2 days ago
Michelin-star chef accused of battering woman calls victim from jail with 'inconsiderate' request
An acclaimed chef at a Michelin-star restaurant beat a woman so badly she needed emergency surgery to treat a brain bleed - then called the same woman from jail begging her to bail him out.
Jacob Bickelhaupt, 41, was hit with new charges of witness tampering less than a week after he was arrested on charges of aggravated battery for assaulting the victim for two hours inside her home.
The Michelin-star chef and owner of West Palm Beach restaurant Konro allegedly left the woman with a 'smashed up face' and horrifying injuries which required lifesaving surgery.
The woman had escaped to the airport when she suffered a seizure trying to buy a plane ticket. She was rushed to hospital, where she told medics she had been involved in a car accident.
Nurses called police because her injuries were not consistent with a car accident.
'I have nowhere to stay, nowhere to sleep... I need your help,' Bickelhaupt said in a voicemail left to the woman's phone.
Using an unauthorized device, Bickelhaupt called a number for his business which diverted to the woman's personal cell, along with his own and a business partner's.
It is understood the business partner alerted authorities to the voicemail, CBS 12 reported.
'Here is the deal, I know there is a lot going on, and you're in really bad shape. I'm going to be here for a very long time if you so choose, maybe a year,' he said in the desperate call.
'I'm not trying to sound inconsiderate right now, I really don't have a lot of time. I love you, please call that number,' he said in a second call just 20 minutes after the first went to voicemail.
Bickelhaupt asked the woman to phone the bondsman and pay $1,500 upfront, agreeing to cover the remainder of the $9,000 bail amount via a payment plan.
His total bond was initially listed for $90,000 with a 10 percent payment required upfront to walk free.
'I get out I have house arrest with ankle bracelet and no order to contact. So I need to find somewhere else to sleep, and I can't do the restaurant,' he said.
'I don't have any money, they took all my ID's and I don't have any shoes, it's in evidence.
'Zelle and cash app 1,500 and the bail bondsmen will pay the 9K and we'll clear out the rest.'
After authorities learned of the two calls, Bickelhaupt was hit with three fresh charges - two counts of witness tampering and one contempt charge.
Bickelhaupt is the chef behind Michelin-star restaurant Konro
Each new charge carried a $3,000 bond, taking his total bond amount to $99,000.
Bickelhaupt will return to court to face both sets of charges.
The initial complaint related to a June 2 assault on a woman who required emergency surgery to stem a brain bleed caused by her injuries.
She also had two black eyes, facial swelling and bruising from her shoulders down to wrists.
Police allege she was the victim of a sustained two-hour assault. At her home, police found blood splatter on the bedding, walls, and furniture.
Newly released bodycam footage of Bickelhaupt's arrest shows the chef sitting on his front porch as officers approach.
'I'm assuming she wasn't in a car accident because there was no damage to her car,' the officer told Bickelhaupt in the clip as he's discussing the woman's injuries.
'She had to go through surgery to save her life. Her face is all smashed up.
'One of two things is happening. Either she's covering for the person who beat her, or the brain bleed is affecting her thought process.'
Bickelhaupt simply said: 'I don't know.'
The officer asked to see Bickelhaupt's fists and the top of his hands before later informing him that he was the prime suspect and placing him in handcuffs.
Bickelhaupt's last restaurant, the famed Chicago-based 42 Grams, was awarded two Michelin stars before it was suddenly closed under a cloud of controversy in 2018, after Bickelhaupt had been accused of seperate and unrelated domestic violence offences.
