Defense doubts case in Burlco murder trial

A Burlington County man on trial for the rape and stabbing death of an Evesham woman should be cleared because of contaminated DNA evidence and a false confession, his lawyer told jurors yesterday.

Christopher Kornberger, 23, who is also on trial for the attempted rape of another Evesham woman, has already been convicted in two other attempted sexual assaults from 2003.

Yesterday, Kornberger's attorney, Michael Riley, called his client "a very troubled young man . . . a person that needs help, asks for help," but said he should be acquitted based on sloppy police work.

Kornberger is accused of raping and killing Krista DiFrancesco near her home in May 2003 and of trying to rape a jogger he allegedly ran down with the SUV he was driving in November of that year.

If convicted of the murder, Kornberger faces life in prison.

Kornberger's attorney said the DNA sample that prosecutors say connects Kornberger to the rape of DiFrancesco was contaminated at a lab and that it should be discounted. Riley also tried to cast doubt on the confession, saying it was never taped by police and therefore was less credible.

Kornberger has already been convicted in two other attacks. A Camden County jury found him guilty last year of a March 2003 attempted rape of a woman in Waterford Township. Last week, Kornberger pleaded guilty to the attempted murder and rape of another Evesham woman who was out for a walk near her home in November 2003.

Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor James Ronca told jurors that Kornberger told police he was motivated in 2003 by a voice inside him - "this other me" - that told him to sexually attack women and to kill DiFrancesco.

"We know that he's responsible," Ronca said, "because he confessed to it."

DiFrancesco's killing was horrific in several ways - prosecutors said DiFrancesco was the victim for no reason other than bad luck; had neighbors called police about the screams they heard, DiFrancesco might have survived; and while it went unsolved for a year, prosecutors said, Kornberger tried to rape several other women.

Ronca told the jurors that 23-year-old DiFrancesco - mother of a 9-month-old girl - was returning from a night out with girlfriends at a country music bar about 2 a.m. when Kornberger, then 18 and high on drugs, was driving around the neighborhood looking for women.

He saw DiFrancesco drive by and followed her to her front door. He approached her from behind and used a butterfly knife to attack her, Ronca said. He stabbed her five times - in the lungs, liver, kidney and eye, Ronca said. As she suffered, Ronca said, Kornberger raped her.

Neighbors said they thought the sounds they heard were coming from teenagers goofing around outside.

Neighbor Sean Lamon testified that he found DiFrancesco sitting in her yard unresponsive but still alive when he left his house at 6:30 a.m. She died two days later.

Ronca said Kornberger's attacks continued.

A cigarette found in the area of the November 2003 attack had Kornberger's DNA on it, which led authorities to him. He was arrested in May 2004 and confessed to that attack and others, Ronca said. Kornberger pleaded guilty to that attack last week.