What to Know
- Jonathan Harris was found guilty of murdering Christina Carlin-Kraft in her Main Line apartment.
- Harris had pleaded not guilty despite a taped confession following his arrest last year.
- During the confession, Harris told police the two got into a fight after she refused to pay for an ounce of cocaine.
The jury reached a verdict Thursday in the trial of a man accused of murdering a model inside her Main Line apartment last summer.
Jonathan Harris was found guilty in the murder of Christina Carlin-Kraft inside her Ardmore home on Aug. 22. Prior to the verdict, Harris had pleaded not guilty despite a confession following his arrest.
During the confession, Harris told police the two got into a fight after she refused to pay for an ounce of cocaine.
In addition to murder, Harris was also found guilty of kidnapping, possession of an instrument of a crime, strangulation, robbery, theft and receiving stolen property.
Officials say the 36-year-old Carlin-Kraft took a ride-hailing service to Philadelphia where she met Harris. The two later returned to her Main Line apartment.
According to a statement police obtained during his arrest and shared in court during an earlier hearing, Harris said he was set to sell an ounce of cocaine to Carlin-Kraft for $1,200. After the two drank and had consensual sex, Harris said, Carlin-Kraft refused to pay for the drugs.
He described a violent struggle in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911.
When she stopped screaming he fled, he said, taking some clothing, taking the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told police he thought she was alive when he left.
Carlin-Kraft's beaten body was found in her bloodstained bedroom inside her upscale condominium near the popular Suburban Square shopping center after police visited the home to do a wellness check.
Harris eluded authorities for about a week before getting nabbed while getting off a bus in Pittsburgh in an attempt to leave Pennsylvania, investigators said.
Surveillance video and evidence gathered during the investigation led officials to issue a warrant for Harris' arrest.
After the guilty verdict Thursday, Harris was heard saying, "I believe justice was served."
Investigators said Harris had been released from state prison last July. He has an extensive criminal record including assault, theft and drug charges, according to online records.
