The Philadelphia man accused of gruesomely slaughtering a Playboy model in what prosecutors called a fit of “demonic torture” was “out of his mind” on ketamine during the killing, his attorney reportedly claimed as the murder trial kicked off this week.
There’s no question Jonathan Wesley Harris, 31, strangled to death former playmate Christina Carlin-Kraft inside her Philadelphia apartment last year, Wesley’s lawyer A. Charles Peruto Jr. said during opening statements in the case Monday — but Harris never planned the killing and instead snapped, the attorney claimed.
“He is, in fact, the killer, but he had no intention of killing her. He didn’t go there to kill her,” Peruto said, according to news station WTXF. “They went, they did what they did. I don’t want to say too much because I’ll rather save it for court.”
Harris has pleaded not guilty to murder — despite confessing to police he killed the 36-year-old in a fight over cocaine.
Harris allegedly wrapped the model’s body in a bed sheet and left a grisly, blood-splattered scene at her apartment, according to Assistant District Attorney Roderick Fancher, who said her final moments alive could be likened to “demonic torture.”
The accused killer met the model in downtown Philadelphia early Aug. 22 hours before her death.
He later told investigators they went back to her home and had consensual sex — but a violent struggle ensued when she refused to pay for an ounce of cocaine.
Medical examiner Khalil Wardack testified Tuesday that Carlin-Kraft’s body was discovered savagely beaten with broken bones in her face, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He told the court there were no illegal substances found in the autopsy report with her only testing positive for alcohol.
But the prosecution pointed out that Harris eluded arrest for a week and claimed he lied to police, according to The Morning Call.
“His story was that it was over cocaine, but given the circumstances around this murder, it makes no sense that this was about drugs,” Fancher told jurors. “Was it over sex? Was it over money? We won’t know, because the only person who did know was killed in that bedroom that night.”
If convicted of murder, Harris faces life in prison.