Inset: Paul Stottler (Pinellas County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The Holiday Inn Express in St. Petersburg, Fla., where Emma Jean Mullins was found dead on June 25 (Google Maps).
A Florida man was arrested in connection with the grisly discovery of a dead woman in a hotel room.
Paul Stottler, 39, is in custody at the Pinellas County Jail after being charged with second-degree murder on Friday. According to a complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, police responded to the Holiday Inn Express in St. Petersburg, Florida, on June 25 after hotel staff found the body of 76-year-old Emma Jean Mullins in one of the rooms. Mullins was wrapped in sheets, covered in clothing, and hidden under one of the bed’s mattresses.
Police said surveillance video captured Mullins entering the hotel with Stottler the night before around 10:45 p.m. Stottler was seen leaving the hotel by himself around 4:30 a.m.
In a press release, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said evidence inside the hotel room where Mullins was found indicated that a struggle took place. Police said the furniture in the room was overturned and there were bloodstains and broken glass in various locations.
According to the complaint, Mullins suffered “blunt force trauma to her face and body.” She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said that when Stottler left the hotel alone, he did not leave empty-handed. According to the press release, Stottler was seen on surveillance cameras carrying several bags out of the hotel and then throwing them in a dumpster in the parking lot. Police searched the dumpster and found “three documents with Mullins’ name concealed in an ice bucket” along with men’s clothing and bloodied bedding.
After police arrested Stottler, he reportedly admitted to dumping evidence when he left the hotel.
Police did not provide information about the relationship between Stottler and Mullins.
Stottler is being held without bond at the Pinellas County Jail. He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
