NORRISTOWN, Pa – Police plan to collect biological samples from the assistant of a photographer charged in connection with the stabbing death of Canadian adult film actress Natel King, whose body was found in Pennsylvania last month.
A search warrant allows police to take samples – typically blood, hair and saliva, although details were not spelled out in the document – from Jennifer Mitkus, who police said worked as an assistant to photographer Anthony Joseph Frederick.
Detectives want to compare samples taken from Mitkus with evidence removed from the body of King, found nude on March 23 in a ravine, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday.
They will also test the samples against items found around the body, including bondage devices, photography backdrops, and a torn drape containing red paint and dried blood, the newspaper said, citing an affidavit of probable cause attached to a search warrant filed Monday with Collegeville District Justice Benjamin Crahalla.
Frederick, 46, of Eagleville, Pa., was charged with first- and third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and possessing an instrument of crime. He was also charged with lying to authorities and ordered held without bail.
Mitkus, 29, of Oaks, Pa., was charged with lying to authorities and hindering apprehension. Her bail was set at $100,000 US.
King, 23, who went by the stage name Taylor Sumers, lived in Mississauga, Ont., but her parents and other family members were from Newfoundland. A funeral was held for her late last month in Placentia, Nfld.
Police have said King was stabbed in the chest and neck and her body was wrapped in a backdrop similar to the type used by photographers.
Prosecutors said King had travelled to Conshohocken, Pa., for a photo shoot and was last seen in the area on Feb. 29.