Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Wifebeaters Are As Dumb As You'd Imagine
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 26, 2011
Modified Feb 26, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 26, 2011
Modified Feb 26, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
According to the Times, it is often hard for lawyers to prosecute domestic violence cases, because 75 percent of the time, the women who were victimized stop helping prosecutors, often after speaking to the men accused of abusing them. Thankfully, prosecutors have one thing going for them: wifebeaters like to brag, and they are really, really dumb about it.
Since last year, every prisoner telephone call at every NYC jail, except calls to doctors and lawyers, has been recorded. And out of all the criminals, domestic abusers can't help but discuss, justify, confess and threaten their family members about their crimes. “We have the ability now to prove what we’ve always suspected, which is that the defendants in domestic violence cases are in constant contact with their victims, and they use various means and methods to try to have the case dropped,” said Scott E. Kessler, the domestic violence bureau chief in the Queens district attorney’s office. Here are some highlights/excerpts from those conversations:
- Eric Persaud told his girlfriend, “I need you to prepare the kids to start lying." He had been charged with burning her face with a hot iron as she knelt in view of their children. He also told her, “I need you right now in my corner,” and that he had a strategy: she should vanish for the trial. “I’m smarter than you,” he said in one of his 437 calls from Rikers Island.
- Juan Mighty told his brother he was surprised at all the blood after he used a kitchen knife on his longtime girlfriend: “I just stuck her like a little,” he said. He blamed his actions on jealousy.
- Ishaaq Rahaman, who was charged with scratching his girlfriend with keys, sweet talked her, and urged her not to tell the prosecutor anything useful: “Basically tell him things like this: ‘It was just a misunderstanding. I love him. We want to get married and we want to have children together,’ Say something nice like that, anything like that, you know what I’m saying, baby?”
- Mohamed Khan, who was charged with slicing his wife’s head and shoulder with a meat cleaver, was recorded telling his wife that he was a “brand new” man and had been under the spell of a “passion of love.”
- One Brooklyn defendant called his victim from jail 1,200 times.
Tagged
assault
domestic abuse
idiots
wifebeaters
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Coney Island's small, 1890s lighthouse may be landmarked by the city
It's in the private community of Sea Gate. Family members of the lighthouse's last civilian keeper are keeping its history alive.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 4:41 p.m. ET
Modified Oct 20, 2026 at 5:47 p.m. ET
New renderings are out for Queens' Metropolitan Park casino
The city's Public Design Commission taking a look at what's in store.
By
Willow Higgins
News
New renderings are out for Queens' Metropolitan Park casino
The city's Public Design Commission taking a look at what's in store.
By
Willow Higgins
Inside Luigi Mangione's legal strategy before his federal guilty plea
By
Samantha Max
NYC proposes crackdown down on AI customer service chatbots
By
Arya Sundaram
Early Addition: There's a new hot duck, this time in Queens
By
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .