Brownsville man convicted of killing woman found dead in a Williamsburg hotel

October 29, 2018 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Joseph Danclair, a 39-year-old from Brownsville, Brooklyn, was convicted of second-degree murder of a 34-year-old mother of four who was found naked in an East Williamsburg hotel. Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn DA’s Office

Share this:

A man from Brooklyn could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison at sentencing after he was convicted of second-degree murder of the 2015 death of a 34-year-old mother from Staten Island.

Joseph Danclair, a 39-year-old from Brownsville, was arrested after the Staten Island mother of four was found dead in a hotel in East Williamsburg. He was convicted following a jury trial in front of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo.

“This defendant befriended a vulnerable woman and then heartlessly and violently ended her life, leaving her friends and family, including her four children, heartbroken,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “Such violence will not be tolerated in Brooklyn. Hopefully, today’s verdict brings some comfort to those suffering from this tremendous loss.”

The victim, Chrissy Bevelaqua, was found naked with bruises to her neck and head inside the Bushwick Hotel located at 171 Bushwick Ave. on July 23, 2015 at approximately 4:30 p.m., according to prosecutors. She was found in the bed by a member of hotel staff, who then alerted the police. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors explained that police were able to recover the defendant’s DNA and fingerprints from the hotel room, and that he was also captured on surveillance video entering the hotel with the victim and leaving without her.

When the defendant was arrested on Sept. 17, 2015 in Manhattan, police recorded a video statement where he admitted to being in the hotel room.

Danclair will be sentenced on Nov. 14, 2018.