Long Island Man Guilty Of Burning Women With Clothing Iron In Hotel Room: DA

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Suffolk man was found guilty of charges related to the repeated burning of two women with a hot clothing iron in a hotel room in July 2021, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

After a jury trial, Johnathan Wright, 34, of Lindenhurst, was found guilty of assault, witness tampering, and other related charges, prosecutors said.

He also dissuaded the women from seeking medical attention for their injuries, and then tried to have one of them recant her story to officers after his arrest, according to prosecutors.

Tierney said, "The defendant subjected two women to brutal violence and then tried to hide his crimes by threatening the victims and preventing them from seeking medical attention for their wounds and even from cooperating with law enforcement."

“I am thankful for and deeply admire the bravery of these women in coming forward to the police, and I commend the work of law enforcement and my prosecutors for ensuring that this defendant is finally held accountable for these horrific crimes," he added.

Wright had been staying at a Ronkonkoma hotel for several nights with two women, one of whom suffered from mental disabilities, and on July 21, 2021, he became enraged with the women because they fell asleep while giving him a back massage, according to prosecutors.

Wright began choking and punching the women in their faces and bodies and tried to push
them out of the window, prosecutors said, adding, that he then ordered them to strip naked and tried to tie them together with a belt.

While the women were tied up, Wright took a clothing iron from the hotel bathroom, plugged it in, and began holding the hot iron to their skin, repeatedly burning them all over their bodies, prosecutors said.

Wright warned the women not to scream and threatened that the burning would get worse if they made noise, according to prosecutors.

The assault continued for around three to four hours before Wright ordered the women into the shower while he fell asleep on the hotel bed, prosecutors said.

Wright refused to allow the victims to seek medical treatment for their burns or report the assault to police for weeks after the assault, instead treating the victims himself by placing paper towels on their injuries, prosecutors said, adding, that it wasn’t until one of the victims returned to her
home in Coram in August 2021, that her mother helped her to report the assault to police.

Wright was arrested for the assault and held in custody on bail as he awaited trial, and from the time of his incarceration in August 2021 through February 2023, he used a correctional facility phone line to make repeated phone calls to the victims in violation of court issued orders of protection, prosecutors said.

During the recorded phone calls, Wright tried to bribe one of the women to recant her statement to police and threatened both victims and their families with violence should they continue to cooperate with law enforcement, according to prosecutors.

The DA's office, police, and the sherriff’s office monitored the recorded calls made by Wright and learned of his efforts to tamper with the witnesses, prosecutors said.

Wright was convicted of four counts of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, and one count of bribing a witness. He was additionally found guilty of third-degree tampering with a witness, one count of first-degree criminal contempt, and six counts of fourth-degree tampering with a witness, as well as 32 counts of second-degree criminal contempt.

Wright is due back in court for sentencing on April 30 and faces up to 50 years in prison.

Patch has reached out to his attorney, Ian Fitzgerald of Central Islip, for comment.