Doctor's alleged killer exposed himself on I-95 last year

BY STEPHANIE FARR & MORGAN ZALOT, Daily News Staff Writers farrs@phillynews.com, 215-854-4225
Posted: January 29, 2013

THE MAN CHARGED with killing Melissa Ketunuti, a doctor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, exposed himself while driving on Interstate 95 last year and is a possible suspect in other crimes, according to court documents and police.

Jason T. Smith, 36, has little on his criminal record to indicate he was capable of the violence he's alleged to have committed Jan. 21 in Ketunuti's Center City home.

He has a driving-under-the-influence arrest from 2004, several minor traffic violations and a charge last March in Bensalem Township for obscene language or gestures.

A court clerk at the Bensalem magisterial district court where that charge was filed said that Smith had received a disorderly conduct citation March 16 for "exposing himself while traveling on the highway during a road-rage incident" on I-95 in Bensalem.

The clerk had no further information on the case, which State Police handled.

Smith pleaded guilty to the charge, but his penalty was unclear.

Although police have said that Ketunuti was not sexually assaulted before being strangled and set afire, detectives at the Special Victims Unit are looking into any possible ties Smith may have to three sexual assaults in the Pennypack Park area in 2010 and 2011, said SVU Capt. John Darby.

Smith's profile is similar to the description of the suspect in those incidents, and the "level of violence" of Smith's alleged crime is something that got the attention of SVU investigators "right away," Darby said.

On Twitter: @FarFarrAway

Blog: PhillyConfidential.com

Index by Keyword
|
Index by Date
|
About Philly.com
|
Contact Us
|
Terms of Use & Privacy Statement
|
Copyright 2013