Accused killer of Playboy model arraigned for murder
LOWER MERION » The man accused of the strangulation death of a model inside her Ardmore condo is back in Montgomery County and was formally arraigned on murder-related charges on Thursday.
Jonathan Wesley Harris, 30, of Johnstown, Cambria County, appeared via a video link from the county jail in Lower Providence during his arraignment before District Court Judge Michael P. Quinn of Lower Merion.
Harris was arraigned on charges of first, - secondand third-degree murder, robbery, theft, receiving stolen property and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the alleged Aug. 22 strangulation murder of Christina Rose Kraft, 36, inside her residence in the 100 block of Sibley Avenue.
Quinn scheduled Harris’s preliminary hearing on the charges for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 10. Harris will remain in the county jail without bail pending that preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors Brianna Ringwood and Kristen Kemp are handling the case. It’s unclear at this time if Harris has obtained a lawyer.
Harris was apprehended on Wednesday in Pittsburgh after he allegedly fled from the Philadelphia area after the murder. He was taken into custody by federal marshals.
Harris had been identified earlier this week by authorities as a “person of interest” after video surveillance indicated he was one of the last persons seen with Kraft in Philadelphia and entering the Sibley Avenue condo building.
An investigation began about 9 p.m. Aug. 22 when Kraft’s boyfriend, who owned the condo at which Kraft resided, contacted Lower Merion police to report his concern that Kraft had not answered any of his calls or text messages. Kraft’s boyfriend reported he was at her building but was unable to gain access because an interior security bolt was engaged, according to the criminal complaint.
When police forced their way inside the residence they discovered Kraft, a native of Margate, N.J. who previously modeled in photo shoots for Playboy, Vanity Fair, Victoria’s Secret and Maxim, dead in her bed.
“In addition, the pillows, sheets and comforter surrounding her body, as well as areas of the bedroom carpet and walls were significantly bloodstained,” county Detective Gregory Henry and Lower Merion Detective Edward Sarama alleged in the arrest affidavit.
An autopsy determined Kraft died from ligature strangulation and she also suffered a fractured nose.
Detectives obtained surveillance video from the Sibley Avenue area and determined Kraft left the residence alone at 1:10 a.m. Aug. 22 and was observed at 3:05 a.m. in a first-floor lobby returning with a male, who entered the elevator with her, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives alleged the apartment’s security system indicated a person exited from the back door of the residence onto a terrace around 5:19 a.m.
“During this time a violent struggle occurred in the apartment where Ms. Kraft was beaten, her nose was broken and she was strangled to death,” District Attorney Kevin R. Steele alleged on Wednesday, referring to the two-hour period of time.
Video surveillance showed a person walking beneath Kraft’s condo terrace at 5:25 a.m. and later walking along Sibley Avenue to Church Street and later on Montgomery and City avenues, according to court papers.
The investigation determined a white Banana Republic shirt and Kraft’s cellphone, a designer handbag and Kraft’s house keys were missing from the apartment. Township police eventually located the shirt, “which appeared to contain dried blood,” between shrubbery near Church Road and Sibley Avenue and Kraft’s phone in the area of Montgomery and Bryn Mawr avenues during searches of the area on Aug. 25 and Aug. 27.
Detectives also obtained information that Kraft used a Lyft car service at 1:11 a.m. Aug. 22 for a ride from her residence to the 1400 block of Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The Lyft driver subsequently told detectives that Kraft requested to make a stop in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia prior to being dropped off at the Chestnut Street location.
Video surveillance from Chestnut Street revealed that at 2 a.m. Kraft walked to the area of South Broad and Locust streets and encountered a male, identified as Harris, and the pair continued to walk the streets surrounding South Broad and 13th streets, according to the criminal complaint. The pair was last seen in the 1300 block of Locust Street when they appeared to enter a vehicle, according to court documents.
Comparing the various video surveillance footage detectives alleged the person seen with Kraft in Philadelphia is the same person observed entering Kraft’s apartment with her after 3 a.m., according to the arrest affidavit.
Authorities released the photographs and video surveillance footage of the “person of interest” to the news media on Aug. 27 and a day later a “concerned citizen” contacted detectives and identified Harris as the person depicted in the surveillance footage, court papers indicate. The witness, detectives alleged, received text messages from Harris around 2:40 a.m. Aug. 22 during which Harris wrote he was at a woman’s “crib in ardmore.”
The investigation determined Harris was released from the State Correctional Institution at Greene on July 15, 2018. Information from Harris’s inmate records indicated he had a sister who resided in Philadelphia, according to court papers.
A review of court dockets revealed Harris has arrests, including for robbery, theft, drug and bad check offenses, dating back to 2004 in Cambria, Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
A few days prior to her death, Kraft reported a theft from her condo, according to authorities. She reported jewelry and Gucci items such as a purse and belt were among the missing items.
Police continue to hunt for another suspect in the burglary of the items from Kraft’s apartment.