In Craigslist hotel attack, R.I. authorities expect charges soon

(Matthew Healey for The Boston Globe)

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

A spokesman for Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said today that authorities there expect to charge someone in last week's attack on a woman at a Warwick hotel "in the next three or four days." But the spokesman, Michael J. Healey, backpedaled a few hours later and said he expected the charges to be filed "as soon as we can."

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch (AP file photo)

He said authorities still believe "there's a strong connection between what happened in Boston and what happened in Warwick" but declined to say whether Markoff is the man whom he expects will be charged.

Healey also initially said that Lynch's office did not plan to convene a grand jury but would review evidence gathered by the Warwick police about the April 16 attack at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites and file charges itself. Later, he said he misspoke and that a grand jury may be involved.

Prosecutors are likely to charge the assailant with assault with intent to commit robbery and two unspecified firearms charges, said Healey.

A 26-year-old Las Vegas prostitute who had advertised private lap dances on Craigslist told Warwick police that a clean-cut, blond man who stood about 6 feet tall tied her up at gunpoint around 11:15 p.m. But the woman's husband entered the room in the middle of the robbery, and the assailant backed out and fled after pointing the gun at the man.

"I would say that at some point in the next three or four days, we think that we’ll have a sustainable case to announce," Healey said. "Attorney General Lynch is very encouraged by the progress Warwick is making, and there's more to be done."