The Murder of Christina Carlin-Kraft
For this case, I watched an episode of The Playboy Murders. It’s season 1 episode 3, titled ‘Moth to a Flame.’
The police respond to a welfare check at the apartment of an aspiring model.
Background
Christina Carlin-Kraft grew up in South Jersey along the shore. She had always been interested in the modeling and entertainment industry.
In 2003, she met her long-term boyfriend during Labor Day Weekend. At the time of her death, they had been together for 15 years and were engaged. He had always been supportive of her career.
Christina was on the cover of several magazines including Maxim, but her dream had always been to be on the cover of Playboy.
Christina became the Playboy Cyber Girl of the Week on May 4, 2009. She was invited to the mansion, the parties and to test for a Playboy photoshoot. At this time Christina was around 26, considered to be too old, and was never chosen to be a playmate.
Christina eventually moved to New York to further her modeling career. Her career did not take off after her Playboy appearance. She and her fiancé decided to move to Ardmore, Pennsylvania into a high-end apartment.
Christina Carlin-Kraft
The Murder
On August 22, 2018, Christina’s fiancé, Alex contacted the police. He hadn’t been able to get into contact with Christina or get into the apartment. The police arrived and forced the door open.
Christina was found dead in her bed under her comforter. She had been badly beaten. She had fractures to her face, a broken nose, and had been strangled. She was only 36 years old.
After finding Christina dead, the police notified Alex, who had been waiting in the hallway. It was clear that he was devastated. He was eliminated very quickly as he had been in New York for work at the time of her death.
Alex had made several calls to Christina in the early morning hours of August 22. He decided to check the security system and noticed there was some unusual activity. He contacted the police as he was driving back from New York.
The Police Report
The police looked into Christina’s background. They learned that she had been charged with misdemeanor assault in 2017. Christina had gotten into a fight with a bar manager at a restaurant in Manhattan. The charges were eventually dropped.
On August 18, Christina filed a police report. She reported that she had been robbed. She said this person had taken some designer purses, a credit card, and jewelry.
Christina said that went to a hotel bar in Center City in Philadelphia. She said she had woken up the next morning in a daze and believed that she had been drugged. She couldn’t remember anything and was very upset. She also worried about her safety.
The police obtained the surveillance footage from Christina’s apartment complex. The police determined that Christina had used a ride-share app to be driven home on the night of the robbery. It was around 3 am when they arrived back at her apartment. Christina had passed out in the back seat and the driver went into her apartment and took her items. He spent about an hour and a half inside the apartment. He returned to his car with the stolen items and walked Christina up to her apartment.
The police released the photos and stills of the man who had been seen on the surveillance. The police searched through Christina’s bank records and learned that her credit cards had been used at a convenience store. The man was identified as Andre Melton. He had a criminal history and was considered to be very dangerous.
On the same day that Christina’s body was found, the police obtained an arrest warrant for Andre for the robbery. The police found Christina’s items inside Andre’s home but he was not there.
The Surveillance Footage
The police turned back to the apartment surveillance footage. Christina was seen walking out of her complex on the night of her murder. Hours later, she was seen returning with an unidentified man. They returned around 3:08 am. The man was not seen leaving the complex.
Christina’s apartment was on the 2nd floor and there was activity that her sliding glass door opened around 5 am. It’s believed that the killer had jumped from her balcony. A shoeprint was found near where the killer would have jumped.
The police went to Center City to obtain surveillance footage of the places where Christina had been. They were able to track her movements. She was seen on surveillance with her arms around the suspect. They eventually got into a Ride Share together. The surveillance footage was released to the media and it was determined that the suspect was not Andre Melton.
The images of Andre and the killer were released to the media. The police didn’t know if the 2 incidents were connected.
On August 23, the police received a phone call from Andre. He admitted to robbing Christina but said he would not go down for the murder. The police were eventually able to determine that the two men and the two incidents were not connected.
A surveillance image of Christina’s killer
A Dangerous Individual
On August 25, A ride-share driver came forward with a tip. He said that he had driven Christina and the suspect a ride from Philadelphia to Ardmore on the night of the murder.
He said Christina had flagged him down instead of using the app. She told him that she needed a ride because there were people on the street harassing her. He said that Christina and this man appeared to be friendly and affectionate with each other. When they arrived, Christina did not have money to pay him. The man offered him $100 if he would stay parked outside for 10-15 minutes. They exchanged phone numbers. The driver left after 20 minutes when the suspect didn’t contact him.
Around 4 am, Christina was able to place a call to her cousin. Christina never spoke on the call but her cousin could hear a man in the background telling her not to call the police.
On August 26, a man called the police. He said he knew the man in the surveillance footage. He said he had been roommates with this man at a psychiatric facility in Philadelphia.
The suspect was taken in for a 72-hour psychiatrist hold after following a woman into a family court building and harassing her. He was checked in as a John Doe and left without being interviewed. The roommate told the police that he had bragged about strangling a woman to death.
The man was eventually identified by a family member as Jonathan Harris. He had been released from prison on July 15, just weeks before Christina was murdered.
The Arrest
On August 28, the police spoke to Jonathan’s sister. She said that a bus ticket to Pittsburgh had been purchased for him.
On August 29, the police and Fugitive Task Force in Pittsburgh set a trap to capture Jonathan when he stepped off his bus. When he was apprehended, he tried to give the police a fake name.
He was interviewed about the night of the murder. He said that he had seen Christina around the Philadelphia area. Christina was alone, so Jonathan approached her and seemed friendly.
Jonathan said he was high on the night of the murder. He said he had smoked marijuana, did cocaine, and had been drinking. He also said he used K2 (synthetic marijuana).
He said they decided to go back to her apartment and he was going to sell her some cocaine but he got angry when she refused to pay him. He said Christina hit him with a wine bottle and things got out of hand.
Christina’s toxicology report proved that she had no cocaine in her system. Jonathan admitted to lying and said that he panicked and thought that Christina was still breathing when he left. He did admit to covering her body because he couldn’t look at her.
He said he covered Christina after he killed her and changed into some of her clothing when he left because his clothes were covered in blood. He also admitted to jumping off her balcony to avoid the surveillance cameras.
The Convictions
Jonathan Harris was charged with first and third-degree murder. At trial, he pleaded not guilty. His defense was trying to get a conviction for third-degree murder which carried a 20-40 year sentence.
He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In December 2018, Andre Melton was convicted of robbery.
Christina’s fiancé told the court that it was bad enough that Jonathan Harris had killed Christina but also tried to slander her name by saying that it was a drug deal gone bad. Christina had never done cocaine in her life.
Jonathan Harris
FINAL THOUGHTS
I can’t even imagine what Christina went through. She missed her lifestyle and wanted to go out for a few drinks. She met the wrong person that night and had no idea what he was capable of. Jonathan Harris was a very dangerous person and should not have been released from that psychiatric hospital without an interview. He deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life.
Sources
https://nypost.com/2019/05/09/ex-playboy-models-final-moments-of-torture-recalled-at-trial/
https://www.phillyvoice.com/playboy-model-murder-guilty-christina-carlin-craft-ardmore/
https://abc7chicago.com/christina-carlin-kraft-philadelphia-ardmore-murder-homicide/4042330/
