It was July 23 when the first woman was discovered dead in Room 3 of a Brooklyn hotel, her body bearing the telltale signs of strangulation, the police said. On Sept. 8, a second woman was found dead, this time at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

The deaths of the women, both discovered in midafternoon, naked and alone, appeared disconnected until detectives found a link to a 36-year-old man whom each is believed to have spent time with: Joseph Danclair.

On Tuesday, the police said that they wanted to speak with Mr. Danclair, a Brooklyn resident, because he had been seen on video leaving both hotels, and they released images of his face and several of his tattoos — praying hands on his right arm, a rose on his left.