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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Liam Buckler

Playboy model found strangled to death in bed after 'most gruesome' murder

A

Playboy model

was found strangled to death in her bed after one of the "most gruesome" murders police had ever seen.

Christina Carlin-Kraft, 36, was discovered in her blood after she was choked to death at her home in Philadelphia, US, in the early hours of August 22, 2018.

The model, who had worked for Vanity Fair and Maxim, was murdered after she invited a stranger into her home after a night of drinking.

She was voted Playboy’s Cyber Girl of the Week on May 4, 2009 and her tragic death featured on Discovery’s latest episode of Playboy Murders.

The Cyber Club was a subscription membership which Christina was part of, but Playboy founder Hugh Hefner made the decision she wouldn't become a fully-fledged Playmate.

The model was found covered in her blood at her home (Unknown)

Holly Maddison, Hefner’s ex-girlfriend, said: “Maybe there were too many brunettes that year, maybe they wanted someone with a different story.

“She was 26, and unfortunately in the Playboy world, that was considered a little old.”

Her death was broken to her long-term boyfriend Alexander Ciccotelli by police.

Christina had reported a robbery in her flat just four days before she died to Lower Merion Police Department.

Police believed Andre Milton was a suspect after they met in a Philadelphia bar.

He went back to her flat and stole her possessions but he rejected claims he choked her to death.

Cops issued a warrant for his arrest as the suspect called police and later confessed to the robbery.

He said: “I stole her stuff, but I’m not going down for a murder.”

Jonathan Harris murdered Christina (Unknown)

Police poured through dozens of CCTV footage to find the suspect who was revealed to be Jonathan Harris.

He had recently bragged about strangling a woman to death after got into a taxi on the night of the murder.

Harris paid the driver $100 (£70) to wait outside as he entered the flat with the model.

The suspect allegedly said: “There’s no other feeling quite like feeling somebody’s life escape as you choke them.”

However, he fled the scene as his sister called police to say he was on the bus to Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania Trooper Matthew Roth said: “We had a team in place so we cut off his avenues of escape. We were lying in wait in a trap for Jonathan Harris to arrive in Pittsburgh.”

“We were ready and waiting as the bus started to offload passengers.”

He was caught by police and told them on the day of the murder he smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine, had been drinking and used K2, a synthetic substance sometimes called Spice.

He told police he sold her some cocaine but when she said she didn't have any money things got "heated."

However, a toxicology report revealed there was no cocaine in her system and he had lied.

Harris pleaded not guilty, but was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder in May 2019.

Her devastated boyfriend Jonathan told him: “It wasn’t bad enough that you killed my fiance, but come out with this lie and just slander her and drag her through the mud with this line about the cocaine.”

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