A Soho real estate investor allegedly beat and strangled his model fiancée when she spurned his advances, and is so twisted, he once told her, “I would have fun killing and would be quite good at it,” she claims in a lawsuit.
Marissa Liu — who has appeared in print advertisements for alcohol and shoe companies — claimed the 6-foot, 180-pound Jon Yi accosted her in March while she slept, kicking her out of bed after she “rejected” his advances, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
“While planning our wedding and living together, I was beaten and forced to run into the Soho streets in my pajamas,” Liu told The Post. “I greatly look forward to presenting the truth in court.”
Yi “sexually assaulted, beat, smashed Liu’s head into the floor, put her in a headlock, strangled her [and] restrained her arm,” the petite 26-year-old contended in court papers.
After Liu was taken to the hospital, Yi, 48, locked her out of their Spring Street home, she claimed.
It wasn’t the first time Yi was unstable, alleged Liu, who met him in June 2022 via the dating app Hinge.
Yi previously “totaled a Range Rover and a Lamborghini, [and] attacked a tour guide on a trip to China,” Liu said in the litigation.
He was arrested on assault, criminal obstruction of breathing, harassment and criminal mischief for the attack on Liu, and in October pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Yi was required to undergo a violence prevention program and Liu was given a limited order of protection.
Yi denies the allegations, said his lawyer, Alan Sash, who noted a previous lawsuit filed against him by Liu was dismissed.
Liu expects to prevail, said her lawyer, Bruce Bronster, who added, “the circumstances are heart wrenching and terrifying.”
