March 23, 2025 • 20 mins
This episode honors the life and legacy of Judy Malinowski, a courageous woman whose voice transcended unimaginable pain to ignite change. After surviving a horrific act of domestic violence that left her with life-threatening burns, on June 2, 2015 by her estranged boyfriend, Michael Slager, Judy became a beacon of resilience, fighting for justice until her final moments. Her groundbreaking 3- hour testimony from her hospital bed led to the conviction of her attacker and inspired legislative reform through “Judy’s Law.” . This is the story of a life that turned tragedy into triumph, reminding us all of the strength of the human spirit.SourcesDocumentary- The Fire That Took HerLaw & Crime (2018)NBC (2017) Business Insider (2023)
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Dark
Deets podcast. Today, I'm bringing you the haunting, heart wrenching
tale of Judy Malinowski, a mother, a daughter, a survivor,
and ultimately.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
A voice for justice.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is a story of unimaginable cruelty, but it's also
about resilience and the pursuit of change, a victim who
became an advocate, and a tragedy that became a movement.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I actually followed her.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
On social media during the time that she had spent
in the hospital telling her story, and in that time
I had felt like I had gotten to know her,
even though I had never spoke to her, and I
do remember the day that she had passed away. I
actually was very, very devastated by it, and so I'm
not sure why it took me the long to do
(00:46):
this case. I think because it bothers me so bad.
But we're going to dive into the details of Judy's story.
I'm going to place some warning here because this episode
does deal with themes of domestic violence, assault, and ourson,
so listener discretion is advised. Judy was born on August
(01:35):
twenty sixth, nineteen eighty three, in Columbus, Ohio, to parents
Thomas Henkel and Bonnie bows. Judy was the first born
of three children. She had a brother, Patrick Bowse and
sister Danielle. Her father, Thomas passed away, and she then
had a stepfather, David Gorman, and stepsiblings Nicholas Joseph and
Mark Bose. Judy graduated from New Albany High School in
(01:55):
two thousand and one. She was involved in social community
activities and was crown Miss Albanie and the homecoming.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Queen at her school.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
She attended Ohio State University. She had always told her
mother she wanted a simple life, to be a school teacher,
have a husband that loved her, and two children. She
did eventually have two children, Caitlin and Madison. However, the
father of her children and her had issues in terms
of him being unfaithful and things of that nature, so
(02:22):
they had no longer been together.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Judy was a survivor of avarian cancer twice.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
The cancer had returned in two thousand and six and
when she underwent a full hysterectomy and during her recovery.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
She became addicted to pain medication.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
When she lost her medical insurance, her addiction became a
heroin addiction. When she was an active addiction, she could
not take care of her children as she needed, so
she let her mother take Caylen, and her.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Sister helped with Madison.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
She said she felt her daughters would have been better
off without her, and that she was come And this
is not something I have stated about her. This is
something she stated about herself in the documentary when she
was discussing what it was like to be an addiction
and to not be able to be there as much
as she needed for her children. Judy later got sober
at Parkside Rehab. She was attending meetings four to five
(03:11):
times a week and was on the right track to
take care of her daughters again. However, Mike Slager sent
her a message on Facebook on April seventeenth, twenty fifteen,
telling her she was beautiful. He would dote on her,
tell her nice things about herself, tell her he loved her.
That relationship became official, according to Facebook on May ninth,
twenty fifteen. Mike would tell Bonnie that's Judy's mother, not
(03:36):
to judge him based.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
On his looks and his tattoos.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So Mike was a very rough looking guy, you know,
rough around the edges. He had a lot of tattoos,
bigger guy. He just looked looked rough, And of course,
Bonnie kind of states in the documentary, you know that
Jesus and God would not want her to judge this
(03:59):
man based on his looks, So she kind of tried
to give him a chance, but she didn't feel comfortable
with Judy being with him. She just felt that the
relationship wasn't right for her. And what Judy and her
mother did not know was that Mike had an extensive
list of criminal charges, including rape and domestic violence. He
was even a registered sex offender.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
At one point.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Mike got Judy addicted to drugs once again, but he
himself did not do them. He would purchase them for
her and take them to her. He would try to
turn Bonnie against Judy by telling her she was on
drugs again and stand out at night.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Bonnie would give Mike money to.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Pay bills because she felt bad for him, but he
was buying Judy drugs with this money instead. So Mike
would call Bonnie and tell her, you know, Judy's out
on drugs again. She's not home, she's spending our money.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
We don't have money for bills like the water bill.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
And so Bonnie, would you give him money to help
them pay their bills, But little did she know they weren't.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Paying the bills.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
He was buying drugs. Due to her drug use, Mike
had complete control over her. Police were called to their
home around thirty eight times, but most of the calls
were from Mike.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This is one of the other ways that Mike would
control her.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
He would call the police and kind of use law
enforcement to control her. The first call consisted of Mike
stating that Judy stole his car and he did not
want to press charges. He called the next day to
report her missing. She would hide in hotels and things
to keep away from Mike. She would text her mom
and family and say to get Mike out of their
home so she could go back home. Bonnie tried to
get Judy out of their relationship many many times. She
(05:34):
even texted Mike and said leave her alone, or I
will make sure.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You leave her alone.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
But Judy never left Mike, and this is probably due
to the control he had over her and the addiction.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Because he was her provider of drugs and she was
afraid of him. He was very abusive.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
She had marks on her face at one point her
family had noticed. She even called her sister whenever she
was choked by Mike at one point. So this relationship
was very toxic, very chaotic, and everyone tried to get
her out of it. But when Judy tried to end
things with Mike, he had refused to accept it. So
they were estranged at this point. And it was the
(06:18):
evening of August two, twenty fifteen, when Judy Melanowski's life
changed forever. Mike told Judy he was going to take
her to rehab, and I guess this one. Judy was
kind of excited about it. She was going to get
clean again and be done with the drugs. So Mike
told her, you know, I called a rehab.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
They have a bed for you. I'm going to take you.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And they stopped at a gas station on their way
to rehab in Gehanna, Ohio, when Mike Slager approached her
during an argument, so she threw a soda on him,
or at him, a soda in a cup, and he
got extremely angry over this. And what happened next is
just almost too horrifying to imagine. He dowsed hering gasoline
(07:02):
and set.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Her on fire in an active rage.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Judy speaks of remembering that she had through the soda.
He got angry, and he went over to his truck,
grabbed these two gas cans out of the truck and
started dumping gasoline over her head.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It went down her whole body. It got in her.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Throat and it was burning her throat, and then he
bent down and lit her on fire. Witness to say
the flames engulfed her within seconds and Judy could be
heard screaming throughout the area.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
The horror was.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Caught on surveillance cameras from a nearby atm an unshakable
reminder of.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
The cruelty that Judy had to endure.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Judy was rushed to the hospital with third and fourth
degree burns covering over ninety to ninety five percent of
her body. Doctors gave her slim chances of survival, but
Judy's story.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Did not end there.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It was just the beginning of her fight for justice.
Judy's mother recalls speaking with Judy twenty minutes before the
attack from Michael, and then all of a sudden, she
had received a call from a hospital saying that Judy
had been hurt and needed to be placed on life support.
Bonnie rushed to the hospital and found Michael in his
hospital room, as he sustained minor burns at the time
(08:15):
as well. She spoke to him in his room and
he kept claiming it was an accident. He told police
he went to light a cigarette for her and it
caught her on fire. Police knew this was not the case,
as she was severely burnt, suffering the third and fourth
of grape burns on most of her body.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
She was given a.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Mortality rate of one hundred and ten percent, which means
she should not have survived passed a few days, maybe.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
A few hours.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So the mortality rate is obviously the chance of her
passing away, and that was one hundred and ten percent.
It discussed this in the documentary The Fire that took Her.
And the issue with this is, even if Mike did
lean down to light a cigarette for her, which I
absolutely do not believe he did, why was she covered
(09:01):
in gasoline?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Why did he dump gas on her?
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You don't really dump gas on somebody like that unless
you plan on burning them, So the police obviously did
not believe his story. To understand the crime, we must
also understand the broken systems that failed Judy. Domestic violence
is often a pattern in escalating abuse, and in this case,
it ended in an unspeakable act of violence. Bonnie says
(09:26):
no one would listen to Judy about Mike because she
was on drugs and had prior drug charges. Mike would
tell the police he did not abuse duty and that
she was just high when saying those things, So this
is something that frequently occurs. I feel like if someone
is struggling mentally, struggling with substance drug abuse, that people
(09:47):
don't take them seriously, especially law enforcement. But Mike had
an extensive, extensive record, especially for domestic violence, So I
feel like that is probably the saddest part of this
ca is that just because she was struggling does not
mean that she did not need help when it came
to the abuse and needed help getting out of there.
(10:09):
And I know that her self esteem was very low
at the time. But I always tell everyone this, no
matter the situation, no matter how bad you think you are,
no matter how worthless you think you are, you do
not deserve to be abused.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
You do not deserve what happens to you.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Judy's family was told that the most time that Mike
could receive was eleven years plus two and that was
for the charges aggravated arson and felonious assault, and that
was the absolute maximum he would receive if Judy survived.
And the family was devastated by this news because even
though Judy had been alive at the time, her life
(10:49):
was completely changed. She spent every day in the hospital
laying in excruciating pain, fighting for her life. And that
doesn't even explore, you know, her her feelings about herself
at the time.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
She was disfigured for the rest of her life.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And so while there was a physical toll in terms
of the pain and everything, there was also a mental
toll on you know, her looks and how she.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Had come out of the fire. She dealt with mental trauma.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
As well as physical and eleven years was just not
enough for you know, what he had done to her.
After the attack, Judy spent nearly two years in the
hospital fighting for her life. She underwent over fifty surgeries
and her unimaginable pain, and at one point she had
to have her arm amputated and due to it being
(11:46):
burnt to the bone. Yet even in this state, Judy's
resolved never wavered. Judy stated in the documentary The Fire
That Took Her that she thought she was going to
die and began praying to God to forgive her her
sins as.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
She was burning.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
She doesn't remember anything after this except later waking up
in the hospital. While that ridden, she chose to share
her story and recorded a video testimony that would later
be used in court.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Judy, tell me how that moment felt when you were ignited.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
So horrible.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I don't think words can describe what it feels like
to have your cool body's sound fired. I can't remember
buyer out of my face and eyes.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
I can remember straining from help. I can remember looking.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Over and seeing just standing there staring at me with
the look in the space that was just.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Like I can staying over.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
And over again, pur evil, like there's no other words
to subscribe it. My whole body.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That like.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
The worst word you could.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Ever feel in your life. Okay, And it's and it
was like a thousand meles binging, a thousand hot meals
penetrating my body.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I guess that's the best way I can explain it.
And I just remembered, like I said, begging and set help,
pleading for any.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Help, trying to get the fire off my face, eventually
burying my face and the grass and walking.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Around, and then I got to the point where I
couldn't see anything, and everybody's voices were telling far away.
I could tell there was something somebody around. I said,
here or they go out. I thought for sure. I
was saying, I just read to Jesus to please forgive
(13:55):
me for my sins and to take care of my children,
and that I liked.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Gray and.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Her mother, Bonnie Bow's, remained by her side throughout her fight.
In interviews, Bonnie described Judy as a warrior, as someone
who turned her pain into a purpose. Judy's medical bills
had been into the millions at this point, and her
mother filed for victim's assistance.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
She was denied because.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
In Ohio, if any legal substances are found in your system,
you are not considered to be a victim. That is
another disgusting legislation that needs to change, because, like I
had said earlier, whether you're struggling with drug addiction mental
health issues, you can still.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Be a victim. You still are a victim.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And I just don't believe that just because she had
a legal substances in her system that you know she
shouldn't have had help. In court, Mike's defense was that
he was trying to light her cigarette and accidentally caught
her on fire. His lawyer claimed that Mike would not
have grabbed a fire linguisher and put her out if
he had been trying to light her on fire. This
(15:04):
is something that I have not heard in the entire
case other than one time by his lawyer. So in
the ATM video, while she's little on fire, you see
her kind of flailing around trying to put herself out
at first, and then she exits the frame of the video.
But Mike has never seen grabbing an extinguished her or
anything of that nature. The only person I've ever heard
(15:27):
say that he did put her out or did grab.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
A fire extinguisher was his lawyer, and that is talked
about in the documentary.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Mike decided to enterply of no contest because they wanted
to keep Judy's testimony out of trial. His lawyer stated
that if the jury saw and heard Juty that they
would absolutely hate him and he would for sure lose
the case because if he entered no contest, he would
not actually have an official trial where you know, Judy
(15:57):
would be able to testify. Family members would be able
to testify. Mike Slider initially pleaded no contests to the
aggravated arson, and he was sent to eleven years in prison.
Even the judge presiding over the case, Judge Lynch, looked
at prosecutors and told them she blames legislators. She was
saddened she was not able to give Mike more time
(16:18):
in prison. But judy story didn't just send in the
court room. It became a rallying cry of for change.
Judy's bravery and sharing her story inspired legislative action in Ohio.
Judy's Law was passed, eventually imposing harsher penalties for crimes
involving permanent disfigurement through acts like Arson. Her legacy has
helped shape a future where probetrators face greater accountability and
(16:40):
victims are given a louder voice. It's a better sweet victory,
one that Judy herself fought for from her hospital bed,
but the question remains how many others face similar battles
in silence. Judy's Law would not apply to Judy's case,
but many believed she was staying alive to fight and
see her wall passed. Judy was able to testify, but
in order to do so, she had to come off
of all her pain medication, which for a burn.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Victim is absolute torture.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Even on constant pain medication, burn victims remain in excruciating
constant pain. Her three hour testimony proved to be groundbreaking.
She made a history as one of the first murder
victims to testify at her own trial posthumously, she passed
away almost five months after recording her testimony in the
event that it would be used in trial, her words
(17:25):
were direct, unflinching, and powerful, laying bare the cruel tea
she endured and the choices Slagger made that night. So
what happened was her lawyers and the DA had fought
for her to be able to testify in trial and
to record her testimony from her hospital bed, especially in
(17:49):
the event that she had passed away, So her testimony
was three hours long, it was recorded, and then about
five months later she had passed away. In June of
two thousand seventeen, the charges escalated to murder, and Judy's
recorded testimony played a central role in securing Mike's conviction.
In twenty eighteen, Mike Slider was sent to life in
(18:10):
prison without the possibility of parole, and at this time
Mike had stated to Judy's family that he would plead
guilty and he would, you know, accept the murder charges
if the death Ponoty was taken off the table, and
that eventually happened and judy testimony was able to be
(18:31):
played in court. Justice was served, but the emotional toll
on Judy's family and community was immeasurable. Judy's Law was
finally passed in twenty seventeen, allowing for perpetrators to have
harsher sentences if they commit violent acts that cause disfigurement
on their victims. Judy's story forces us to confront uncomfortable
(18:53):
truths about domestic violence, the systems meant to protect survivors,
and the deep scars left by.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Such violence, physical and emotional.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's a story of darkness, yes, but also light that
refused to be extinguished. If Judy could leave us with
one lesson, it's this, your voice matters, no matter the pain,
no matter the odds.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Her courage has undoubtedly saved lives and will continue to
do so.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
If you are someone you know is suffering from domestic violence,
you can contact the National domestic violence hotline at seventy
ninety nine safe that concludes this episode.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Thank you for joining us on this difficult but vital journey.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Judy Melanowski's story is one we will not forget.
Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Dark
Deets podcast. Today, I'm bringing you the haunting, heart wrenching
tale of Judy Malinowski, a mother, a daughter, a survivor,
and ultimately.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
A voice for justice.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is a story of unimaginable cruelty, but it's also
about resilience and the pursuit of change, a victim who
became an advocate, and a tragedy that became a movement.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I actually followed her.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
On social media during the time that she had spent
in the hospital telling her story, and in that time
I had felt like I had gotten to know her,
even though I had never spoke to her, and I
do remember the day that she had passed away. I
actually was very, very devastated by it, and so I'm
not sure why it took me the long to do
(00:46):
this case. I think because it bothers me so bad.
But we're going to dive into the details of Judy's story.
I'm going to place some warning here because this episode
does deal with themes of domestic violence, assault, and ourson,
so listener discretion is advised. Judy was born on August
(01:35):
twenty sixth, nineteen eighty three, in Columbus, Ohio, to parents
Thomas Henkel and Bonnie bows. Judy was the first born
of three children. She had a brother, Patrick Bowse and
sister Danielle. Her father, Thomas passed away, and she then
had a stepfather, David Gorman, and stepsiblings Nicholas Joseph and
Mark Bose. Judy graduated from New Albany High School in
(01:55):
two thousand and one. She was involved in social community
activities and was crown Miss Albanie and the homecoming.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Queen at her school.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
She attended Ohio State University. She had always told her
mother she wanted a simple life, to be a school teacher,
have a husband that loved her, and two children. She
did eventually have two children, Caitlin and Madison. However, the
father of her children and her had issues in terms
of him being unfaithful and things of that nature, so
(02:22):
they had no longer been together.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Judy was a survivor of avarian cancer twice.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
The cancer had returned in two thousand and six and
when she underwent a full hysterectomy and during her recovery.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
She became addicted to pain medication.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
When she lost her medical insurance, her addiction became a
heroin addiction. When she was an active addiction, she could
not take care of her children as she needed, so
she let her mother take Caylen, and her.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Sister helped with Madison.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
She said she felt her daughters would have been better
off without her, and that she was come And this
is not something I have stated about her. This is
something she stated about herself in the documentary when she
was discussing what it was like to be an addiction
and to not be able to be there as much
as she needed for her children. Judy later got sober
at Parkside Rehab. She was attending meetings four to five
(03:11):
times a week and was on the right track to
take care of her daughters again. However, Mike Slager sent
her a message on Facebook on April seventeenth, twenty fifteen,
telling her she was beautiful. He would dote on her,
tell her nice things about herself, tell her he loved her.
That relationship became official, according to Facebook on May ninth,
twenty fifteen. Mike would tell Bonnie that's Judy's mother, not
(03:36):
to judge him based.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
On his looks and his tattoos.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So Mike was a very rough looking guy, you know,
rough around the edges. He had a lot of tattoos,
bigger guy. He just looked looked rough, And of course,
Bonnie kind of states in the documentary, you know that
Jesus and God would not want her to judge this
(03:59):
man based on his looks, So she kind of tried
to give him a chance, but she didn't feel comfortable
with Judy being with him. She just felt that the
relationship wasn't right for her. And what Judy and her
mother did not know was that Mike had an extensive
list of criminal charges, including rape and domestic violence. He
was even a registered sex offender.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
At one point.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Mike got Judy addicted to drugs once again, but he
himself did not do them. He would purchase them for
her and take them to her. He would try to
turn Bonnie against Judy by telling her she was on
drugs again and stand out at night.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Bonnie would give Mike money to.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Pay bills because she felt bad for him, but he
was buying Judy drugs with this money instead. So Mike
would call Bonnie and tell her, you know, Judy's out
on drugs again. She's not home, she's spending our money.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
We don't have money for bills like the water bill.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
And so Bonnie, would you give him money to help
them pay their bills, But little did she know they weren't.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Paying the bills.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
He was buying drugs. Due to her drug use, Mike
had complete control over her. Police were called to their
home around thirty eight times, but most of the calls
were from Mike.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
This is one of the other ways that Mike would
control her.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
He would call the police and kind of use law
enforcement to control her. The first call consisted of Mike
stating that Judy stole his car and he did not
want to press charges. He called the next day to
report her missing. She would hide in hotels and things
to keep away from Mike. She would text her mom
and family and say to get Mike out of their
home so she could go back home. Bonnie tried to
get Judy out of their relationship many many times. She
(05:34):
even texted Mike and said leave her alone, or I
will make sure.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You leave her alone.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
But Judy never left Mike, and this is probably due
to the control he had over her and the addiction.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Because he was her provider of drugs and she was
afraid of him. He was very abusive.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
She had marks on her face at one point her
family had noticed. She even called her sister whenever she
was choked by Mike at one point. So this relationship
was very toxic, very chaotic, and everyone tried to get
her out of it. But when Judy tried to end
things with Mike, he had refused to accept it. So
they were estranged at this point. And it was the
(06:18):
evening of August two, twenty fifteen, when Judy Melanowski's life
changed forever. Mike told Judy he was going to take
her to rehab, and I guess this one. Judy was
kind of excited about it. She was going to get
clean again and be done with the drugs. So Mike
told her, you know, I called a rehab.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
They have a bed for you. I'm going to take you.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And they stopped at a gas station on their way
to rehab in Gehanna, Ohio, when Mike Slager approached her
during an argument, so she threw a soda on him,
or at him, a soda in a cup, and he
got extremely angry over this. And what happened next is
just almost too horrifying to imagine. He dowsed hering gasoline
(07:02):
and set.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Her on fire in an active rage.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Judy speaks of remembering that she had through the soda.
He got angry, and he went over to his truck,
grabbed these two gas cans out of the truck and
started dumping gasoline over her head.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It went down her whole body. It got in her.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Throat and it was burning her throat, and then he
bent down and lit her on fire. Witness to say
the flames engulfed her within seconds and Judy could be
heard screaming throughout the area.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
The horror was.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Caught on surveillance cameras from a nearby atm an unshakable
reminder of.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
The cruelty that Judy had to endure.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Judy was rushed to the hospital with third and fourth
degree burns covering over ninety to ninety five percent of
her body. Doctors gave her slim chances of survival, but
Judy's story.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Did not end there.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It was just the beginning of her fight for justice.
Judy's mother recalls speaking with Judy twenty minutes before the
attack from Michael, and then all of a sudden, she
had received a call from a hospital saying that Judy
had been hurt and needed to be placed on life support.
Bonnie rushed to the hospital and found Michael in his
hospital room, as he sustained minor burns at the time
(08:15):
as well. She spoke to him in his room and
he kept claiming it was an accident. He told police
he went to light a cigarette for her and it
caught her on fire. Police knew this was not the case,
as she was severely burnt, suffering the third and fourth
of grape burns on most of her body.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
She was given a.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Mortality rate of one hundred and ten percent, which means
she should not have survived passed a few days, maybe.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
A few hours.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So the mortality rate is obviously the chance of her
passing away, and that was one hundred and ten percent.
It discussed this in the documentary The Fire that took Her.
And the issue with this is, even if Mike did
lean down to light a cigarette for her, which I
absolutely do not believe he did, why was she covered
(09:01):
in gasoline?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Why did he dump gas on her?
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You don't really dump gas on somebody like that unless
you plan on burning them, So the police obviously did
not believe his story. To understand the crime, we must
also understand the broken systems that failed Judy. Domestic violence
is often a pattern in escalating abuse, and in this case,
it ended in an unspeakable act of violence. Bonnie says
(09:26):
no one would listen to Judy about Mike because she
was on drugs and had prior drug charges. Mike would
tell the police he did not abuse duty and that
she was just high when saying those things, So this
is something that frequently occurs. I feel like if someone
is struggling mentally, struggling with substance drug abuse, that people
(09:47):
don't take them seriously, especially law enforcement. But Mike had
an extensive, extensive record, especially for domestic violence, So I
feel like that is probably the saddest part of this
ca is that just because she was struggling does not
mean that she did not need help when it came
to the abuse and needed help getting out of there.
(10:09):
And I know that her self esteem was very low
at the time. But I always tell everyone this, no
matter the situation, no matter how bad you think you are,
no matter how worthless you think you are, you do
not deserve to be abused.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
You do not deserve what happens to you.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Judy's family was told that the most time that Mike
could receive was eleven years plus two and that was
for the charges aggravated arson and felonious assault, and that
was the absolute maximum he would receive if Judy survived.
And the family was devastated by this news because even
though Judy had been alive at the time, her life
(10:49):
was completely changed. She spent every day in the hospital
laying in excruciating pain, fighting for her life. And that
doesn't even explore, you know, her her feelings about herself
at the time.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
She was disfigured for the rest of her life.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And so while there was a physical toll in terms
of the pain and everything, there was also a mental
toll on you know, her looks and how she.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Had come out of the fire. She dealt with mental trauma.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
As well as physical and eleven years was just not
enough for you know, what he had done to her.
After the attack, Judy spent nearly two years in the
hospital fighting for her life. She underwent over fifty surgeries
and her unimaginable pain, and at one point she had
to have her arm amputated and due to it being
(11:46):
burnt to the bone. Yet even in this state, Judy's
resolved never wavered. Judy stated in the documentary The Fire
That Took Her that she thought she was going to
die and began praying to God to forgive her her
sins as.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
She was burning.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
She doesn't remember anything after this except later waking up
in the hospital. While that ridden, she chose to share
her story and recorded a video testimony that would later
be used in court.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Judy, tell me how that moment felt when you were ignited.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
So horrible.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I don't think words can describe what it feels like
to have your cool body's sound fired. I can't remember
buyer out of my face and eyes.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
I can remember straining from help. I can remember looking.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Over and seeing just standing there staring at me with
the look in the space that was just.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Like I can staying over.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
And over again, pur evil, like there's no other words
to subscribe it. My whole body.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That like.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
The worst word you could.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Ever feel in your life. Okay, And it's and it
was like a thousand meles binging, a thousand hot meals
penetrating my body.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I guess that's the best way I can explain it.
And I just remembered, like I said, begging and set help,
pleading for any.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Help, trying to get the fire off my face, eventually
burying my face and the grass and walking.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Around, and then I got to the point where I
couldn't see anything, and everybody's voices were telling far away.
I could tell there was something somebody around. I said,
here or they go out. I thought for sure. I
was saying, I just read to Jesus to please forgive
(13:55):
me for my sins and to take care of my children,
and that I liked.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Gray and.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Her mother, Bonnie Bow's, remained by her side throughout her fight.
In interviews, Bonnie described Judy as a warrior, as someone
who turned her pain into a purpose. Judy's medical bills
had been into the millions at this point, and her
mother filed for victim's assistance.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
She was denied because.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
In Ohio, if any legal substances are found in your system,
you are not considered to be a victim. That is
another disgusting legislation that needs to change, because, like I
had said earlier, whether you're struggling with drug addiction mental
health issues, you can still.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Be a victim. You still are a victim.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And I just don't believe that just because she had
a legal substances in her system that you know she
shouldn't have had help. In court, Mike's defense was that
he was trying to light her cigarette and accidentally caught
her on fire. His lawyer claimed that Mike would not
have grabbed a fire linguisher and put her out if
he had been trying to light her on fire. This
(15:04):
is something that I have not heard in the entire
case other than one time by his lawyer. So in
the ATM video, while she's little on fire, you see
her kind of flailing around trying to put herself out
at first, and then she exits the frame of the video.
But Mike has never seen grabbing an extinguished her or
anything of that nature. The only person I've ever heard
(15:27):
say that he did put her out or did grab.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
A fire extinguisher was his lawyer, and that is talked
about in the documentary.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Mike decided to enterply of no contest because they wanted
to keep Judy's testimony out of trial. His lawyer stated
that if the jury saw and heard Juty that they
would absolutely hate him and he would for sure lose
the case because if he entered no contest, he would
not actually have an official trial where you know, Judy
(15:57):
would be able to testify. Family members would be able
to testify. Mike Slider initially pleaded no contests to the
aggravated arson, and he was sent to eleven years in prison.
Even the judge presiding over the case, Judge Lynch, looked
at prosecutors and told them she blames legislators. She was
saddened she was not able to give Mike more time
(16:18):
in prison. But judy story didn't just send in the
court room. It became a rallying cry of for change.
Judy's bravery and sharing her story inspired legislative action in Ohio.
Judy's Law was passed, eventually imposing harsher penalties for crimes
involving permanent disfigurement through acts like Arson. Her legacy has
helped shape a future where probetrators face greater accountability and
(16:40):
victims are given a louder voice. It's a better sweet victory,
one that Judy herself fought for from her hospital bed,
but the question remains how many others face similar battles
in silence. Judy's Law would not apply to Judy's case,
but many believed she was staying alive to fight and
see her wall passed. Judy was able to testify, but
in order to do so, she had to come off
of all her pain medication, which for a burn.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Victim is absolute torture.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Even on constant pain medication, burn victims remain in excruciating
constant pain. Her three hour testimony proved to be groundbreaking.
She made a history as one of the first murder
victims to testify at her own trial posthumously, she passed
away almost five months after recording her testimony in the
event that it would be used in trial, her words
(17:25):
were direct, unflinching, and powerful, laying bare the cruel tea
she endured and the choices Slagger made that night. So
what happened was her lawyers and the DA had fought
for her to be able to testify in trial and
to record her testimony from her hospital bed, especially in
(17:49):
the event that she had passed away, So her testimony
was three hours long, it was recorded, and then about
five months later she had passed away. In June of
two thousand seventeen, the charges escalated to murder, and Judy's
recorded testimony played a central role in securing Mike's conviction.
In twenty eighteen, Mike Slider was sent to life in
(18:10):
prison without the possibility of parole, and at this time
Mike had stated to Judy's family that he would plead
guilty and he would, you know, accept the murder charges
if the death Ponoty was taken off the table, and
that eventually happened and judy testimony was able to be
(18:31):
played in court. Justice was served, but the emotional toll
on Judy's family and community was immeasurable. Judy's Law was
finally passed in twenty seventeen, allowing for perpetrators to have
harsher sentences if they commit violent acts that cause disfigurement
on their victims. Judy's story forces us to confront uncomfortable
(18:53):
truths about domestic violence, the systems meant to protect survivors,
and the deep scars left by.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Such violence, physical and emotional.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's a story of darkness, yes, but also light that
refused to be extinguished. If Judy could leave us with
one lesson, it's this, your voice matters, no matter the pain,
no matter the odds.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Her courage has undoubtedly saved lives and will continue to
do so.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
If you are someone you know is suffering from domestic violence,
you can contact the National domestic violence hotline at seventy
ninety nine safe that concludes this episode.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Thank you for joining us on this difficult but vital journey.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Judy Melanowski's story is one we will not forget.
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