A Connecticut man on probation for harassment was charged last week with attempted murder in Los Angeles and is a suspect in the killing of a nurse in New York City earlier this month. 
 
 Several media outlets in New York, including the New York Daily News, are also reporting that Danueal Drayton admitted to police in Los Angeles that he has killed as many as seven woman, including some in Connecticut. Police said they could not be certain Drayton was telling the truth. 
 
 Drayton was last arrested in Connecticut in January and charged with second-degree harassment. He pleaded guilty in March and received a suspended prison sentence and one year of probation. 
 
 Connecticut probation officials could not be reached for comment Sunday night to comment on how Drayton was on probation yet arrested across the country. 
 
 Drayton is scheduled to appear in court in California on Monday to face attempted murder, forcible rape and false imprisonment by violence and other charges, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney. He is being held in lieu of $1.25 million bail. 
 
 Drayton, 27, who has lived in Hamden and East Haven, has been arrested by New Haven, East Haven and Waterbury police on a variety of charges, including second-degree strangulation, unlawful restraint and violation of a protective order. 
 
 His longest prison term appears to have been for a 2015 case, for which he received five years, suspended after he served two years, and 29 months of probation. 
 
 New York Police Chief of Detectives Dermot F. Shea said earlier this week via Twitter that when police captured Drayton in Los Angeles for the killing of Samantha Stewart, a nurse from Queens, he had been holding another woman captive in her apartment. 
 
 “He’s off the streets but may have victimized others via online dating sites,” Shea tweeted. 
 
 Drayton met Stewart through the online dating app Tinder, according to the New York Daily News. 
 
 New York police tracked Drayton across the country after he became a suspect in the July 17 killing of Stewart. She was strangled in her apartment, police told the newspaper. 
 
 The suspected killer purchased a one-way ticket to California shortly after Stewart’s death — and lined up his next victim once on the West Coast, arranging a date with her, the Daily News reported, citing unnamed police sources. Police traced Drayton’s white Ford from Stewart’s home to a John F. Kennedy International Airport parking lot, where they found the victim’s AAA card and the suspect’s release papers from a Nassau County choking arrest last month, the newspaper reported. ||||| NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police say they finally caught up with a man wanted in connection with the death of a nurse in Queens, discovering the suspect on the other side of the country with another woman held captive in a Los Angeles hotel room. 
 
 Danueal Drayton, 27, of New Haven, Conn., was taken into custody Thursday. 
 
 The hunt began after 29-year-old nurse Samantha Stewart was found dead inside her bedroom at her family home in Springfield Gardens, Queens, on July 17. Police say Stewart suffered trauma to her head and neck. 
 
 “A lot of sorrow is in my heart,” her aunt, Ruby Dixon, told CBS2’s Tony Aiello after learning about Drayton’s arrest. “My niece was the best you ever could find in a human being.” 
 
 Police had been searching for the person responsible for Stewart’s murder and also another incident involving the rape of a 23-year-old woman that happened the month before in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 
 
 Both investigations led them to the same suspect, when the joint New York/New Jersey Police Task Force caught up with Drayton. 
 
 “There was a separate woman in a hotel room in California that was being held against her will,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea. 
 
 “Right after he commit a gruesome murder here and destroy my family, he went to California and just almost did the same thing,” Stewart’s father, Kenneth, said. “Thank God they catch him before he could destroy another family.” 
 
 When we captured Danuel Drayton in LA for the murder of Queens nurse Samantha Stewart, he had another victim held captive. He's off the streets but may have victimized others via online dating sites. Need help or have info? Call 800-577-TIPS/ sex crimes hotline 212-267-RAPE pic.twitter.com/iif7E9KuyA — Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) July 26, 2018 
 
 Authorities believe Drayton met both of those women on Tinder and their first meeting was in a public space. They say he also may have used other dating sites to meet potential victims. 
 
 “The common denominator in these two cases – one being a murder, one being a rape – is dating websites,” said Shea. “So this individual is known to us and it is believed by us that this individual uses dating web sites to meet women and then victimize these women.” 
 
 Police say Drayton was well known to police. He was arrested in June for allegedly choking an ex-girlfriend at Inwood Park in Nassau County. One July 1, his bail was set at $1,000. On July 5, a judge dropped the bail requirement, over the objection of the district attorney, and Drayton walked free. 
 
 He also has five prior arrests in his home state of Connecticut, including a strangulation arrest in 2011. 
 
 “I’m devastated by my loss of my daughter, but hearing this news now it really, really shocks me, throws me over the edge,” said Kenneth Stewart. 
 
 Police believe there may be more victims out there and are asking for anyone affected or who has information to come forward. 
 
 “Be careful. If you meet up with someone, tell somebody,” Dixon said. “Tell a family member, tell a friend. You don’t know who these monsters are.” 
 
 Stewart’s funeral is set for Saturday. ||||| A California woman accused of impersonating her ex-boyfriend’s new wife in Craigslist “rape-fantasy” ads has been exonerated, after spending nearly four months in jail for a crime she never committed, authorities say. 
 
 Orange County prosecutors say 30-year-old Michelle Hadley was framed. Now they’ve charged the wife who falsely accused her with a slew of felonies, including 22 counts of falsely reporting a crime to Anaheim police. 
 
 Angela Maria Diaz, 31, faces kidnapping, false-imprisonment, and forgery charges in connection to the elaborate setup. She was also charged with one count of perjury for lying in a petition for a restraining order against Hadley. 
 
 Diaz was arrested in Phoenix last week and will be extradited to California, prosecutors said Monday. If convicted, she faces as much as 12 years and eight months in a state prison, and 11 years in a county jail. 
 
 “It’s often said that true life is stranger than fiction. The facts of this case make that statement spot-on,” District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told reporters. 
 
 “When a person who’s committed a crime gets arrested and charged, that’s a bad day. But when someone who’s innocent gets arrested and charged with a crime, that’s not just a bad day. It’s a nightmare. 
 
 “This is the tale of a woman who faced such a nightmare,” Rackauckas said. 
 
 Hadley was first arrested in June 2016, when police accused her of violating a restraining order obtained by Diaz, who also goes by the name Angela Connell. Back then, Hadley was released on $100,000 bail. 
 
 But cops cuffed Hadley again in July, after police claimed she was posing as Diaz in Craigslist ads soliciting “rape fantasies.” She was held on $1 million bond. 
 
 But authorities would soon learn that Diaz was sending herself the threatening emails, which included links to graphic images of dead and decapitated human beings, as well as aborted fetuses, Rackauckas said. 
 
 Hadley was finally released from jail in October, when prosecutors were already reexamining Diaz’s accusations. 
 
 The convoluted Gone Girl-style drama made national news, with Hadley’s mugshot plastered across the web. At the time, she faced life in prison for charges including six felony counts of attempted forcible rape. 
 
 Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast. Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't). By clicking “Subscribe,” you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank You! You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason. 
 
 Prosecutors had claimed Hadley repeatedly sent threats to Diaz, who was identified only as “Jane Doe” and as the pregnant new wife of Hadley’s former fiancé, a deputy U.S. Marshal whom authorities have not named. 
 
 During Monday’s press conference, Rackauckas said Hadley is “an innocent victim of a diabolical scheme.” 
 
 “This is a very detailed case. I wanted to make sure, however, that Ms. Hadley is cleared in every possible way—in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. It should be clear in the media and in cyberspace,” he said. 
 
 Rackauckas identified Hadley’s ex only as “John Doe,” and said there is no evidence that he was involved in Diaz’s plot. 
 
 Diaz and John Doe were married in February 2016. Hadley dated John Doe from August 2013 to August 2015, investigators said. 
 
 Still, Rackauckas did not provide a motive in Diaz’s alleged frame-up. 
 
 “I don’t think we have a clear statement of what her motive might be,” the DA said, before adding, “You have a love triangle. Maybe a [desire] to put the dagger into the older relationship, but all that’s just speculation at this time.” 
 
 Diaz faces a host of other frightening accusations, including “faking a pregnancy” with John Doe, prosecutors say. 
 
 Police say Diaz altered a paycheck to give herself an extra $2,000 in April 2016. She also allegedly faked a cervical-cancer diagnosis, pretended to be an attorney, forged doctor’s notes, and impersonated two of John Doe’s ex-girlfriends over email. 
 
 According to prosecutors, Diaz sent emails to herself to make it appear Hadley was the author of the messages. She allegedly used Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and third-party proxy servers to avoid detection, authorities say. 
 
 From June 1 to July 13, 2016, Diaz allegedly made false reports with police, claiming Hadley threatened her and the life of her unborn child. (A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said authorities do not believe Diaz was ever pregnant with John Doe’s child.) 
 
 An MBA student at Chapman University, Hadley was accused of providing men responding to the Craigslist ad with Diaz’s photos and details of her daily routine. Hadley was also accused to telling them “to have forcible sexual intercourse with [Diaz], even if she screamed or resisted,” the district attorney claimed at the time. 
 
 Now the DA says Diaz posted the ads herself, luring at least two men to her residence and calling 911. Cops “intercepted” the men intending to participate in the “rape fantasies”—incidents that appeared to bolster Diaz’s ruse. 
 
 Anaheim police also noted a visibly distraught Diaz had redness on her neck and breast area when she claimed a man tried to rape her, Rackauckas said. 
 
 “The police did a very thorough investigation,” Deputy District Attorney Richard Zimmer told The Daily Beast in July of last year. “What was presented to us… we have enough evidence to prove this case to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.” 
 
 “This case just shows some of the dangers of social media and the online world we live in now,” Zimmer added. 
 
 Diaz’s story began to fall apart after Hadley’s defense attorney, Michael Guisti, worked closely with authorities to reinvestigate the source of the messages. They learned Diaz was sending herself emails from her hubby’s condo, her cellphone, and her father’s home in Arizona, Rackauckas said. 
 
 Guisti said Hadley is relieved by the dismissal of charges against her. “She was going about her business, getting her MBA, when all of a sudden this literally came out of the blue,” he told reporters Monday. 
 
 Hadley has been living at home since her release from jail and “laying low,” Guisti said. 
 
 Meanwhile, Michael Hadley had always declared his daughter’s innocence. Last year, he told The Daily Beast that he believed Michelle’s 38-year-old former flame was sabotaging her and accused Anaheim detectives of shoddy policework. 
 
 He said the ex-boyfriend was seeking revenge because his daughter filed a lawsuit to boot him from their condominium. “The marshal knows her email address,” Michael Hadley said in a July phone interview. “They were going to get married. They got the condo and everything else and it all fell apart.” 
 
 Hadley scoffed at portrayals of his daughter as vindictively jealous of her former beau’s new relationship. “What they’re saying is totally contrary to what’s going on,” Hadley told The Daily Beast. “My daughter could [not] care less.” 
 
 The ex-fiancé filed for a restraining order against Hadley in September 2015. His petition included a series of wacky emails that Hadley allegedly sent him, and that included biblical references and accusations of sexual assault. 
 
 “She frequently tells me ‘I fucking hate you’ and insults my manhood and sexuality,” he wrote in the document. He added, “most of our arguments end with [Hadley] self-medicating with an entire bottle of wine.” 
 
 One September 2015 message, which carried the subject line “Gone Girl,” included the rant: “You know exactly how God, the Word of God, the Spirit of God are involved with the condo. We both do.” 
 
 “Your end will come, and you will relinquish the keys to the earth,” Hadley allegedly wrote. 
 
 Her ex-boyfriend replied, “I am not sure how God, the Bible, or again, my childhood, has any relevance to the condo and mortgage.” 
 
 In June 2016, Diaz requested a restraining order against Hadley. 
 
 “Ms. Hadley has been emailing me for over one week, repeatedly threatening my life, my marriage, my safety, and slandering my husband,” she wrote in her filing. Diaz accused Hadley of using “over six different email addresses” to harass her. 
 
 “I am now fearful of leaving my home, have had to delete my online presence, and am incredibly emotionally distressed,” Diaz wrote. 
 
 “I am fearful of being ‘raped,’ ‘attacked,’ ‘killed.’ I have had to completely uproot my life, including missing work at a new job to quash this issue,” she added. “The tone and tenor of these emails escalates and there seems no sign of stopping.” 
 
 Diaz attached a collection of biblical-themed missives, which she claimed Hadley sent her via LinkedIn under the pseudonym “Jason Ray.” 
 
 “There are legends that Adam had a wife before Eve who was named Lilith, but this is not found in the Bible,” one May 2016 message began. 
 
 “YOU ARE NOT PERFECT, BUT YOU ARE THE EVE TO HIM… MICHELLE WAS THE TRUTH——HIS LILLITH [sic] BUT SHE AND THE OTHER WOMEN WOULD NOT SUBMIT TO HIS CONTROLLING WAYS,” the email continued. 
 
 Days later, another phony email warned Diaz that her new husband “is using you for everything.” 
 
 “Don’t you see this?” the message stated. “He is obsessed with me, I am his treasure princess, you are nothing.”
– He was on probation in Connecticut; eyed as a suspect in a New York murder; and now has been busted across the country for rape and attempted murder. Danueal Drayton offered some other crimes to cops in Los Angeles when he was arrested and charged there last week, per the Hartford Courant: He may be responsible for the deaths of up to seven others. Police aren't sure Drayton, 27, is being truthful about those killings, but they are sure he's wanted for the slaying of 29-year-old Queens nurse Samantha Stewart, who police say Drayton met on Tinder, per the New York Daily News. And authorities believe the woman they say Drayton was holding in a North Hollywood apartment also met him on Tinder, and that he may have used other dating sites to lure victims as well, CBS New York reports. Per the Washington Post, Drayton's brushes with the law date back to at least 2011. Charges against him in Connecticut have included strangulation and harassment, for which he received a year on probation after pleading guilty in March. On June 30, he was arrested for allegedly choking an ex but released without bail on July 5. Stewart was found dead on July 17, strangled in her apartment. Authorities say he bought a plane ticket to California shortly after that and soon set up a date with the woman he's accused of holding in the North Hollywood apartment. Police say Drayton's use of Tinder was linked to both Stewart and to a Brooklyn woman who'd been raped on June 17 and who allegedly knew him from the dating site. "My body did this, not my mind," a police source says Drayton told LA investigators, per the Daily News. Drayton, who's set to appear in California court Monday, will face charges of attempted murder, forcible rape, and false imprisonment by violence, among others.