S8-E75 Mark Van Dongen (Acid Attack)

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome to Murderrific true crime podcast hostedand created by Bernadette from the state of
Maine. We have everything a truecrime connoisseur could ask for. Remember,
murder plus horrific equals Murderrific. I'mthe service, Will said us to the

(00:43):
emergency. Can you ask him what'shappened? I'm not sure what? Excuse
me, mate, excuse me?Hello, What's what's happen? Ecuse acid?
Oa acid phone? Never say yeah, Okay, bury me a second.
In two thousand and fifteen, MarkVan Doggen's father was brought to the
hospital in Bristol, England to seehis son. He looked in several rooms

(01:07):
and said, quote, there's beena mistake. My son isn't here.
Unte But he had seen his sonand he didn't recognize him because burns covered
twenty five percent of his son's bodyand face. Mark said, quote,
kill me now. If my faceis going to be left looking like this,
I don't want to live unquote.This is the story of Mark van

(01:30):
Doggen's acid attack. My guest todayis Rebecca. Hi, thanks for joining
me again. I'm excited to bespending time with you. Yeah, we're
here again to tell a horrible storyfrom England. I just want to tell
horrible stories with you. Okay,we'll start. When Mark met Berlina Wallace

(01:51):
in twenty ten, they were bothliving with HIV and met actually on a
dating website. Mark was in histwenties and Berlina was twenty years his senior,
twenty and forty. Berlina was originallyfrom South Africa and she had a
rough life. She was pregnant atfourteen, her boyfriend died and also her
first child. On top of that, she was gang raped at age twenty,

(02:12):
and she contracted HIV. Certainly notan easy life. When they met
online, Mark was living in theNetherlands and Berlina was living in Bristol.
Mark had been in a relationship witha woman that didn't work, and he
had recently gotten his HIV positive status. When the two met, he was
instantly drawn to the older woman,his dad even saying later, I had
the impression she was using him.I wasn't sure about it, and I

(02:35):
think Mark was more in love withher than the other way around. Berlina
was a fashion student at the time, and Mark had moved to the UK,
going to Bristol Academy and working asan engineer. In two and eleven,
the couple moved in together in Bristol. Mark was making good money and
lived at an upscale area. Thoughfrom the outside everything looked perfect, Brillina

(02:58):
had her flaws. He was overlyjealous, demanding, and emotionally abusive,
all despite the fact that Mark wasfinancially supporting her through school and with everything
else. Though Mark was a bigguy physically, he was six to five
and over two hundred pounds, soonBrillina moved over to physically abusing Mark.

(03:19):
In two thousand and eleven, duringan argument, Brillina threw boiling hot water
at Mark and he had to seekmedical treatment at the hospital. He lied
and said that he had dropped teaon himself. There were also times throughout
the five year relationship that Mark's friendssaw scratches on his face and body that
had been inflicted by his girlfriend,Berlina. One time, Brillina started a

(03:42):
fight because he bought coffee for work. Friends, Oh my god, if
you have to seek medical attention fora burn, that's a real burn.
Yeah, Like you have to goto the hospital to seek medical attention.
That's how much that she burned him. So he's in this relationship, they
lived together, he's financially supporting her, and he's being abused. Brillina would
also hit herself in the face andtell Mark. She would call the police

(04:03):
and tell them he had hit her. Yikes. That is major yikes,
especially for a man. That's nextlevel. Yeah. When Mark needed a
bit of freedom within the relationship,he joined a gym. Immediately, his
girlfriend accused him of cheating, anotherform of emotional abuse. This fight went
on for two weeks. Can't evenjoin a gym. It's like I gotta

(04:25):
get out of air, can't evendo anything to better himself. But these
are the signs we've seen in amillion episodes of coercive control, and it's
just the other way around. She'scontrolling him. In twenty thirteen, Berlina
told a counselor she was seeing thatanger was just a simple part of her
character. She had been physically violentand threatened and intimidated people. All of

(04:46):
this, Berlina admitted to herself.She soon became financially abusive, making Mark
give her most of his paycheck soshe could fund her family's requests of money
in South Africa. No Mark beganto confine to his friends that he was
afraid of Berlina. By the summerof twenty fifteen, he was finally ready
to leave her, even telling herhe would still financially support her, but

(05:09):
the relationship was over. He wantedout. You're still willing to give money
to your abuser. That's how muchyou're scared. That's how much you want
out. That is wild. InAugust of twenty fifteen, Mark met a
new woman named Violet. Mark wasnow twenty eight and Violet was forty six.
Mark moved out of the apartment withBerlina. Brillina turned up the abuse

(05:30):
now, as abusive people often dowhen the other person decides to leave.
She threatened to kill herself frequently.She also made fourteen phone calls to Mark's
new girlfriend. It would simply besilent on the phone, not saying anything,
in order to be intimidating or toscare the other woman. That's so
scary. Yeah. During the monthof August two and fifteen, Brilina told

(05:51):
Mark she had taken an overdose ofdrugs and he had to call paramedics to
her apartment. Now she's really usingcoercive control to get what she wants.
She wants him back. On thetwenty third of August, she started sending
Mark many abusive texts, saying hehad sex with children and that she would
tell everyone. He tried to calmher down, saying he would still help

(06:13):
or with money and he wanted tokeep the peace between them. Brillina also
had Mark's passport and wouldn't give itto him unless he would come and get
it. Wow, she's actually veryterrifying. Yeah, these measures are not
measures you read about very often.Yeah. Come September of twenty fifteen,
things are still escalating, as Markhad to call nine nine nine and tell

(06:34):
them that Berlina would not stop callinghis new girlfriend and she was harassing him
as well. The constable phone Berlinaand warned her verbally under the Protection of
Harassment Act. Again, this isn'tharassment, this is stalking, this is
abuse. Yeah. It was thissame day that Berlina, using Mark's credit
card no less, bought a oneleader bottle of sulfuric acid online from Amazon,

(06:58):
because what because what? What?How can you do that on Amazon?
I bet you can't anymore? Probablynot. Berlina took off the label
of the acid that she received andput it into a clear glass jar.
She also began researching chemical acid attacksonline. She was looking at photos of
acid attacks on people in counseling.Around this time, she told a psychiatrist

(07:19):
she wasn't coping with a breakup well, she was anxious and very angry.
She told the staff that she feltan adrenaline rush when someone said the wrong
thing to her, and she knewshe could destroy everything. She said she
was worried for Mark and his newgirlfriend, and she wasn't capable of controlling
her anger. Those quotes are soscary. Someone gets an adrenaline rush when

(07:40):
somebody like challenges them. That's whatshe's saying. I want somebody to fuck
with me. That's how crazy sheis. Yeah. On September twenty two,
twenty fifteen, Berlina threatened to killherself once again. Mark decided to
go to her house and just checkup on her, and he decided to
cook a meal with her. I'msure he was trying to like deescalate the
situation maker not upset, because that'swhat people do in those situations. But

(08:05):
also, anytime anyone says any threateningthing about themselves, just do a welfare
check because that'll be the real testif something's wrong, it's a police show
up and medic show up. They'llsee what the fox actually up. Yeah.
Mark slept there that night and hewas just in his boxer shorts in
bed. He's very vulnerable. Hewoke up briefly at two fifty am to

(08:26):
see Borlina standing above him, saying, if I can't have you, no
one will have you. She waslaughing, and then she threw the acid
into Mark's face and most of hisopera body. Brillina then went to sit
on the couch, calling a friendand not calling any emergency numbers for Mark.

(08:46):
Mark went screaming outside, and thenext door neighbor, Thomas, heard
someone crying and screaming, but atfirst he thought it was fox's fighting.
Wow, oh my god. Ifanyone's heard foxes, they sound otherworldly.
RELI, oh my god, it'slike a noise you can't even recognize.
It's so scary. He saw Marksaying help me. He saw a man

(09:07):
only in his underwear who appeared tobe in extreme agony and pain. The
neighbor said it looked like the manscreaming had paint thrown on him. Mark's
eyes were bloodshot, and it lookedlike his skin had been bleached. Nine
was called at two fifty seven am, and here is some of the audio.

(09:28):
Emergent, can you ask him,I'm not sure? Excuse me,
mate, excuse me, hello,What's what's happening? Faced? Never say
yeah, okay for me a second. The attack is still nearby? Who

(09:52):
is she's still here? Another neighbor, Dominic Woodland, heard the screaming two
and came out. This is likeat three in the morning when she did
this to him. They put Markin a shower because he was in so
much pain, and he said,quote, my ex did this unquote.
He also mentioned to not go bythe apartment that his ex girlfriend was in.

(10:16):
He was visibly terrified of her,so he wouldn't even go back into
his apartment. When the neighbors sawMark in the bathroom light, they could
see how awful his condition really was. And this next part's going to be
pretty graphic. We're going to talkabout Mark's issues. When the paramedics were
on the scene at three oh fiveam, which is pretty quick, Paramedic

(10:39):
Dean Carter saw chemical burnster Mark's face, chest, stomach, and thighs.
Mark's eyelids were burnt off, ohmy god, and his irises were dissolved.
Mark was frothing at the mouth withwhat looked like gray colored paint,
but in actuality it was Mark's facemelting. Oh my god, because when
you get acid on it continues toburn you. It doesn't just wash off

(11:03):
like it sinks in your skin basicallyand just keeps going. Yeah, oh
my god. As he was inthe ambulance, Mark kept screaming she did
this, and pointing to a tattooon his stomach that said Berlina. He's
conscious. Yeah, he's good,consciously melting, and he also wants them
to know who did this to him. Mark also told them to check on
his new girlfriend and he was afraidthat Berlina would attack her as well.

(11:28):
She probably knows where she is.Yeah. When Mark made it to the
decontamination room of Southmead Hospital in Bristol, he caught a glimpse of himself in
the mirror and said, kill menow. If my face is going to
be left looking like this, Idon't want to live. Ah. Yeah.
The burns up Mark received were ontwo thirds of his face and a

(11:48):
large portion of his upper chest andarms. And upper thigh. It covered
twenty five percent of Mark's body.The pain Mark experience was excruciating and also
NonStop. She stood a of himin bed. Yeah, she knew what
she was doing. So much hatredand scorn and evilness to put on his
face. Yeah, this isn't likea warning. This is You're going to

(12:09):
be fucked for the rest of yourlife. Right. It took ten days
for Mark's family to be contacted andget to the hospital. He was alone
in intensive care in unending pain.His brother and father, when they got
there, looked for Mark. Theywent in every room and looked at every
person in the beds. His father, Cornelius van Dongan, thought, well,

(12:30):
there's a mistake. Mark isn't here. But Mark had been in the
first room that his father had beenin, and he couldn't even recognize his
own son. During Mark's time infirst intensive care and then the burn unit,
he suffered intense pain, reoccurring chestinfections, night terrors, and post
traumatic stress disorder. Much of theskin on Mark's fates had to be surgically

(12:52):
removed. He lost sight in hisleft eye and one of his ears was
gone, and the sight in mostof his right eye was gone. He
spent four months in a coma andcould only breathe through a ventilator. His
lower leg was amputated because of noblood supply. He was on the strongest
of opiates, but it still wasn'tenough. Mark's liver function was altered,

(13:15):
his kidneys were injured, and hewas paralyzed from the neck down, and
he lost his ability to communicate.I know, Bernadette just said a lot,
and there is a lot. Helost his eye, he lost his
ear. He spent four months ina coma, and a lot of times
people are put in a coma justbecause they can't handle the pain if they're
conscious. Yep, that's how muchpain he was in. Could only breathe
through a ventilator, paralyzed and aleg amputated. Yeah, and then he

(13:39):
was on so much meds that hisorgans were injured and they weren't even marking.
Oh my god. In November oftwenty sixteen, he was moved to
a care home. His dad wasat his side twenty two hours a day,
scratching him, moving his arms becausehis son was in so much agony.
On one arm, all of Mark'smuscles were gone, the bone was

(14:01):
still being eaten a way due tothe acid. Every weekend, his dad
would travel eight hundred miles to bewith his son, sleeping in the hospital
car park in a van, sometimesbelow zero. I don't have a child.
What I'm thinking of a parent anda child in that situation, Yeah,
the parent would do anything. Hewas sleeping in his car in the
cold. He lived eight hundred milesaway. But of course you're going to

(14:24):
come. Your son is suffering.The father's marriage crumbled and he went through
bankruptcy. A friend of the familypaid for Mark to be transferred to Belgium,
where his dad could be with himall the time. This is quite
a journey for Mark. After thishappened, once finally at home, after
relearning how to talk with just histongue in pointing at letters, Mark applied

(14:46):
for euthanasia. Three doctors ruled thatMark's quote unbearable physical and psychological suffering unquote,
meant that he would be eligible todie. Mark said, quote,
my life has come to nothing andthere is nothing left unquote. On June
two, twenty seventeen, Mark wasallowed to die with a catheter put into

(15:09):
his heart to give him drugs thatwould stop his unbearable suffering, Mark was
finally at peace after months of agony. He was only twenty nine years old.
Now back to Berlina. The sameday Mark went to the hospital from
the acid attack, she was arrestedand she was charged with throwing a corrosive
substance with intent. She was interviewedby police where she tried to blame Mark

(15:31):
for all of this. Here isBerlina in her own words during her interrogation.
Yeah, he did, you know, because he said to meet was
water. He I've got water foryou, you know, like you come
and take your vacation and go tobed. He wanted me to bend my
insights? Can you minding? Borlinasaid that she thought the jug was water

(15:54):
and that Mark asked to drink it, and then Berlina says, can you
imagine? This is the account thatshe's stuck with throughout her trial, also
saying that Mark was the abuser intheir relationship, even though this was one
hundred percent lies. The day afterMark died by euthanasia February third, two
thousand and seventeen, Wallace was alsocharged with the murder of Mark van Dongen.

(16:18):
November eighth, twenty seventeen, MissWallace's trial begins. Her legal team
makes an application of no case forthe murder charges, as Mark chose euthanasia,
there was no murder. Oh,this is directly her fault. This
is her fault. Late November,the first jury is dismissed. Miss Wallace's

(16:40):
murder charges remain. April eighteenth,twenty eighteen, a second jury is selected
to try the case at Bristol CrownCourt. Two days later, the second
jury is dismissed April twenty third adoover with a third jury. The trial
lasted close to a month. Thejury saw the searches on Wallace's computer for

(17:00):
the acid attacks. The prosecution askedwhat was so interesting about pictures of people
who had acid thrown in their face. Berlina said, just curiosity. Jurors
also heard of Berlina's violent history andabuse with Mark. She also said that
she thought she was throwing water onMark, not acid, and he actually
wanted to hurt her because she hadsaid nasty things to him. She said

(17:25):
what happened to Mark was bad luck. But her defense isn't doing a very
good job. There's nothing to defend. How do you defend? Right?
Of course, the jurors saw thegraphic photos of what happened to Mark,
the acid that Wallace had bought,the sheets being mounted at the scene.
Wallace showed no emotion except for herself. At the trial. Before Mark died,

(17:47):
he recorded a message blaming Berlina completelyfor his trip to the suicide clinic.
He addressed her saying, quote,I hope you can see the way
I look now this is because ofyou. I will be a thing upon
your conscience for now and ever.You stood at the end of my bed
and you said if I can't haveyou, no one will. And then

(18:07):
you laughed, you evil woman.You laughed, and you threw acid over
me unquote. On May seventeenth,twenty eighteen, the jury finds Wallace guilty
of throwing a corrosive substance with intent, but not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Mark's father, Cornelius, spoke toreporters after the verdict. This isn't
in English, It's actually in Dutch. I'm going to put in the audio

(18:30):
because you can hear the anguish ofthis father who saw his son suffer so
much. And the video is justhaunting myriads. Hell's a fine and panicking
it the Rabinet at Alamalta ville atGurdi's possess Razamuliki, an emotion emotional evving

(18:55):
ebnzierlelt in the offlook from the zakas I Alima relasions in daisy zach a
coup that make univers invaded. AndI'll tell you what he said now he
said quote. Mark was so braveand confronted with the hellish pain and disabilities
inflicted upon him, but eventually itall became too much for him to bear.

(19:17):
The court process has been a difficultand emotional experience. I am very
disappointed in the outcome of this trial. There are only losers in this case,
and I hope that Mark can nowrest in peace. Unquote. As
Cornelius speaks, his hands are shakingand he is crying. He looks like
a broken man. Burlina Wallace receiveda sentence of life with a minimum term

(19:41):
of twelve years. Life should meanlife. It should mean life. Credit
was given for the nine hundred andseventy two days she had already served,
So what is that two and ahalf years or something. The twelve years
is not the actual term she willserve, but the minimum time she will
before she will come up for parole. The time she will serve will most

(20:04):
likely be much longer, hopefully butstill as a family to hear they might
get out at this time. Yeah, she will only be released on parole
if the board thinks she is nolonger a threat to the public. There's
no way that they're not going tokeep her in there. I don't know.
The trial judge, Missus Justice NicolaDavies called the attack sadistic, callous,

(20:26):
malicious, and premeditated. She saidto miss Wallace, your intention was
to burn, disfigure and disable Markso he would not be attractive to any
other woman. It is an actof pure evil. I do sentence you
for the harm which you inflicted,the catastrophic and life changing injuries fifteen months
of acute physical and psychological suffering Markendured after the attack. Members of the

(20:52):
public must acquire a license to buy, possess, or use sulfuric acid.
You can't simply buy on Amazon asBurlina did online. Okay, that's the
end of the story. Thoughts,she didn't even get attempted murder I know,
But what she attempting to murder him? Or was she attempting to like
the judge said, I'm just goingto ruin you. What's worse murdering someone

(21:15):
or making it so that their lifeis terrible. That's worse for months and
months and months and months. Andthen he had to die because he couldn't
stand it anymore. And I alsothink probably with her research of sulfuric acid,
she found that people might not die. Oh think about that. Oh
I can't. And then I reallythink about the father because he had to

(21:37):
see that, and he had totry to help his son, and then
he had to help his son commitsuicide. And I just can't imagine what
that's like. That's just next level. And I don't know how you get
through something like that. Even ifyou could get through something like that,
you would never be the same psychologically. You're ruined. It makes me think
of that expression quote you're only ashappy as your least happy child unquote.

(22:00):
If you ever heard that, So, yeah, and I believe that's true
as a parent. And this isprobably top five one of the worst stories
we've covered. I was gonna saytop five. Thanks for listening, everybody,
Bye bye. You've reached the endof another murderiffic true crime podcast.

(22:21):
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(22:42):
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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}S8-E75 Mark Van Dongen (Acid Attack)