Queens Internet Killer Confesses: I Killed Him Over My Hooker Fee

Alexys Fermaintt, 30, yesterday confessed to the Queens stabbing death of Michael Pecora, 38, telling prosecutors that he acted in self-defense after Pecora attacked him with a knife in a dispute over Fermaintt's escort fee.

Fermaintt told authorities that he had met Pecora online and had agreed to have sex and spend the day with him for money. Fermaintt is charged with second-degree murder and may spend 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Last week after I located Fermaintt's MySpace and YouTube accounts under the screen name Rican2Crave, blogger Rod McCullom uncovered an amateur sex video (NSFW) featuring Fermaintt and three other men in which he appears to be smoking crystal meth.

Arrest Made In Queens Internet Murder

Alexys Fermaintt, 30 (left), was arrested by Holyoke, MA police yesterday for the murder of Michael Pecora, 38, who was found stabbed to death in his Queens apartment last week after what police believe was an internet hookup gone horribly bad. The suspect was being hidden in his mother's home, according to television reports. A NY Daily News story not yet online today describes Fermaintt as a "hustler," although other news reports do not. He reportedly has a criminal record in several states, including New York. Police have found Pecora's computer in Fermaintt's Bronx apartment.

RELATED: Since I first posted about this story yesterday, several JMG readers have written to mention having seen the victim's regular postings in Craigslist's M4M section. It's always a good time to review your safety procedures when hooking up with strangers you've met online.

UPDATE: I think I've found one of Fermaintt's hookup photos.

UPDATE II: And here's his MySpace page, where his screen name is Rican2Crave. Judging by his photos and comments calling him "sexy," Fermaintt is openly gay. Only one of his MySpace friends has weighed in his arrest so far, saying, "Hey Alex...I'm so sorry bout what happened and wish you the best outcome papi. Stay strong and I will pray for you. Love - E."

UPDATE III: Fermaintt has this one 18-second video posted under his YouTube account.

Another Gay Internet Hookup Murder

The NYPD suspects that a man found stabbed to death in his Queens apartment last week was murdered by a man he met on the internet.

Michael Pecora's nude body was found in his Forest Hills apartment late Wednesday, hours after his sister called his cell phone only to have a stranger answer, the sources said. The man with Pecora's cell phone was a cab driver, who told the sister he was given the phone earlier in the week by a passenger who said he didn't have any money to pay the fare, sources said. The passenger gave the cab driver the phone and a watch as payment when he was dropped off in the Bronx. The panicked sister called police, and detectives interviewed the cabbie, who told them he picked up the mysterious passenger near Pecora's 65th Ave. apartment, sources said. The building super climbed onto the fire escape and let cops into Pecora's sixth-floor apartment through the window where they found his body sprawled in a hallway near his bedroom. He had been stabbed three times.

Pecora was a 38 year-old University of Tampa graduate, but no other information about him has been released. There has been a rash of internet-related killings of late, including the March stabbing death of gay ABC newsman George Weber.