A New York man who authorities say forced his girlfriend to travel across the country, and then beat, kidnapped, handcuffed, and attacked her with a hatchet in a Beatty motel on Thursday, was arrested, according to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office….
A New York man who authorities say forced his girlfriend to travel across the country, and then beat, kidnapped, handcuffed, and attacked her with a hatchet in a Beatty motel on Thursday, was arrested, according to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
Jon Wesley Turner, 23, of Elmira, N.Y., and his 25-year-old girlfriend, also from New York, met online and were reported missing from their home state in late August, officials said.
Due to the controlling nature of their relationship, the victim’s family was unable to communicate with her, and her car was found abandoned in Big Bear, Calif., sometime after the couple left New York, officials said. The couple spent some time in Las Vegas before they traveled to Beatty, about 120 miles northwest, where they stayed in a motel for about two weeks.
About 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, deputies responded to a report of an injured woman near the undisclosed motel, officials said. She told them that Turner had beat and choked her during an altercation, leaving her unconscious at a nearby street.
When she regained consciousness, Turner forced her back to their motel where he handcuffed her to furniture and unleashed an attack, further beating and chocking her and injuring her with a hatchet, officials said. She escaped, and Turner was arrested nearby.
Investigators learned that the couple had met online weeks before they disappeared, officials said. The victim’s family did not know her whereabouts and were unable to communicate with her because Turner had isolated her.
The woman told detectives that Turner had threatened to kill her if she didn’t leave New York with him, officials said. She alleged Turner had sexually assaulted her the two weeks they spent in Beatty.
The victim was treated at a Las Vegas hospital and Turner, who also was reported missing in New York, was booked at the Nye County Detention Center on counts of battery domestic violence with strangulation, battery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping, officials said. His bail was set at $275,000, officials said Friday.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Nye County Sheriff’s Office at 775-751-7000 or [email protected]
