hotel Friday evening and couldn’t reach Castro, sources said. In the lobby of the InterContinental, Pires saw Renato Seabra, Castro’s alleged boyfriend, a Portuguese male model and reality-TV star who had been staying with Castro at the InterContinental. Seabra reportedly stopped in a panic when he saw Pires. She asked him about Carlos, and he said, “Carlos isn’t leaving the room,” before he left the hotel. Pires screamed and prompted the hotel staff to check room 3416, where they discovered Castro’s body and called the police.
Seabra was found hours later at the Roosevelt Hospital in midtown Manhattan with both his wrists slashed. The model was arrested a short time later and taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is currently undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. Police said Seabra is “a person of interest” in the killing.
Portugese journalist found murdered and mutilated [NYP]
Carlos Castro, Portuguese journalist, killed and castrated at hotel [NYDN]
