Philadelphia- A photographer's assistant admitted in court today that she helped dispose of an adult film actress' body and lied to police investigating the Conshohocken murder last year.
Jennifer Marie Mitkus, 31, who lived in an Oaks hotel when arrested, pleaded guilty to two counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution, lying to police, abuse of corps and two counts criminal conspiracy.
Judge William Carpenter accepted the guilty plea, but didn't schedule a sentencing date. Mitkus remained free on bail.
"She wanted to accept responsibility for the bad decisions she made that night," said Tim Woodward, Mitkus' attorney.
A passerby discovered Canadian adult film actress Natel King's decomposing body along River Road in Whitemarsh on March 23, 2004.
King, 23, who used the name Taylor Sumers, had traveled to Anthony Frederick's basement photography studio to pose nude, police said.
Frederick, 47, of Lower Providence, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in February and is awaiting sentencing. He faces up to 50 years in jail. Frederick admitted that he stabbed King and slit her throat because he didn't have the $900 to pay her for the photo shoot.
In court this morning, Mitkus admitted that she helped clean up the bloody murder scene and joined Frederick to carry King's body to his Honda on the night of Feb. 29, 2004.
Frederick said Mitkus wasn't in the studio when he killed King, but that Mitkus later told him she stabbed King after she was already dead.
Woodward said his client "takes exception to that statement."
Mitkus admitted that she lied to police in a written statement on March 6, 2004, when she said that King was last seen at her car in the 100 block of W. Third Street in Conshohocken, and that she was heading to a nearby pub for food.
Mitkus also admitted that she deceived police investigating King's disappearance. On March 13, 2004, she called a Montgomery County detective and said that her former employer could be responsible for harming King by mistaking her for Mitkus.
Fear played a role in Mitkus' not telling the truth sooner, Woodward said.
"She was present when someone violently killed a young woman," he said.
Mitkus, originally from Huntington Valley, faces a maximum prison sentence of 14 1/2 to 29 years in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Barbara Ashcroft said that Mitkus decided to plead guilty after retaining private counsel. She had been represented by Montgomery County Chief Public Defender Carolyn Carluccio.
"It does appear she's accountable," Ashcroft said after Mitkus' court appearance.
