Medford man convicted in woman's murder

A Suffolk jury convicted a Medford man Monday of murder for strangling a North Patchogue woman after he paid her for a sex act.

Chad Johnson, 23, was convicted of killing Jennifer Papain, 26, after a six-week trial before Suffolk County Court Judge Gary Weber.

"It's justice, but by no means does it bring Jennifer back," said Assistant District Attorney Todd Pettigrew.

During its two days of deliberations, jurors apparently focused on arguments made by defense attorney William Ferris that there was no physical evidence that Johnson strangled Papain. By the time her body was discovered, two months after she died, decomposition could have masked any evidence of strangulation, forensic pathologists testified.

"Chad was very disappointed in the verdict," Ferris said. "He will be appealing the jury's decision."

In a confession to police, Johnson said he choked Papain after she refused to refund half of the $80 he paid her for a sex act, which he was unable to complete before she stopped. Johnson eventually led detectives to where he had buried her body in some woods off the Long Island Expressway near his home.

In the end, however, jurors put aside the medical testimony and focused on "how highly unlikely his story is," Pettigrew said. "You bury the body -- it's hard to get around."

Detectives testified they questioned Johnson, a criminal justice student at Briarcliffe College who hoped to be an FBI profiler some day, when cellphone records showed he was the last person to be with her after her pimp dropped her off at the Bay Shore Inn.

When she disappeared in March 2010, detectives at first thought it was the result of human trafficking, but then focused on Johnson when elements of his story shifted.

Johnson also was convicted of patronizing a prostitute and driving without a valid license, both misdemeanors. He will be sentenced on all charges Jan. 5.

The jury could not reach a verdict on a charge of marijuana possession.

"That's not a concern at this point," Pettigrew said.