Craigslist killing suspect’s claim of L.A. victim is unverified: officials

Authorities in Pennsylvania say they have yet to substantiate claims by a young woman suspected of killing a man she met on Craigslist that she had more than 20 other victims, including one in L.A.

“There has been no verification of any of the information that has been the subject of media coverage,” Timberland County Dist. Atty. Toni Rosini said in a prepared statement Tuesday carried by the Associated Press.

Miranda Barbour, 19, claims include that she killed more than 20 people in four states before the current homicide in Pennsylvania with which she is charged.

Barbour reportedly told a Pennsylvania newspaper that someone in Los Angeles was among the 22 people she has slain as a prolific serial killer in a satanic cult.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Tuesday that the department was aware of the case and is “obviously going to look at any connection.” He added that Barbour was not specific about the killings when she talked with the reporter.

A Pennsylvania police officer told The Times that “she just said L.A.”

Barbour, along with her husband, has been charged with stabbing and strangling Troy LaFerrara, 42, after meeting with him on Nov. 11, 2013, through a Craigslist ad in which Barbour reportedly offered LaFerrara companionship in exchange for money.

The Barbours had been married just three weeks before LaFerrara’s slaying, officials said. The couple moved to Pennsylvania from North Carolina and were arrested in December, according to authorities.