A Bellport mother of three screamed for help before she was fatally stabbed and driven across Suffolk County, according to prosecutors, who announced a murder indictment against a Long Beach man accused of killing her.
Michael McHenry, 40, of Long Beach, was indicted on a charge of Murder in the Second Degree in the death of Juliann Bachmann, 30, of Bellport, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Wednesday.
According to prosecutors, Bachmann and a friend drove to Long Beach during the early morning hours of May 16 to pick up McHenry, who had moved into Bachmann’s home with her and her three children approximately two months earlier.
After Bachmann dropped her friend off at a Shirley motel shortly after 6:30 a.m., McHenry allegedly became the only passenger in her black sedan. Less than an hour later, a witness allegedly saw a man sitting in the passenger seat grab a woman by the hair and repeatedly strike her in the face while she screamed that he was going to kill her. The witness called 911.
A second witness allegedly saw the vehicle on Montauk Highway and observed a woman in the driver’s seat screaming for help. Prosecutors said the sedan then pulled into an automotive shop in Shirley, where a man allegedly exited the passenger side and pulled the woman from the driver’s seat while she clutched the left side of her neck. The man then allegedly drove away with the victim still inside the vehicle. Surveillance video from the shop allegedly captured the encounter.
Minutes later, an off-duty Suffolk County police captain driving on Victory Avenue in Yaphank allegedly noticed the sedan speeding and tailgating his vehicle. After the sedan passed him, the captain allegedly saw that the headrest was soaked in blood and that a person inside appeared to be in distress. He followed the vehicle to a Speedway gas station in Yaphank.
At the gas station, prosecutors said McHenry got out of the driver’s seat and pulled Bachmann from the rear passenger area of the vehicle. She had a visible wound to her neck. McHenry was arrested at the scene.
Bachmann was transported to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk, where she was pronounced dead. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner later determined that she died from a stab wound to the neck.
Detectives subsequently searched the vehicle and allegedly recovered an open tactical knife. Prosecutors said the sedan was covered in blood stains.
McHenry was arraigned June 3 before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski on an indictment charging him with Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A-I felony. He pleaded not guilty and was remanded without bail. Court records show he is scheduled to return to court on June 17 for a conference. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
McHenry is represented by Katherine Fernandez and David Arpino. The charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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