Jonathan Lind, and Julia Enright.
A man implicated by his phlebotomist/dominatrix girlfriend in her ex-boyfriend’s murder now faces a criminal case. Jonathan Lind is charged with accessory after the fact, and disinterring a body for allegedly helping Julia Enright, 24, hide the corpse of Brandon Chicklis, 20, according to The Telegram & Gazette.
Enright murdered former classmate and boyfriend Chicklis in a treehouse in Worcester County, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2018, authorities said. A jogger found Chicklis dead and in a decomposed state off a highway in New Hampshire the following July 10.
Enright testified that she stabbed Chicklis to death in self-defense when he tried to rape her. She said that Lind helped her get rid of the body. Prosecutors said that Lind’s phone pinged where Chicklis’s body was found, according to MassLive.
Enright suggested in a blog post after the killing that she was “turned on” by the murder scene, and she lamented that Lind wouldn’t appreciate the “gift” she gave him, authorities said. Enright claimed that this post was about grave-robbing, not the Chicklis slaying.
During cross-examination, the prosecution had her read an ominous statement from her journal.
“I just have an insatiable curiosity to kill a person,” she said.
Enright built an alibi by texting the dead man, and going out for sushi with Lind later in the day, authorities said.
Prosecutors highlighted her hobby of preserving small animals in glass jars. It’s not merely a lurid detail, but relevant to how prosecutors said she disposed of the man’s body. Worcester County Medical Examiner Jennie Duval testified that Chicklis was found in a blanket, tarp, and a canvas sheet, which were inside garbage bags sealed with duct tape. According to testimony, Enright would sometimes work to speed up an animal’s decomposition by leaving the creature out in the elements and wrapped in a tarp.
Lind allegedly told police that the carpet in the treehouse was replaced because he defecated in it during a sexual activity with Enright.
Jurors never saw him take the stand during trial. He voiced plans to plead the Fifth Amendment, so the state did not even bother calling him to testify.
His defense is geared to fight the case against him.
“He’s known about these allegations, he denies them, and we look forward to defending them in court,” attorney Kevin C. Larson told The Telegram & Gazette.
Enright was on trial for first-degree murder, but jurors convicted her of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. The county’s top prosecutor noted the conviction was not a replacement for Chicklis’s life.
“They were relieved,” Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said, according to MassLive. “But the thing you want to give them, you can’t give them and that’s Brandon back.”
Enright’s sentencing is set for Jan. 18.
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
[Lind booking photo via Worcester County House of Corrections; screenshot of Enright testifying in court via WBZ]