Doctor Denies Giving Fatal Drug Overdose in Rape Attempt

A doctor charged with giving a fatal dose of chloroform to a travel companion so he could rape her testified Monday that the woman had consensual sex with him before she died at a Carlsbad hotel.

Taking the stand for the first time in his murder trial, Samson Dubria, 29, of New Jersey disputed testimony by the victim’s friends and relatives that she was not interested in him romantically.

Dubria’s defense attorney has contended that 20-year-old Jennifer Klapper of Cincinnati died of mysterious, unknown causes while the two were vacationing together on Aug. 16, 1991. Prosecutors say the doctor accidentally killed her with a chloroform overdose when he tried to knock Klapper out to rape her.

Dubria said he and Klapper engaged in sexual intercourse while watching “The Tonight Show” together at the hotel. They became intimate after Klapper said she was unattractive compared to the models on television commercials and her Cincinnati friends, Dubria testified.

“I told her: ‘Jen, if you weren’t attractive, I wouldn’t find your company enjoyable and I wouldn’t have invited you out here,’ ” Dubria said. “She smiled and kissed me on the cheek, I kissed her on the lips. . . , and then we made love.”

Testimony ended Monday before defense attorney Barry Bernstein could question Dubria about Klapper’s death. Dubria was to take the stand again today.

Dubria told police he heard a loud bump hours after he and Klapper had sex at the All Star Inn, and he found Klapper inexplicably collapsed on the hotel room floor.

Dubria, who was raised in Glendale, faces a life sentence if convicted on rape and murder charges.

Dubria testified Monday that he began his relationship with Klapper in 1990 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, where he was an intern and she was an assistant hospital librarian. He said they dated seven times during the year he was at the hospital, kissing and hugging on several occasions.