What evidence, including forensic and digital, did prosecutors present to link Travis Collins to the Harrisburg Hilton guest room?
Executive summary
Prosecutors anchored their case tying Travis Collins to the Harrisburg Hilton guest room with a mix of biological forensics, surveillance video, crime-scene documentation and Collins’ own presence and statements at the scene; key forensic claims included Collins’ DNA found on and in the victim and on a bite mark, and crime‑scene photos showing extensive blood and signs of anal rape in room 528 [1]. Video and witness accounts place Collins and the victim entering the Hilton together and taking the elevator to the fifth floor, and Collins was found at the hotel after calling for help and then arrested there, which prosecutors used to establish both presence and opportunity [2] [3] [4].
1. Physical and biological forensic evidence presented by prosecutors
Prosecutors relied heavily on DNA findings reported in court: a Pennsylvania State Police analyst testified that Collins’ DNA was recovered under the victim’s fingernails, in her rectum, and on a bite mark on her buttocks — evidence prosecutors framed as tying Collins directly to sexual contact and physical struggle with the victim [1]. Those forensic results were presented alongside autopsy- and crime‑scene descriptions that documented severe beating, anal sexual assault, and bodily fluids smeared across the bed and walls, which prosecutors used to argue a violent sexual assault occurred in room 528 [1] [2].
2. Digital and surveillance evidence placing Collins in the hotel and in the elevator with the victim
Prosecutors introduced surveillance footage from the Hilton showing Collins and Ashley Sarazen entering the building just after 1:30 a.m. and riding the elevator up to the fifth floor together; trial prosecutors described the pair as appearing “normal and almost happy” in the elevator, including a kiss to the neck, using that timeline to place Collins inside the hotel with the victim shortly before her death [2]. The surveillance footage was a central piece of digital corroboration linking Collins’ movements to the hotel and the victim immediately prior to the homicide [2].
3. Collins’ actions, statements, and his physical presence when police arrived
Prosecutors emphasized Collins’ role in summoning help and his presence at the hotel: he called authorities or friends after the incident, a friend contacted hotel security and went to the identified room, and police encountered Collins at the Hilton — he allegedly admitted an altercation and at one point was observed with blood on his hands when officers entered the room, then was arrested at the scene [3] [5] [6] [4]. Police reports and initial interviews quoted in reporting state Collins told officers he had “an altercation” and later admitted to pinning and strangling the victim, statements prosecutors presented to establish culpability and contemporaneous acknowledgement of involvement [5] [4].
4. Crime‑scene documentation, a distinctive coin, and circumstantial linking
Investigators documented room 528 with dozens of photographs taken by a forensics investigator, and prosecutors pointed to specific items and imagery — including a sex‑themed coin that investigators believe belonged to Collins — as physical traces left in the room that tied him to the environment where the victim was found [1]. Combined with the blood, fecal matter and bite‑mark evidence, prosecutors used the overall scene documentation to argue Collins not only was present but engaged in the violent sexual assault that preceded the homicide [1] [2].
5. Defense position, alternate readings, and reporting gaps
Defense counsel has not disputed that Collins killed Sarazen but is contesting the circumstances and the degree of intent prosecutors must prove for first‑degree murder, a distinction highlighted in pretrial reporting [7]. Public reporting lays out the prosecution’s forensic and video claims but does not provide full court exhibits, chain‑of‑custody details for the DNA and bite‑mark analyses, or cross‑examination outcomes in detail, limiting independent verification of how conclusively the evidence was tied to Collins at trial beyond what prosecutors asserted in testimony cited by news accounts [1] [7].
Conclusion: The prosecutor’s linkage of Collins to the Hilton guest room rests on converging strands — DNA on and in the victim and on a bite mark, surveillance footage showing Collins and the victim entering the hotel together and taking the elevator to her floor, crime‑scene photos and a coin prosecutors attribute to him, and Collins’ own presence and admissions when police arrived — while defense challenges focus on the interpretation of those facts and the legal threshold for first‑degree murder [1] [2] [3] [5] [7].