Prosecutors say a Bellport woman was stabbed to death after witnesses reported seeing her attacked inside her vehicle in Shirley and Yaphank.
Suffolk County, N.Y. – A Long Beach man has been indicted on a murder charge in the death of a 30-year-old Bellport mother of three who was allegedly stabbed inside her vehicle before being found critically injured at a Yaphank gas station.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Wednesday that Michael McHenry, 40, was charged with Murder in the Second Degree in connection with the death of Juliann Bachmann.
Key Points
• Michael McHenry was indicted on a second-degree murder charge in the death of Juliann Bachmann.
• Witnesses reported seeing a woman attacked inside a vehicle and screaming for help before the suspect allegedly drove away.
• McHenry faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Tierney described Bachmann as a young mother whose death has left three children without their mother.
“A young mother of three was brutally killed, allegedly by this defendant,” Tierney said in a statement announcing the indictment.
Witnesses reported violent encounter
According to investigators, Bachmann and a friend drove to Long Beach during the early morning hours of May 16 to pick up McHenry, who had reportedly moved in with Bachmann and her children about two months earlier.
Authorities said Bachmann dropped her friend off at a motel in Shirley shortly after 6:30 a.m., leaving McHenry as the only passenger in the vehicle.
Less than an hour later, a witness allegedly observed a man seated in the passenger seat grabbing a woman by the hair and repeatedly striking her while she screamed that he was going to kill her. The witness immediately called 911, according to prosecutors.
A second witness later reported seeing the black sedan on Montauk Highway and hearing a woman in the driver’s seat scream for help. Investigators said the witness watched the vehicle pull into an automotive shop in Shirley, where a man allegedly dragged the woman from the driver’s seat while she clutched her neck before driving away with her still inside.
Off-duty captain helped lead to arrest
At approximately 7:20 a.m., an off-duty Suffolk County Police Department captain was traveling on Victory Avenue in Yaphank when he noticed a black sedan tailgating him at a high rate of speed.
When the vehicle passed, the captain allegedly observed blood soaking the headrest and saw a person in distress in the rear seat. He followed the vehicle to a Speedway gas station in Yaphank.
Prosecutors said McHenry exited the driver’s seat and pulled Bachmann, who had a visible wound to her neck, from the rear passenger area of the vehicle. He was arrested at the scene.
Bachmann was transported to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk, where she was pronounced dead.
Investigation uncovered blood-stained vehicle
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner determined that Bachmann died from a stab wound to the neck following an autopsy.
Detectives later executed a search warrant on the vehicle and allegedly found extensive blood evidence inside. Investigators also recovered an open tactical knife from the sedan, according to court documents.
McHenry was arraigned Wednesday before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski on a charge of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A-I felony.
Justice Pilewski ordered McHenry held without bail pending the outcome of the case. He is scheduled to return to court on July 17 and faces a sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Eric S. Aboulafia of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Homicide Bureau. Detectives Guido Cirenza and T. Michael Palumbo of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad assisted with the investigation.