Federal corrections officer strangled, stabbed woman at N.J. photoshoot, cops say

A federal corrections officer strangled a woman and cut her abdomen with a knife during an attack as they were traveling to a New Jersey location for a photoshoot, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.
Patrick J. O‘Kane, 45, of Exeter, Pennsylvania, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and related firearm charges in the Oct. 5 attack in Mount Olive.
O’Kane, who works for the federal Bureau of Prisons, and the woman were traveling to a campground with a photographer with plans for a photoshoot, authorities said.
While en route, the two started arguing over a text message the woman received, authorities said.
The argument escalated and O’Kane strangled the woman, cut her abdomen and pointed a gun at her while threatening her life, the prosecutor’s office said.
Authorities did not say where exactly the incident occurred and declined to elaborate.
Court documents filed in the case describe the incident occurring on Waterloo Valley Road, and started in a vehicle, which O’Kane was driving, with the photographer in the backseat. O’Kane and the victim know each other.
After they argued over the text, O’Kane threw the woman to the ground and she saw he was armed with a handgun. She grabbed it and ran back to their car, and O’Kane then slashed at her with a knife, which went through her sweatshirt and cut her abdomen area, the documents say.
O’Kane then took the gun and, at one point, told the woman to get on her knees and threatened to kill her and cocked the weapon while pointing it at her head. The photographer then stepped in between them and O’Kane relented, the documents say.
O’Kane punched the woman in the face, and the photographer texted someone to call 911. Police recovered the firearm and the knife during O’Kane’s arrest.
Court and jail records show O’Kane was arrested the day of the alleged attack and has been in the Morris County jail since Oct. 6.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll issued a statement calling attention to the seriousness of domestic violence and credited the police officers who arrested O’Kane, “through the skillful use of police de-escalation techniques.”
Attorney information for O’Kane was not immediately available.
O’Kane is a corrections captain currently assigned to the United States Penitentiary Canaan, in Waymart, Pennsylvania. He has an annual salary of $141,735, the Bureau of Prisons said.
The agency said it does not comment on an employee’s work status, or matters that are the subject of legal proceedings.
Editor’s Note: Reach the New Jersey Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-572-SAFE (7233). Reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), chat with their advocates here or text LOVEIS to 22522.
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Kevin Shea may be reached at [email protected]