INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Danielle Thomas, Jason Bohn: New York–Weight Watchers Exec Found Dead In Bathtub With Dog Nearby, Killed By Wall Street Boyfriend On CBS ’48 Hours’

By Traciy Reyes
Published on: 22:34 PST, Aug 12, 2016

Danielle Thomas, the Weight Watcher’s exec who was found dead in a bathtub and killed by her Wall Street attorney boyfriend, Jason Bohn, will have her troubling case detailed on an episode of CBS’ 48 Hours. The episode featuring the sad New York case is titled “A Raging Son.” It tells the story of an Ivy League college graduate who turns his life around after he is abandoned by his mother, but later kills his live-in girlfriend. On the show, you’ll hear from retired New York City detectives and family members of Danielle Thomas. Jason Bohn was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains today.

A Promising Future

Everyone loved Danielle Thomas, especially her mother and grandmother. That’s why this case is so particularly tragic. When you think about it, Danielle came from a family who loved her dearly, but her killer, Jason Bohn, was neglected by his mother and raised by an abusive father and a grandmother who suffered from schizophrenia. Yet, it was Danielle who ended up tragically murdered.

https://www.facebook.com/48hours/posts/10152775173538496

Bags Of Ice Placed In Bathtub Around Dead Woman’s Body

Danielle Thomas’ family liked Jason Bohn when they first met him. They were hoping that he would make her happy, and for a while, everything seemed fine. However, Danielle Thomas’ mom, like any loving mother, wanted to know more about Jason, and she was excited about meeting his mother. However, she didn’t get the chance to meet his mother before her daughter’s death, and she had no idea that her daughter was living in an abusive relationship in Astoria, Queens, New York, with Jason.

In the summer of 2012, detectives were dispatched to an Astoria apartment located between 33rd Street and 28th Avenue in Queens. When they arrived, they found the door open and the badly beaten body of a woman inside of the bathtub. In her arms was a love letter, and her dog was protecting the body. New York City detectives noted that there was something strange about the crime scene. The woman didn’t appear to have drowned, judging by the bruises on her head. There was also an open window with a fan turned on and bags of ice around the body, according to the Daily Mail. It became apparent to the detectives that someone was desperately trying to preserve the body, which meant that this was no accident but a homicide.

A History Of Domestic Violence

But who had done it? It didn’t take police long to figure it out. Jason Bohn had confessed that he was the killer. He said that he didn’t remember doing it, but he knows that he was the obvious person after waking up and finding his beloved Danielle dead.

According to Jason Bohn, the two had been arguing over an ex-boyfriend and Danielle Thomas’ possible involvement with him, or so Jason thought. In checking out Bohn’s background and the history of the residence, they recognized that this was a couple who had been on the police’s radar for sometime due to prior domestic violence calls. On a previous occasion, Danielle had called 911 and couldn’t get help. In fact, on the day she died, they received another 911 call, but no one bothered to come to the scene.

Had they done so, Danielle Thomas would most likely still be alive. An autopsy report concluded that she had been viciously beaten, stomped, bludgeoned, and strangled. Her injuries were so gruesome, it seemed like who ever had done this to her hadn’t cared anything about her at all.

He Blamed It On Mommy

Yet, Jason Bohn had professed his love for her. They learned that Jason believed that all of this was a result of built up rage inside of him that had been brewing since he was a little boy. By all accounts, his mother didn’t want him, and she left the family after kicking out his biological father. From there, his mother, Maureen O’Connell, got married again and completely left his life during his growing years, CBS’ 48 Hours will show.

Jason Bohn was extremely resentful that he could not be with his mother and often called her in desperation to tell her about the horrible life that he was living with his father. Yet, the absent mother didn’t make any attempts to be with her son again or participate in meetings about his behavior.

Jason Bohn’s attorneys, along with medical experts, were positive that he had some type of explosive disorder, which made him incapable of controlling his rage. The prosecution didn’t buy it and neither did the jury after listening to the murder, which was captured on voicemail. Once they heard all of the evidence, a jury found Jason Bohn guilty and convicted him of murder.

At trial, Danielle Thomas’ family had the opportunity to speak and share how the murder of their precious Dani has affected them. Juanita Hardgrove, Danielle Thomas’ grandmother, stated the following, according to the New York Post.

“I’m a cancer survivor, and I thought that hearing I had cancer would be the worse news until I got that call that you murdered my precious Dani. Only a bully and coward would do this to such a beautiful woman.”

The New York Post also reported that when Jason Bohn had the opportunity to address the family, he referred to them affectionately as “Nana” and “Mom.” The jury found his use of the terms creepy and strange. But, it had a great impact on Danielle Thomas’ mother, Jaime Thomas-Bright, who gave the following response.

“Life will never be good for me ever again. I’ll never get to be a grandmother. I dread getting old. It was helpful to me that Jason spoke today. I didn’t think he was going to, but when he said he was sorry and turned around and looked at me and Nana and called me mom, I thought, he normally calls me Jamie, so when he called me mom that touched me.”

It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way for Jason Bohn because he had completely turned his life around without his mother’s help. After someone else came into his life and set him off on a successful course, Jason Bohn attended an Ivy league college, graduated, and had become an attorney. What no one knew was that inside of him still lurked a beast that was destined to explode in a murderous rage at any time.

As for Jason Bohn’s mother Maureen O’Connell, you can find her at her website or at Direct Capital, which shows a photo of a smiling bright-eyed older woman who offers financial advice on how to get your business loan approved, among other services. Without knowing the background of this case, you’d hardly be able to picture this woman as the same mother described in the CBS 48 Hours episode.

Watch the Danielle Thomas, Jason Bohn story this Saturday in a double feature at 10 p.m., just after the CBS 48 Hours first episode, “The Millionaire, the Model & the Hitman,” at 9 p.m. Two other interesting cases that have aired on 48 Hours are the stories of Barbara Nantais and Skylar Nemetz.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1450928168484851&set=a.1400520183525650.1073741829.100007030449560&type=3&permPage=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTLTr4BmIIY

[Image via MGO_Photo/Shutterstock]

Share this article: Danielle Thomas, Jason Bohn: New York–Weight Watchers Exec Found Dead In Bathtub With Dog Nearby, Killed By Wall Street Boyfriend On CBS ’48 Hours’
New York
More from Inquisitr