Exterminator goes on trial in Philadelphia doctor's death
Source: Associated Press
Exterminator goes on trial in Philadelphia doctor's death
By Maryclaire Dale Associated Press
Posted: 05/06/2015 12:35:51 PM MDT | Updated: 92 min. ago
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A pediatrician researching tuberculosis, HIV and other infectious diseases was strangled by an exterminator after she questioned his work and was then tied up with equestrian gear and set on fire, a prosecutor said Wednesday in opening statements at his murder trial.
Melissa Ketunuti, 35, had graduated from Stanford University medical school, worked in Botswana and spent about five years at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as a physician and researcher when she was killed in January 2013.
The trail quickly led to exterminator Jason Smith, the last person known to have visited her three-story row house on a quaint, narrow downtown street. He had not called police to mention his appointment there despite headlines about the case.
"She was alive when I left her!" he blurted out when police arrived at his suburban home in Levittown, prosecutor Peter Lim said Wednesday in opening statements.
Read more: http://www.dailycamera.com/nation-world-news/ci_28061028/exterminator-goes-trial-philadelphia-doctors-death
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PHILADELPHIA — A city pediatrician pleaded for her life as she was strangled in the basement of her home in January by an exterminator she had met only about an hour before, police said Wednesday.
The account of the young doctor's final moments came at a preliminary hearing for 37-year-old suspect Jason Smith, who reportedly told investigators that the slaying was the result of a petty argument and that he "freaked out" afterward....
...He said Ketunuti, 35, begged him to let go. "Please stop, please stop. I'm sorry. I'll do whatever you want," she pleaded, according to the statement.
Smith said he released her when he realized there was blood on the ground. He told police he then tied up Ketunuti with ropes he found in the basement and set fire to a box near her body in an effort to destroy evidence.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/melissa-ketunuti-philly-d_n_3055056.html
A man Melissa paid to walk her dog Pooch - a pit bull/lab mix - discovered her body.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said: 'Fire department puts out the fire and pronounces her dead. At this time we don’t know the cause of death.
'However, the body was still smoldering, the wrists and ankles are tied behind the back, the body was face down.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266433/Melissa-Ketunuti-murder-Philadelphia-pediatrician-hog-tied-strangled-set-basement.html
