Law Grad Arrested in Beaten Ex-Girlfriend's Murder; Prosecutor Says Note Apologized for 'Accident'
A law graduate sought in a manhunt last week after his ex-girlfriend’s beaten and strangled body was found surrounded by ice in a bathtub in the New York City apartment they formerly shared, has been arrested and charged in her murder.
Jason Bohn, 33, a University of Florida law graduate who had been working as a paralegal and contract attorney, was arrested Friday at a restaurant in White Plains, where his mother and his lawyer had accompanied him. He is being held without bail on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated criminal contempt, first-degree criminal contempt and tampering with physical evidence, according to a Saturday press release (PDF) by Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
It appears that the contempt charges likely relate to a protective order the victim, 27-year-old Danielle Thomas, had previously obtained against Bohn.
Bohn had been expected to turn himself in Friday, the New York Post reported, and his lawyer, Todd Greenberg, said he had been preparing to do so when “police intercepted us before the surrender.”
The district attorney said that when Thomas visited the 114th Precinct last month to seek the order, Bohn threatened her during a June 7 cellphone call while she was at the police station. After she turned on the speaker phone, “a police sergeant heard Bohn say, among other things, that ‘this was war, that he would hunt her down like a dog in the streets, and that he would bash in her skull,’ ” the DA recounts in the release.
Bohn was arrested that same day, charged with assault and aggravated harassment and later released on his own recognizance.
The Associated Press reports that Thomas was killed several days before her body was discovered by authorities Tuesday.
Relying on unidentified sources, another New York Post article reported that Bohn used Thomas’ cellphone, after she was dead, to send several texts to her friends pretending that he was Thomas and that she was fine.
Along with Thomas’ body, police found two handwritten notes, the DA’s release said. One referred to an “accident,” and allegedly said “I had been drinking and I was drunk when I got home … . She was already asleep … . I woke up and there was fighting between us … . When I woke up again she was unconscious … . I am sorry.”
The second said: “Dani, I will love you forever.”
Bohn’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.
The Daily Mail also has a story.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Manhunt Is On for Law Grad Sought for Questioning in Girlfriend’s Beating Death”
