Anthony Frederick, 47, issued a verbal apology to the King family in Montgomery County Court, although the victim’s mother, Jackie King, reportedly fled the courtroom before Frederick could finish.
In March 2004, King’s body was discovered in a ravine in Whitemarsh, Pa., a suburb 10 miles northwest of Philadelphia. She died from multiple stab wounds to the neck and upper body. The murder occurred in Frederick’s basement studio after he told King he didn’t have enough money to pay for the nude photo session they had just concluded.
In a confession in February, Frederick claimed that King first threatened him with a hunting knife, and Frederick’s family claims that the anti-depressant drug Ritalin had strongly influenced his personality and might have been the cause of the ensuing violence.
According to the Associated Press, Frederick, his wife and two daughters wept as he begged Montgomery County Court Judge William T. Nicholas for mercy before sentencing.
Frederick’s photo assistant pleaded guilty in May to her involvement in King’s murder. Jennifer Mitkus confessed to watching the murder and then helping clean King’s blood off the floor and disposing of the body.
Mitkus was sentenced to 23 months in jail, in addition to six months already served, followed by a five-year probation period. She has also been diagnosed with what is being called a “severe” multiple personality disorder and was ordered by the judge to undergo intensive mental health treatment.
King was originally from Long Harbour in Canada but had been living in Ontario where she was taking correspondence courses in psychology from Memorial University.
Taking the witness stand at the trial, King’s father said that his entire world has been turned upside down since the death of his daughter.
"Sometimes when I am really down," Dan King told the judge, “I try and tell myself that Natel is gone off to a university and is doing all the things that she planned to do, and that one day she will be home again."
