Crime & Safety
Tuesday Sentencing for Medford Man Convicted of Murder
Chad Johnson faces 25 years to life for the murder of Jennifer Papain.
A Medford man convicted of the murder of a North Patchogue woman in 2010 will face sentencing at the Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead on Tuesday.
Chad Johnson, 23, was in November of second-degree murder, patronizing a prostitute and aggravated unlicensed driving.
District Attorney Thomas Spota said that Johnson may receive 25 years to life imprisonment.
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According to prosecutors, Johnson strangled N. Patchogue resident Jennifer Papain, whom he hired through a Craigslist ad, after Papain, 26, refused to give him his $80 back after a sexual encounter in a car in Bay Shore on March 24, 2010.
Police said Johnson admitted to the murder in May 2010 and led officers to a wooded area near Expressway Drive North, west of Bellport Road in Medford, where Papain's body was buried.
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According to the Long Island Press, Johnson told police he grabbed Papain’s neck after arguing over a refund.
“I started choking her with two hands and I forced her head against the passenger side of the front window,” Johnson said in a statement, according to the Press. “I kept choking her until she went limp and then I freaked out.”
Johnson’s attorney argued during the trial that Johnson's written statement to police was coerced and that Papain actually died of a drug overdose while she was with Johnson, the Press reported.
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