Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Gorgeous Mom Set on Fire by Ex TESTIFIES FROM BEYOND GRAVE

Episode Date: August 2, 2023

An Ohio mother is doused with gasoline and set on fire.  Judy Malinowski, then 31, suffered third-degree and fourth-degree burns over 90 percent of her body. She was in a coma for seven months and underwent more than 60 surgeries. Malinowski was resuscitated seven times. She died in 2017, but not before providing three hours of recorded testimony that would be used in court against her attacker, her boyfriend, Michael Slager. Slager initially pleaded no contest to assault and arson charges in 2016 and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.  After Malinowski died,  he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life without parole.   Joining Nancy Grace Today:  Bonnie Bowes - Mother to Judy Malinowski, Founder/President of Judy's Foundation Jarrett Ferentino - Homicide Prosecutor' Facebook & Instagram: Jarrett Ferentino  Dr. Chloe Carmichael - Clinical Psychologist, Women’s Health Magazine Advisory Board;' Author: ‘Nervous Energy: Harness The Power of Your Anxiety;' Twitter: @DrChloe Lt. Chad Cohagen - Investigative Lieutenant for the Gahanna police (worked on Judy’s case) Dr. Tim Gallagher - Medical Examiner State of Florida, Lecturer: University of Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine, & Founder/Host: International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference  Patricia Gillespie- Director of “The Fire That Took Her” (available now on Paramount); Instagram: @p.e.gillespie, Facebook:  trish.gillespie.9      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How can a beautiful young woman testify in her own murder trial? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to Hour Cut One. This is a 911 call from the Franklin County Sheriffs. Franklin County Sheriff's Office, can I help you? Hello? What is this radio?

What's the address? This is my radio. What's going on? This is my radio. Okay, okay, I need you to stop screaming so I can understand you. What is the address? This is my radio. This is understand you. What is the address? What's going on?

Somebody is on fire? We've already got a call. The fire department's on the way. Can you tell me who did this? There was a guy in his outfit who was standing out there still. He was in a blue or black truck. He was touching his own hair. He was still here. he was in a he was in a like a blue or black truck and I thought to his own over him he was still

here what did he do what like gasoline what did he do this girl

was sitting in the grass and he got out and he threw something all of a

sudden he was on fire the police are there I think the police are here okay

and there's more listen to our friend Les Trent at Inside Edition in our Cut 18. I need you to stop screaming because I can't understand what you're saying.

The 33-year-old woman tried to break up with Slager as they sat at a gas station outside Columbus, Ohio. Judy bolted from his car. Slager chased her, doused her with gasoline, then lit her into a human fireball. Judy's mom, Bonnie. They told me that he had doused her in gasoline and set her on fire. And she suffered horribly. Take a listen to Hour Cut 19. Ever since that terrible day, Judy has been a patient at Ohio State University Medical Center where she underwent 50 surgeries for burns covering 85% of her body her mother had to put on a gown and gloves in order to visit Judy's young daughters Kalen and

Madison also had to put on protective gowns and gloves to be by their mom's bedside Judy allowed inside Edition to air this video because she wanted other abused women to learn from her experience and seek help before it's too late. Believe it or not, this incident caused her to be in a seven-month coma. Take a listen to our friends at CrimeOnline.com

and cut OC. When Judy Malinowski wakes up from a seven-month coma, she learns that she lost her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes in the blaze. Malinowski's face is skeletal, her ears completely gone, along with most of her eyesight and several fingers. Her arm amputated where it had been burned to the bone. Burn experts estimated that with roughly 90% of her body covered in third and fourth degree burns, Malinowski had 110% chance of mortality. Doctors have no medical explanation as to how Malinowski survived more than a few hours. Joining me right now in addition to Judy's mother, Bonnie Bowles.

Patricia Gillespie, director of The Fire That Took Her on Paramount. Patricia, thank you for being with us. How did this incident unfold? What happened? Well, I think there were, you know, the constellation of factors that keep women trapped in abusive relationships. One thing that I think is very important to note in this particular story and many women's stories, the one in three women who experienced domestic violence in this country, is that the most dangerous time for a woman is when she's about to leave. And I think, you know, when Michael realized that he was not going to be able to maintain control of Judy, he sort of exploded. He just escalated very quickly, and this was able to unfold.

But it is important to note that there was a substantive history of abusive behavior from him that led up to this, just nothing quite so extreme. With us is the director of The Fire That Took Her, which you can see on Paramount+. I want to go to a very special guest joining us now. And it's not just joining us. This is extremely painful for her to discuss, but she is doing it to make her daughter's story known and to help other crime victims. With me is Bonnie Bowes, Judy Malinowski's mother, founder of Judy's Foundation, and you can find her at judysfoundation.org. Ms. Bowes, thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. Miss Bose, I have a son and a daughter, and it's very hard for me to comprehend pouring in all my love, all my time, all my energy, my energy my thoughts my heart everything into them

watching them grow up and then seeing an a-hole like Michael Slager, take it all away in such a brutal fashion. Ms. Bowes, when did you learn something horrible had happened to Judy? On a Sunday afternoon, I got a call from OSU Hospital. And I learned the hospital called and said, asked me a strange question was on judy's mother and then they followed that question with um did i have any objections to putting her on a ventilator oh dear lord in heaven okay hold on right there miss bows dr tim gallagher is joining us renowned medical exam examiner for the state of flor at PathCareMed.com, lecturer, Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine, and is the founder and host of the International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference. Dr. Gallagher, when you hear that, that someone's being put on a ventilator. What does that mean? Well, being put on a ventilator

typically involves difficulty in breathing. So the patient cannot breathe on their own. And in cases where fire is involved, you have to understand that not only is the skin being burned, but the victim is actually breathing in the heat, breathing in the flames, and that's going directly to their lungs, causing damage. So it's important that the person be put on a ventilator to help oxygenate the body and to help get the healing process going as soon as possible. Did you hear, Dr. Gallagher, how much of Judy's body was burned? I certainly did, you know, and in cases where over 90% of the body is burned, the death rate is somewhere in the 90s, in 90%. It's very unusual to have someone survive with this degree of injury.

I understand some of the burns were fourth-degree burns. Some of it was charring where the skin was charred down to the bone. Dr. Gallagher, I know this is your job. Often people can't make sense of, for instance, me talking about a homicide case and the circumstances surrounding it because it's very cut and dried. It's hard for me to take in what you're saying. I know this is your line of business, but have you looked at Judy in life? I mean, a mom, number one, how many children did she have, Bonnie, two? That is correct. She's, I'm looking at a picture of her right now at Christmas with her two little girls. One on either

side. I love doing that with the twins. The Christmas tree is behind her. And she's beautiful with the long brunette hair, the big smile, happy on Christmas Day. And you're just really cutting through it.

Dr. Gallagher, talking about charring and fourth-degree burns. Could you just... I know you don't need a bedside manner with your patients, but could you ease me into this, Dr. Gallagher, please? Sure thing. Okay. Well, we spoke about other reasons why she could be on a ventilator, you know, and there's lung damage that goes along with being burned there's actually swelling the

body reacts by swelling and some of that swelling can occur in the throat area which would limit the amount of air that the victim can breathe in so the object is to get a healing started as soon as possible. You want to make sure that the body gets enough oxygen. And so that way the tissues can start the repair process as early as possible. What's a fourth degree burn as opposed to a third, second or first? So a fourth degree burn is when not only is the skin burned and the soft tissue underneath, but it's also starting to burn now the tendons and the muscle underneath.

So the problem with a fourth-degree burn is that the nerves are burned. So this injury has no pain associated with it. The nerves that are associated to bring the pain to the victim are gone now. They can't feel anything. And so to them, it doesn't seem as serious, but it is quite certainly serious and does require extensive surgical removal of the dead tissue and subsequent skin graft operations to replace the skin that's lost. If you have enough skin to use for replacement. I mean, she was burned over such a huge percentage of her body. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Dr. Tim Gallagher joining us out of Florida. Why would being burned in this manner put you in a coma? Well, that's a very good question. I think what they would put in was a medically induced coma. And what happens is it helps with the healing, it helps with the subsequent surgical procedures that she needs. Now, I know she needed over 50 types of operations. And one of those operations is skin grafting. And in her case, because so much of her own skin was lost, they needed to take skin from a donor person,

or perhaps even a cadaver skin. And it's very difficult to do that operation because you lean on that skin or you lay on that skin, and that will not allow the skin to so-called take to the body. So the person has to be in a coma or sufficiently sedated so they don't turn and lean on that skin, that new skin that they receive, and that skin can start to take. It's very difficult for me to look at her smiling with her two little girls in front of a Christmas tree and hear you so clinically and correctly, Dr. Gallagher described what she endured. Ms. Bonnie Bowes is with us. This is Judy Malinowski's mother.

Bonnie, so you get this call and they immediately say, are you Judy Malinowski's mother and can we put her on a ventilator? You said it was a Sunday. What went through your mind? Well, disbelief. My first reaction was, what a strange question. Am I her mother? So that automatically sent a non-comprehensive, of course, I'm her mom. And it didn't hit me until I was driving to the hospital that that was life support. So then it dawned on me that there was a real problem, and it became a very difficult drive to get there and park. You know, I remember trying so hard to get from New York to my father

in Macon, Georgia, when they had just put him on life support. I was out on the street at midnight holding the twins by their hands trying to flag a taxi, just trying desperately to get home. And that ride you're describing to get to the hospital must have been excruciating. When you got to the hospital and you saw your daughter what did you see when I got to the hospital they would not she was in trauma and so I had to wait for about six hours or longer before she was stable enough but when I was able to go in and see her, I just seen my baby because she was alive. And that's what I was praying for during that whole six hours. So I didn't see the disfigurement and the burns and the swelling. I just was so relieved that she was alive, even if it was from a ventilator.

That's an interesting thing that you just said. I want to go to Dr. Chloe Carmichael, a renowned clinical psychologist joining us, author of Nervous Energy, Harness the Power of Your Anxiety at drchloe.com. Dr. Chloe, thank you for being with us. You know, when I see my husband, to me, he looks just like he did when we met after college. He hasn't changed to me. And here is this mom who stood by her daughter through all this. And Judy passed away because of the fire attack on her. And when she sees Judy in the hospital with this huge percentage of her body burned,

she says, she just looked like my little baby. What is that? Because I know David has changed, and Judy had to look different in the hospital after this, as they said on Inside Edition, being turned into a fireball. What is that phenomenon? Yeah, Nancy, it's such a deep question, and there's a couple of possible answers really. On one hand, it's kind of a trauma protective measure. Just like when we're going through extremely difficult situations, sometimes our brain actually almost limits what it is that we're able to take in and process because

it's a survival mechanism to help us to be able to get through a particular moment to be able to be with and engage, you know, with with her daughter without necessarily going into the traumat kind of a through line there of that fierce mama bear love that Judy was not only displaying for her own children as she fought for them and their future, even through her last moments. But Judy was also receiving that love from her own mother in her moments. And you can hear me getting a little choked up. It's so poignant. But Judy was also receiving that love from her own mother in her moments. And you can hear me getting a little choked up. It's so poignant. Amazingly, while Judy is in the hospital, after coming out of a coma, she gives a statement and, in effect, ends up testifying in her own murder trial. Take a listen to our cut to this is Detective Chad Cahagan speaking to Judy.

Judy, can you hear me? Yeah, honey. Mommy's here. Hold up. My name's... I'm your nurse today, okay? We're taking good care of you. You're in the hospital, okay? You have some burns, so we're just going to try to keep you comfortable here, okay?

Are you hurting right now? Okay. All right. Okay. Would you mind if someone asked you a couple questions about what happened? Stay calm, Jude. Stay calm, baby. Judy, this is Detective Shohegan with you. Hannah, can you hear me? Yeah.

Judy, did you spill gas on yourself? No. Did Mike spill gas on you? Did Mike throw gas on you? Did Mike throw gas on you? Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you.

Oh, my stars. You are hearing that interview by Detective Chad Cohagen, and it was also part of this incredible documentary, The Fire That Took Her. Joining me, not only the director of The Fire That Took Her, Patricia Gillespie, but now famous detective, Chad Cohagen, investigative lieutenant for the police department. He worked Judy's case. Detective, thank you for being with us. Thanks for having me.

Detective Cohagen, I just can't imagine what you did. Describe going in Judy's room and the emotions that must have just overwhelmed you, yet you kept your head on. You managed to ask her questions. And because of you and the strength of Judy Malinowski, she was able to, in effect, testify at her own murder trial. Yeah, honestly, I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was very overwhelming.

We had a conversation with the medical staff beforehand. They were actually bringing her out of sedation to do a neurological exam to check to see where she was at there. I spoke with some doctors and nurses and asked them if they thought it was appropriate if I could talk to Judy, just a couple of simple questions, just to clear up some statements that Mike made that didn't really coincide with the evidence we were seeing on scene. They agreed that three or four short questions would be okay. I remember I talked to Bonnie about it to let her know that that's what was going to happen. And I remember how calm she was. And I think you can hear it in her voice in the video, how calm Bonnie was during that situation, which I'm a father. I can't imagine, you know, you guys have spoke about it, what she was going through. So her calmness,

honestly, calmed me down and helped me get through that at that point in my career. And since then, as a police officer, we see, you know, unfortunately, we see a lot of human tragedy. But to that point and since, I have not seen trauma to a body that was still alive. Judy's strength was evident at that initial interview and then, you know, almost two years, how long her fight was for two years. So she showed strength right off the bat and being able to answer my questions, even though, you know, I could tell, you know, what was very close to her to make sure that she could hear my questions. The pain was evidence on her face and her eyes, but she just kept that

inner strength through the whole ordeal and was able to, you know, testify on her own murder trial, which was just amazing. Detective, I tried a lot of cases, a lot of felonies, a lot of murders, and investigated, you know, 10 times that many, but certain ones stay in my mind. I imagine that this is one that stays with you. It is. Yeah, I don't, again, it's something that, you know,

our courts have never seen. I don't think there's been any courts in the United States that's seen something to this effect. You know, just the sounds, the beeping and the background, just hearing that, honestly, you know, somewhat triggers me, you know, a little, you know, PTSD that I, or PTSD that I have from that incident.

But it's, it's, it's just a credit to Judy's strength and then Bonnie's strength. You know, I've said it a million times to Bonnie. Bonnie's, you know, my hero as far as her strength of the whole case. She was an advocate for Judy from day one. It was Judy's strength that I think got her through the ordeal, but it was really Bonnie's strength behind the scenes and there and day in and day out that allowed Judy to get well enough to testify in her own murder trial and put Michael away for the rest of his life, which is where he belongs. Take a listen to our cut five after Detective Chad Cohagen meets with Judy in her hospital bed. Take a listen to the murder victim in her own words.

This is the speedway at 376 Agler Road, right? Yes. So you while he went inside you got out of the truck and went behind that speedway there's a bank there right? Yes. And what happened as you stood behind He saw me and immediately slammed the truck to the park, got out, demanded that I got into the truck with him, called me all sorts of names. We argued for five to ten minutes and then i threw my pop on him and our cut six as judy continues struggling to speak you threw a pop on him yes uh did you splash it on him or actually throw the cup at him i threw the cup at him okay Okay and this cup was it a hard plastic or paper or what was it made out of? I believe it was a styrofoam cup. Okay. Did the drink get on him? Yes. What was his reaction to this? He was extremely upset. And what did he do? He ran around to the other side of his truck and he got his

these two notes of gasoline that he had kept in the back of his truck. So he, abusive, throughout their relationship tries to force her back into his truck. They argue she won't get into his truck

with him for another beating. She throws a styrofoam cup at him and his response is to go get the gasoline cup from the back of his truck. Listen to our cut 7 as Judy continues trying to tell her story. It was a really big, a lot of gas. He ran around with me and started pouring gasoline, started it up my head and worked his way down. Something got through my throat as he did that.

That burnt really bad. Gasoline in your throat burnt really bad? Yes. And what happened as a result of having this gasoline poured on you? He then set me on fire. Well, let's slow down a little bit. Before that, did you remain standing, or were you standing when he poured the gasoline on you? No.

When he poured the gasoline on you, were you standing? No. She tried to run, and he grabbed her, and she tripped when she was running. He pushed her. She tripped. Take a listen to our Cut 9. When you trip and you're falling and you're laying there holding yourself up on one hand and he's pouring gasoline on you, what's his demeanor as he's pouring the gasoline on you?

You all just completely, he's not not responding to any of my cries for help. He won't tell me why. He just says, like, you want to throw something on somewhere? You want to throw a cap on me? See what I'll do to you? How do you like this? And just all sorts of modern hands. Okay.

So, Judy, was this a joking demeanor? You poured something on me. I'm going to pour something on you. Ha ha, isn't this funny? No, it was an evil demeanor. And our cut 10 is Judy continues struggling to speak. After he poured the gasoline on you, what happens next? He backed away from me for about 30 seconds. And I kept telling him, so please help me and stop.

And I'll get the truck. I'll go with you. You know, why would you do this? And I looked at him, and he pulled a lighter out of his pocket. And he started walking towards me. And I just remember crying and begging for help. And he left me on fire. And the look in his eyes were, his eyes went black, literally.

After I was set on fire. That's when his eyes just turned black as I screamed for his help. Ms. Bowes is with us, Judy's mother. When you hear her voice, what do you think? My heart aches. I hear her voice it it aches from our two-year journey that she suffered when i hear her voice chad cohagan who worked the case so tirelessly when you hear judy's voice what goes through your mind you know uh you can hear the strength of her, you know, resolve to testify, to speak to what happened to her, the evil that she saw that day and was a victim to that day.

But really, for us, it was such a powerful, you know, tool in the investigative process that everything that the facts were showing us lined up to what Judy could now tell us in the case. Seeing the video, you know, talking to the witnesses, we had an idea of what happened. But to hear from Judy's and Judy's own words just backed everything up and made the case that much stronger. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining me now is high-profile homicide prosecutor Jarrett Farentino. Jarrett, thank you for being with us. Jarrett, at the time that this goes to trial, Judy Malinowski is no longer with us. There are many ways a defense attorney can try to keep Judy's own words from coming in before a jury.

How? Nancy, there are many ways, but here are the things. They look at this historic case and say, what are the guarantees of trustworthiness of Judy's testimony? What are the guardrails that were put in place that her testimony was locked in prior to her death? And the defense attorney and the prosecution were given, as you know, Nancy, the law says a full and fair opportunity to examine Judy, her recollection of events. The defense attorney was given the chance to cross-examine her and test her knowledge and memory of the case. Those guardrails prior to trial allowed for her testimony to be secured and secured in a fashion that it would ultimately be admissible in a trial. I've had that several times in a case, never a situation where you're recording the victim of a homicide.

We've had witnesses that have died, but the most important part is that the defense has that opportunity to examine the witness and test their recollection. It makes it admissible at that point. Now, at the beginning, he was charged only with assault and aggravated arson. Listen to Hour Cut 3. where it happened at, there's an ATM right there. That ATM records all the time. When the detectives go pull the footage, we review the footage, we've all seen the footage, we know exactly what happened. So we saw exactly what happened. We saw you pour gasoline over the top of her head,

she stumbles to the ground, you lean over and light her on fire. We saw what happened. We know what happened. We know what happened. That's not the way it looks. So I'll just try to talk to my attorney then. That's not the way it looks. Now, that was Detective Chad Cohagen speaking to the defendant.

And we heard it as well on the documentary, The Fire That Took Her. Chuck O'Hagan is with us. Tell me about that ATM video. So the ATM video, we were hoping, we knew there was an ATM there. We were hoping that it would have caught some of what happened, if not the whole thing. I ended up catching the majority of the argument. And it caught Mike pouring gasoline on Judy. Judy obviously stumbling around and then falling to the ground um mike leaves the frame then for 30 seconds and 30 seconds later he comes over bends down and she erupts into flame

um once we saw that we we knew that Mike's, his initial story that, you know, his initial story was that she was pouring gas into his truck and poured some on her. He tried to light a cigarette for her. And then she went up in flames. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait. His story was what? So his initial story to our officers that arrived on scene, he told them she was pouring gas into my truck with a gas can, poured, got some gas on her. And then I went to light a cigarette for her and she erupted in flames.

So that was his initial story to our officers who arrived on scene. Once in the hospital, he changed his story to, yeah, I poured gasoline on her, but then we made up really quickly in that 30 seconds. And so I was going to be a gentleman and light a cigarette for her. And that's how she that's how she caught fire. The ATM video clearly showed that that's, you know, his story was was not adding up to what what our witnesses had seen. And then also what the atm video showed and i imagine he was hoping that she would die before she could tell police what really happened listen so this entire time you're asking for help uh but did you make up with him

in any way during these 30 seconds between him pouring gasoline on you and pulling out the lighter and setting you on fire no and uh did you at any time produce a cigarette and ask for a light no okay a matter of fact did you have any cigarettes on you no i firmly believe, now this testimony from Judy Malinowski was played at defendant's arraignment for murder and ultimately pleading guilty because of this testimony is played in open court. To you, Patricia Gillespie, why was it so important to you to tell this story and the fire that took her? First of all, I'm a domestic violence survivor myself. And when I found this story, I knew I needed to make the film because it was a story I had needed when I was going through my own struggles with this issue, in large part because what Judy did by testifying is she subverted this idea of the victim, right? A lot of times when we're attacked,

we become sort of a passive victim in our stories. But Judy, even from the lowest condition imaginable, didn't allow that to happen to herself. She became the hero she had needed. And I knew that was a voice a lot of other women would benefit from because I myself benefited from it. To Judy's mother, Bonnie Bowes, what is your message today on behalf of Judy? You are her voice now to other domestic violence victims. Judy's message was to turn from domestic violence victims that you can overcome and you can get away. And her main goal was to, as Judy put it, to quote her, to help just one woman. She said her suffering would not be in vain if she could help just one woman have the courage to turn and walk away and to get help. And that was truly Judy's message.

I can't help myself. I don't mean to break down. Sorry. I'm trying so hard to stay strong, but it's just so hard. It's so hard when he just isn't even remorseful for anything. Oh my gosh. My heart breaks. For those of you that need it or know someone who needs it, the Domestic Abuse Hotline, 1-800-799-7233. Goodbye, friend.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Goodbye, friend.