Kensington death investigated for links

A day after a woman's body was found in a Kensington house Friday, police had not determined her cause of death and said it might be some time before the Kensington strangler is ruled out as a suspect.

A finding on the cause of death will wait until an autopsy is completed, Officer Tanya Little, a Philadelphia police spokeswoman, said Saturday.

The body of the young woman was found in a two-story rowhouse on the 2800 block of C Street, near Kensington Avenue, that was known in the neighborhood as a place to stay for short periods. Police did not release the woman's name.

The owner of the house told one neighbor that a man and a woman had arrived Thursday night and spent the night, possibly using drugs. On Friday morning, the man left, telling the owner of the house that the woman was sleeping. She was later found to be unresponsive, and police were called.

DNA evidence has determined that a man sexually assaulted and killed three women found in abandoned lots in Kensington in the last two months, and police believe he may have attacked three others.

The women who were killed - Elaine Goldberg, 21, Nicole Piacentini, 35, and Casey Mahoney, 27 - were all involved in drugs or prostitution and were found nude from the waist down. Two of them were posed in the same position.