Oklahoma man, 24, accused of murdering antique dealer, 65, in Upper East Side apartment after he met him on dating app appears in court

Alex Ray Scott is seen in a November mugshot during his arrest on lewd molestation charges in Tulsa

An Oklahoma man accused of killing an antiques dealer he had a romantic affair with was back in court to face Manhattan Supreme Court judge on Thursday.

Alex Ray Scott, 24, is facing murder, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property charges related to the death of 64-year-old Kenneth Savinski, who he is said to have met on a dating app.

Savinski was found dead in his Upper East Side apartment on January 27, with a deep gash in his head and neck wounds.

Just after midnight two days later, Scott walked into a Manhattan police station covered in blood, saying, 'I think I may have killed someone last night.' 

DailyMail.com has reached out to his attorney, Jessica Horani, for comment on today's court appearance.  

Scott, 24, was escorted into Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday as he faces charges of murder, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property

Scott is being represented by Jessica Horani, who previously claimed he may have been deliberately drugged at the end of January because he had no recollection of what had happened when 64-year-old Kenneth Savinski was killed in his apartment

Scott had turned himself into authorities in connection with the murder two days after Savinski's body was found in his Upper East Side apartment

Victim Kenneth Savinski is seen with two friends in 2006. He moved his antique store to NYC from Maryland in 2000 and received a favorable mention in the New York Times

The grim murder case first unfolded at about 5.20pm on January 27, 2020 when a friend who hadn't heard from Savinski for a long time went to check on him at his Upper East Side apartment on 83rd Street near Park Avenue.

Cops rushed to the scene and found Savinski with a deep gash in his head and neck wounds. He was declared dead at the scene. 

Initially, police were uncertain whether Savinski had tripped and suffered accidental injuries. But closer examination revealed that the antique dealer's throat had been slit, and blood splatter indicated he had been attacked. 

Police searched for a motive in the case, and it was not immediately clear if investigators had identified Scott as a suspect before he surrendered at the 19th Precinct on East 67th Street. 

But just a few hours earlier, the New York Daily News reports, Scott was allegedly seen walking out of the apartment building, wearing Savinski's black jacket and counting money in his wounded hands.

He then allegedly used Savinski's credit cards  to pay for a hotel room in New Jersey, where he woke up the next day, covered in blood with little memory of what had happened the night before, according to the Daily News.  

Scott allegedly returned to the Savinski's apartment the night after the killing, prosecutors said. Surveillance video at the time showed Scott arriving and then quickly leaving after noticing police officers, the New York Times reports.

Prosecutors now claim Scott choked Savinski, bashed him on the head and slit his throat, using various throw pillows to try to soak up the blood from his wounds. 

Victim Kenneth Savinski, 64, was found dead in the living room of his first floor apartment on E. 83rd St. near Park Ave. about 5.20 p.m. Wednesday

A friend who hadn't heard from Savinski for a long time went to check on him at his apartment 

Scott was arrested in connection with Savinski's murder just two days after his body was found

Savinski and Scott had been in a romantic relationship, sources told the New York Daily News. 

Detectives say the two men had met the night before and that Savinski brought Scott home for what he believed would be a 'romantic liaison,' the Manhattan district attorney's office said. 

Scott made incriminating statements to investigators after his surrender, a police source told the New York Post.

He was found in possession of five stolen credit cards, according to the Post.

Murder victim Kenneth Savinski is seen with a friend at an event at Bergdorf Goodman's Restaurant 'BG' in 2006. Savinski was an antiques dealer and decorator

Neighbors were shocked at the murder in the normally quiet area near Central Park

Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Scott was previously under investigation for child molestation in that state, stemming from accusations in September 2018 that he had forced a co-worker's five-year-old son to engage in oral sex, according to the New York Times. 

Police in Tulsa say that before they could interview Scott about the allegations, he quit his job, left his apartment and rented a car that he never returned.

In October, cops on Long Island made contact with Scott, who told them he had driven there in order to kill himself.

Scott was taken to a psychiatric hospital for observation and later transported back to Tulsa to be charged there with two counts of lewd molestation. 

He said in a statement to the police that he had fled to New York 'to get away from that case,' according to court documents. 

He had apparently been in New York City for several weeks, according to prosecutors in Manhattan, and was staying in hotels and in people's apartments. He seemed to have little connection to the city.

Scott's court-appointed lawyer, Jessica Horani, said at the time he did not remember much of the past few days, the New York Times reports, and suggested that he might have been deliberately drugged.