July 13, 2025 • 18 mins
Yaser Abdel Said, who was born in Egypt, ruled his family with an iron fist due to his extreme religious and cultural beliefs. His family, who lived in Texas, consisted of his wife, Patricia Owens, 17-year-old daughter Sarah Said, 18-year-old daughter Amina Said, and 19-year-old son, Islam Said. One of Yaser's most strict rules consisted of his daughters not being allowed to date or even talk to boys. He was to pick their husbands from Egypt and they would go there to marry them, but the girls held secret relationships while in school. Yaser found out about Amina's secret relationship with her boyfriend, Joseph Moreno through methods of surveillance he had placed on his daughters and threatened to kill her. Sadly, he made good on his promise on January 1, 2008 when he took his daughters out in his taxi and fatally shot both of them, leaving their bodies in his taxi while he fled. Yaser evaded capture for 12 years before being arrested on August 26, 2020. He had been on the FBI's Most Wanted list for 6 years.
SourcesAudio:Patricia Owens' Statement: Court TV (2023)- Victims' Mom: "You are the devil." | Texas Honor Killing Trial9-1-1 Call: Associated Press (2014)- Texas Teen 911 Call: 'I'm Dying.'
NY Post (2022)Documentary: Devil in Suburbia- Under His Eye (2022)NBC News (2022)United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas (2020)Documentary: The Price of Honor (2014)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dark-deeds--6216218/support.
SourcesAudio:Patricia Owens' Statement: Court TV (2023)- Victims' Mom: "You are the devil." | Texas Honor Killing Trial9-1-1 Call: Associated Press (2014)- Texas Teen 911 Call: 'I'm Dying.'
NY Post (2022)Documentary: Devil in Suburbia- Under His Eye (2022)NBC News (2022)United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas (2020)Documentary: The Price of Honor (2014)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dark-deeds--6216218/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Dardeed's podcast.
On this episode, we will be covering the case of
Mark van Dongen. Mark van Dongen stumbled outside wearing only
his underwear. It looked as if his skin was covered
in muttered dirt. It was his skin burning and disintegrating,
falling off in clumps. Acid had been dumbed on him.
(00:22):
Paramedics could not even help him and they were shocked
at the horrific crime. This case is by far one
of the most disturbing cases that I have ever heard,
so I will place the warning here that it does
involve domestic violence and assisted suicide. All right, everyone, let's
get to it. Mark van Dongen was born in the
(01:06):
Netherlands in February of nineteen eighty eight. His father, Cornelius
van Dongen, who was lovingly called Keys, which is apparently
a very common nickname in the Netherlands, described Mark as
having kindness and ambition. Mark studied civil engineering in college
and he was very driven. Mark moved to Bristol, UK
(01:26):
to continue his studies and find a job in his field.
He was very determined and very ambitious to succeed in
his career. Mark then met Berlina Wallace. She was a
fashion student from South Africa. So they met in twenty ten,
and she was nineteen years his senior. He would have
been around twenty four years old at the time and
(01:47):
she was about forty three.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Not much as said about their ages.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Dates of birth and things in this case, but if
you do the math. So they later moved in together
and they were committed to building a life together.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Their future looked.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Very promising and Mark was very in love with Berlina
and he wanted to build a life with her. But
problems then arose and Berlina became very controlling and very volatile.
She had anger outbursts. She always tried to control many
aspects of Mark's life. She was also violent. His family
had saw scratches on his body and at one point
(02:24):
she even dumped boiling water on him. But when he
went to the hospital, he told them that he had
kind of tipped a.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Pan of water onto himself.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
And I think this was honestly out of fear or
she was controlling him, forcing him to tell them this
because he needed treatment.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So after that, he of course tried to leave her.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
He tried to leave her multiple times, and every time
he tried to leave her, she threatened self harm, suicide,
I'm probably threatened to hurt him, things of that nature.
So he stayed in there relationship because he was worried
about her well being. He did not want her to
harm herself, he did not want her to commit suicide.
And he probably also stayed in the relationship because he
was just worried about himself getting hurt as well. He
(03:11):
wasn't sure what she was actually going to do because
of things that she had done.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
To him in the past.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Mark eventually decided that it was definitely time to end
this relationship with Berlina. He met a new woman online
named a Violet in August of twenty fifteen. Berlina would
send Mark emotional texts, gilt tripping him, and then kind
of switch over to being threatening and rude. He tried
to keep the peace to offer to still help her financially.
(03:40):
She started stalking them and harassing Mark and his new
girlfriend with phone calls that were often just silenced. She
threatened to perform self harm until the police that Mark
was the one responsible for it. Mark eventually confided in
his family and friends that he was actually afraid of
what Berlina would do. In September of twenty fifteen, Mark
visited berlin Na's flat one final time to sever all.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Ties with her.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
He went to her home around ten pm, and the
conversation quickly turned heated as Berlina could not accept that
Mark had moved on. Berlina told Mark she would stay
at a hotel for the night, and he stayed in
her flat and slept in her bed. At around three am,
as Mark lay asleep in his boxers, he was shaken
awake by Berlina.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
She told him that if she could not have him,
no one could.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Berlina threw a sulfuric acid on his face and his body.
He was screaming as he scrambled out of the bed
and into the street as his skin melted away in clumps.
His yelling woke neighbors who render their windows, thinking the
yelling was from foxes or some kind of prank. Neighbors
even grabbed golf clubs to go out so I had
to see what the commotion was about. Eventually they realized
(04:48):
this was no fox and it was no joke. I'm
going to play a snippet from the nine nine nine
call but I'm going to warn you that Marcus spoke
to in the call. He's heard on this call, and
you can tell he's in severe agony. So it is
a heartbreaking and triggering.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Okay, he's actually yeah, he is. Yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Tell me about what happened.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I basically girls in my garden having a cigarette, and
I heard a gentlemen shouting from a distance away. I
went out to my road to investigate and basically just
shut to help. And can you ask him what happened?
I'm not sure what.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Excuse me? Hello, What's what's happening?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Touse through after face?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah? Okay, Second, the attack is still nearby?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Good? Who did.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
She still here? She's still here? I'm buddy. Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Neighbors put him in a cold shower at one of
their homes, but the damage was already done. He was
foaming at the mouth, blinded, and in unimaginable pain. When
paramedics arrived. His face and upper body were covered in
deep chemical burns. The acid eate through his skin and
muscle tissue. He could barely speak to explain to the
paramedics what had happened. He did manage to identify Berlina
(06:19):
as its attacker and begged them to check on Violet,
fearing what Berlina would do to her. Berlina remained in
her flat, calling a friend to talk, and she showed
no signs of remorse. When Violet was checked on, it
was determined that she was okay. Mark was being rushed
to the hospital while police arrived at the scene to investigate.
Berlina was arrested. At the scene. Officers noticed that her
(06:41):
demeanors seemed very detached. She was very calm, and it
was as if she was just going about a normal time.
She hadn't done what she had just done. Police collected
the acid bottle she used to dump the acid. I'll
mark with her electronic devices were seized to see if
there was any information about premeditation on there. She claimed
(07:02):
she was unaware that the bottle contained acid and thought
she was just stumping water on Mark. At the hospital,
it was determined there were burns to twenty five percent
of Mark's body. Many areas of exposed flash were already
turning black. This was one of the worst acid attacks
the medical professionals in this hospital had ever seen. He
was placed into a medical induced coma and his left
(07:24):
leg was showing poor circulation signs from the acid attack.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
At this time, investigators spoke.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
To Mark's friends and family to get information about Berlina
and Mark's relationship. They provided information about Berlina's violent and
angry behavior, even mentioning the boiling water incident. So At
one point, Berlina told therapists that she gets an adrenaline
rush when she gets angry, and she could destroy everything
around her. On September second, she ordered a bottle of
(07:52):
ninety eight percent concentrated sulfuric acid from Amazon. She removed
the label that explained that the acid caused burns and
eye damage. In the weeks leading up to the act,
she visited dozens of websites eighty two times studying sulfuric
acid in the long term effects of acid burns. Berlin
also made no attempts to assist Mark after she threw
(08:12):
the acid on him. She sat back and watched him ride,
then excruciating pain. All this information led investigators to the
conclusion that the attack was premeditated. She still maintained she
did not intend to Harmmark. She claimed that Mark planted
the acid to trick her into drinking it. Police did
not believe this. They also found a search identical to
her story that she told them about him planting the acid,
(08:34):
So she had looked up on I guess her phone
stories of maybe people planning acid or using acid in
other ways besides physically, as in like, she had no injuries,
so obviously he didn't throw it on her first.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
But she was.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Attempting to claim that he planted the acid for her
to drink, and she threw the couple of waters he
thought was water something like that, But of course they
did not believe this. Mark spent four months in the ICU.
At first as a result of neuropathy. He was paralyzed
from the neck down. He could not move anything but
(09:13):
his tongue. His lower left leg was amputated below the knee.
The ascid ate away his facial features. He was partially
blind with severe disfigurement. Quote kill me now. If this
is what I look like, I don't want to live.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
End quote. This is how he.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Reacted when he first saw his face. He would communicate
using a little keyboard that he pressed with his tongue.
So he would press the letters with his tongue to communicate,
which was a very slow meticulous process, but this was
at the time the only way he could communicate to
his father and of course the nurses and doctors. Mark
(09:49):
was plunged into a deep depression as he could not
take care of himself and barely communicate. And before this
Mark was kind of a go gutter type of person.
He was very motivated, very ambitious, loved to try, won't.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Do things himself, and now he was confined to the.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Bed, disfigured in severe pains, so it really weighed on
his mental health.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Mark's injuries were.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So severe that photos of him were never released, not
even to the media, so if you look him up.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
You will not find photos of him.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
There are no photos of him, sorry, after his accident.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
You can find photos of him, of.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Course before his accident, but afterwards you'll not find any.
Mark was moved to a facility in Gloucester to take
care of him, but when his father visited this facility,
the conditions were deplorable. His father found him sitting in
bed covered in his own feces. The family arranged to
have Mark transferred to Belgium, but even in Belgium, Mark's
suffering continued and he had membranes burned on his bones,
(10:46):
and his bones contained actual holes in them, so this
hospital lacked adequate resources and staff to care for someone
with injuries as severe as his. He was in constant
severe pain from his nerves feeling like they were on fire,
to the severe bone pain from the holes eaten into
his bones. Eventually he was finally able to speak again.
He asked his father, quote, what's the point of all
(11:09):
I can do is look at the ceiling? End?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
He developed a severe lung infection and he needed a tracheotomy,
and at this point his ability to speak was once
again taken away.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
This was the final blow for Mark.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Facing a life of pain and paralysis and now silence,
he told his father he could not go.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
On any longer.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
He applied for voluntary euthanasia, and that is legal in Belgium,
so some countries euthanasia is legal for humans. Three medical
specialists determined that his case was one of unimaginable suffering
and it was approved. He spent his final day with
his father on January second, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
He had been in this state for a year.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And almost five months and he was ready to end
his suffering. At seven fifteen pm, doctors inserted a catheter
into Mark's heart, ending his suffering. He was only twenty
nine years old. In April of twenty eighteen, Berlina pled
not guilty to the attack. She was still claiming she
(12:12):
thought she was throwing water. The prosecution presented overwhelming evidence
that the attack was premeditated by kind of going over
her process of purchasing the acid and all of the
searches that she had conducted on how to get acid
or what the best acid was to use for an
attack like this, and she thoroughly researched the injuries he
(12:36):
was going to receive. She knew he would be if
he lived, She knew he would be disfigured, and personally,
I believe that she wanted him to live. They argued
that her intent was just permanently disfigure him to ensure
that no woman would ever want him again.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Their toxic relationship.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Was also discussed, and it was determined that this relationship,
at least on Berlina's side, was just fueled by jealousy,
and the attack was fueled by jealousy. And if you remember,
she stated about if I can't have you, no one
else can before she threw that asset on him March
choice to take euthanasia became controversial. The jury had to
(13:14):
consider whether Berlina's actions or the sole cause of his death, or.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
If there were any other contributing factors.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Her defense argued that she could not be held fully
accountable since he chose to be euthanized. The jury found
Berlina not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. They found
her guilty of throwing a corrosive substance with intent. And
that is the part where I will throw my opinion
in on this because that disgusts me. I one hundred
and ten percent believe that her actions led to his death.
(13:46):
He would have never been in that state to make
such a decision if she would have never done that
to him. And who's to say he wouldn't have eventually
died later anyway? He had so many problems, He got
so many infections, He had organ issues, I mean, you know,
issues with his stomach, is liver, his lungs. Many burn
(14:07):
victims survive a while and then die later. So who's
to say that he wouldn't have died solely based on
her actions and not the fact that he had chose
to end his suffering.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So I disagree with that, and I will.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Stand by that that what she did to him caused
his death because he never would have been put in
the situation to make the choice. The judge had a
very good statement at the hearing for her. It's kind
of a long one, but I'm gonna read a snippet.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Of that on here.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
The judge stated, quote, on the second of September twenty fifteen,
you bought a leader of ninety eight percent sulfuric acid
if necessary. Your intention was to use the acid to
attack Mark van Donkan because you wanted to and he
left you for another woman. You removed the label from
the bottle containing the colorless fluid, which stated that the
acid costs severe burns and eye damage. You did so
(15:01):
to prevent detection of the acid in your home. You
chose your moment for your attack. It occurred when Mark
van Dongen, wearing only box or shorts, was asleep in
bed which you had shared in your flat, vulnerable, almost naked.
He awoke, but he had no real opportunity to avoid
the focus of your asset attack, namely his face and
then his body. The burns which Mark sustained covered two
(15:25):
thirds of his face and a large percentage of his
upper chest, arms, and upper thighs. The burns were almost
all full thickness, affected twenty five percent of his total
body space.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
As a result of skin graft procedures.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Over forty percent of Mark's total body area was affected
by the burns. A consultant and burn surgery said there
had been no equivalent patient with similar extensive injuries following
a chemical attack. Mark spent a total period of eleven
months in the Intensive carry unit. He underwent a number
of operative procedures. His left leg had to be amputated.
(15:57):
He lost the sight in his left eye and damage
was caused to this in his right eye. The doctors
had to use the strongest pain relief in which in
themselves caused difficult side effects. For four months, Mark was
not really able to communicate. He sustained not only burns,
but injury to the systems of his body. When in
the ICU, he suffered recurrent chest infection, septocemic shock, his
(16:19):
kidneys were injured, There were problems with his gut and
bleeding from a bow. His harpe and liver function were altered.
At the time of his discharge from hospital in November
twenty sixteen, he was paralyzed from the neck down with
no movement in his upper arms and legs. Had Mark survived,
there would have been further operations. He would have required
extensive care for the rest.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Of his life.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Another trading clinician said that his physical appearance would never
be restored to anything which could be described as normal.
He had permanently and irrevocably been disfigured. His facial scarring
was categorized at the severe end of very severe scarring
end quote. At the hearing, Mark's father stated quote he said, Dad,
(16:59):
I'm tired of fighting. I've suffered so much pain and
I can't take anymore. Please let me go end quote.
Bertleina Wallace was sentenced to a minimum of twelve years
in prison. Her convention and sentence sparked reactions that were mixed.
Many believed her sense was insufficient, giving Marks suffering and
ultimate death. Debate was sparked over purchase of acid for
it to be used as a crime and so easily obtained.
(17:22):
This led to the Offensive Weapsons Act of twenty nineteen.
The Act imposed age restrictions on buying corrosive products and
restrict at home deliveries for certain high concentration substances. Many
retailers began tightening their policies voluntarily to limit sales and
regulate purchases of dangerous chemicals. Mark's family still struggles to
(17:42):
find closure. They became advocates for stricter laws on acid
sales and attacks. Mark's younger brothers set up a crowdfunding
page for their father. His brother described how their father
spent months traveling back and forth to Bristol, even sleeping
in his car. He also described Mark's condition and suffering.
The funds would go towards helping their father get his
life back on track. Thirty seven, two hundred and forty
(18:04):
five years were raised the doorbell Mark rang at the
neighbor's home after the attack. Steele shows corrosive marx from
him touching it. Berlina is serving her sense in a
UK prison and she will be eligible for parole consideration
in twenty twenty seven. Mark's family hopes that her behavior
and actions in prison will prevent her from being released
from prison. And I strongly hope that too. Since she's
(18:29):
known to be a very volatile and violent person, I
personally hope she messes up in prison bad enough to
keep her there because she gets out in two years
or will be up for pearl consideration in two years.
And I do not think this woman needs to be
out there because I think she will just do this
to all of her boyfriends.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I will end this with a statement from Mark's father too.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Actually in court it was stated my son was gentle, accommodating,
and too good for this world.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And that's kind of in.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
A statement where he was talking about Berlina and the
type of person she was and then the type of
person he was.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I feel like a broken man, completely drained, and the
old keys no longer exists. Mark and I lost her battle.
In the past, nothing would phaze me, but now I
have lead in my shoes. That concludes this episode, and
thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed and until
next time,
Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Dardeed's podcast.
On this episode, we will be covering the case of
Mark van Dongen. Mark van Dongen stumbled outside wearing only
his underwear. It looked as if his skin was covered
in muttered dirt. It was his skin burning and disintegrating,
falling off in clumps. Acid had been dumbed on him.
(00:22):
Paramedics could not even help him and they were shocked
at the horrific crime. This case is by far one
of the most disturbing cases that I have ever heard,
so I will place the warning here that it does
involve domestic violence and assisted suicide. All right, everyone, let's
get to it. Mark van Dongen was born in the
(01:06):
Netherlands in February of nineteen eighty eight. His father, Cornelius
van Dongen, who was lovingly called Keys, which is apparently
a very common nickname in the Netherlands, described Mark as
having kindness and ambition. Mark studied civil engineering in college
and he was very driven. Mark moved to Bristol, UK
(01:26):
to continue his studies and find a job in his field.
He was very determined and very ambitious to succeed in
his career. Mark then met Berlina Wallace. She was a
fashion student from South Africa. So they met in twenty ten,
and she was nineteen years his senior. He would have
been around twenty four years old at the time and
(01:47):
she was about forty three.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Not much as said about their ages.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Dates of birth and things in this case, but if
you do the math. So they later moved in together
and they were committed to building a life together.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Their future looked.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Very promising and Mark was very in love with Berlina
and he wanted to build a life with her. But
problems then arose and Berlina became very controlling and very volatile.
She had anger outbursts. She always tried to control many
aspects of Mark's life. She was also violent. His family
had saw scratches on his body and at one point
(02:24):
she even dumped boiling water on him. But when he
went to the hospital, he told them that he had
kind of tipped a.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Pan of water onto himself.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
And I think this was honestly out of fear or
she was controlling him, forcing him to tell them this
because he needed treatment.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So after that, he of course tried to leave her.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
He tried to leave her multiple times, and every time
he tried to leave her, she threatened self harm, suicide,
I'm probably threatened to hurt him, things of that nature.
So he stayed in there relationship because he was worried
about her well being. He did not want her to
harm herself, he did not want her to commit suicide.
And he probably also stayed in the relationship because he
was just worried about himself getting hurt as well. He
(03:11):
wasn't sure what she was actually going to do because
of things that she had done.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
To him in the past.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Mark eventually decided that it was definitely time to end
this relationship with Berlina. He met a new woman online
named a Violet in August of twenty fifteen. Berlina would
send Mark emotional texts, gilt tripping him, and then kind
of switch over to being threatening and rude. He tried
to keep the peace to offer to still help her financially.
(03:40):
She started stalking them and harassing Mark and his new
girlfriend with phone calls that were often just silenced. She
threatened to perform self harm until the police that Mark
was the one responsible for it. Mark eventually confided in
his family and friends that he was actually afraid of
what Berlina would do. In September of twenty fifteen, Mark
visited berlin Na's flat one final time to sever all.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Ties with her.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
He went to her home around ten pm, and the
conversation quickly turned heated as Berlina could not accept that
Mark had moved on. Berlina told Mark she would stay
at a hotel for the night, and he stayed in
her flat and slept in her bed. At around three am,
as Mark lay asleep in his boxers, he was shaken
awake by Berlina.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
She told him that if she could not have him,
no one could.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Berlina threw a sulfuric acid on his face and his body.
He was screaming as he scrambled out of the bed
and into the street as his skin melted away in clumps.
His yelling woke neighbors who render their windows, thinking the
yelling was from foxes or some kind of prank. Neighbors
even grabbed golf clubs to go out so I had
to see what the commotion was about. Eventually they realized
(04:48):
this was no fox and it was no joke. I'm
going to play a snippet from the nine nine nine
call but I'm going to warn you that Marcus spoke
to in the call. He's heard on this call, and
you can tell he's in severe agony. So it is
a heartbreaking and triggering.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Okay, he's actually yeah, he is. Yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Tell me about what happened.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I basically girls in my garden having a cigarette, and
I heard a gentlemen shouting from a distance away. I
went out to my road to investigate and basically just
shut to help. And can you ask him what happened?
I'm not sure what.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Excuse me?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Excuse me? Hello, What's what's happening?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Touse through after face?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah? Okay, Second, the attack is still nearby?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Good? Who did.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
She still here? She's still here? I'm buddy. Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Neighbors put him in a cold shower at one of
their homes, but the damage was already done. He was
foaming at the mouth, blinded, and in unimaginable pain. When
paramedics arrived. His face and upper body were covered in
deep chemical burns. The acid eate through his skin and
muscle tissue. He could barely speak to explain to the
paramedics what had happened. He did manage to identify Berlina
(06:19):
as its attacker and begged them to check on Violet,
fearing what Berlina would do to her. Berlina remained in
her flat, calling a friend to talk, and she showed
no signs of remorse. When Violet was checked on, it
was determined that she was okay. Mark was being rushed
to the hospital while police arrived at the scene to investigate.
Berlina was arrested. At the scene. Officers noticed that her
(06:41):
demeanors seemed very detached. She was very calm, and it
was as if she was just going about a normal time.
She hadn't done what she had just done. Police collected
the acid bottle she used to dump the acid. I'll
mark with her electronic devices were seized to see if
there was any information about premeditation on there. She claimed
(07:02):
she was unaware that the bottle contained acid and thought
she was just stumping water on Mark. At the hospital,
it was determined there were burns to twenty five percent
of Mark's body. Many areas of exposed flash were already
turning black. This was one of the worst acid attacks
the medical professionals in this hospital had ever seen. He
was placed into a medical induced coma and his left
(07:24):
leg was showing poor circulation signs from the acid attack.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
At this time, investigators spoke.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
To Mark's friends and family to get information about Berlina
and Mark's relationship. They provided information about Berlina's violent and
angry behavior, even mentioning the boiling water incident. So At
one point, Berlina told therapists that she gets an adrenaline
rush when she gets angry, and she could destroy everything
around her. On September second, she ordered a bottle of
(07:52):
ninety eight percent concentrated sulfuric acid from Amazon. She removed
the label that explained that the acid caused burns and
eye damage. In the weeks leading up to the act,
she visited dozens of websites eighty two times studying sulfuric
acid in the long term effects of acid burns. Berlin
also made no attempts to assist Mark after she threw
(08:12):
the acid on him. She sat back and watched him ride,
then excruciating pain. All this information led investigators to the
conclusion that the attack was premeditated. She still maintained she
did not intend to Harmmark. She claimed that Mark planted
the acid to trick her into drinking it. Police did
not believe this. They also found a search identical to
her story that she told them about him planting the acid,
(08:34):
So she had looked up on I guess her phone
stories of maybe people planning acid or using acid in
other ways besides physically, as in like, she had no injuries,
so obviously he didn't throw it on her first.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
But she was.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Attempting to claim that he planted the acid for her
to drink, and she threw the couple of waters he
thought was water something like that, But of course they
did not believe this. Mark spent four months in the ICU.
At first as a result of neuropathy. He was paralyzed
from the neck down. He could not move anything but
(09:13):
his tongue. His lower left leg was amputated below the knee.
The ascid ate away his facial features. He was partially
blind with severe disfigurement. Quote kill me now. If this
is what I look like, I don't want to live.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
End quote. This is how he.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Reacted when he first saw his face. He would communicate
using a little keyboard that he pressed with his tongue.
So he would press the letters with his tongue to communicate,
which was a very slow meticulous process, but this was
at the time the only way he could communicate to
his father and of course the nurses and doctors. Mark
(09:49):
was plunged into a deep depression as he could not
take care of himself and barely communicate. And before this
Mark was kind of a go gutter type of person.
He was very motivated, very ambitious, loved to try, won't.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Do things himself, and now he was confined to the.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Bed, disfigured in severe pains, so it really weighed on
his mental health.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Mark's injuries were.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So severe that photos of him were never released, not
even to the media, so if you look him up.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
You will not find photos of him.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
There are no photos of him, sorry, after his accident.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
You can find photos of him, of.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Course before his accident, but afterwards you'll not find any.
Mark was moved to a facility in Gloucester to take
care of him, but when his father visited this facility,
the conditions were deplorable. His father found him sitting in
bed covered in his own feces. The family arranged to
have Mark transferred to Belgium, but even in Belgium, Mark's
suffering continued and he had membranes burned on his bones,
(10:46):
and his bones contained actual holes in them, so this
hospital lacked adequate resources and staff to care for someone
with injuries as severe as his. He was in constant
severe pain from his nerves feeling like they were on fire,
to the severe bone pain from the holes eaten into
his bones. Eventually he was finally able to speak again.
He asked his father, quote, what's the point of all
(11:09):
I can do is look at the ceiling? End?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
He developed a severe lung infection and he needed a tracheotomy,
and at this point his ability to speak was once
again taken away.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
This was the final blow for Mark.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Facing a life of pain and paralysis and now silence,
he told his father he could not go.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
On any longer.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
He applied for voluntary euthanasia, and that is legal in Belgium,
so some countries euthanasia is legal for humans. Three medical
specialists determined that his case was one of unimaginable suffering
and it was approved. He spent his final day with
his father on January second, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
He had been in this state for a year.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And almost five months and he was ready to end
his suffering. At seven fifteen pm, doctors inserted a catheter
into Mark's heart, ending his suffering. He was only twenty
nine years old. In April of twenty eighteen, Berlina pled
not guilty to the attack. She was still claiming she
(12:12):
thought she was throwing water. The prosecution presented overwhelming evidence
that the attack was premeditated by kind of going over
her process of purchasing the acid and all of the
searches that she had conducted on how to get acid
or what the best acid was to use for an
attack like this, and she thoroughly researched the injuries he
(12:36):
was going to receive. She knew he would be if
he lived, She knew he would be disfigured, and personally,
I believe that she wanted him to live. They argued
that her intent was just permanently disfigure him to ensure
that no woman would ever want him again.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Their toxic relationship.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Was also discussed, and it was determined that this relationship,
at least on Berlina's side, was just fueled by jealousy,
and the attack was fueled by jealousy. And if you remember,
she stated about if I can't have you, no one
else can before she threw that asset on him March
choice to take euthanasia became controversial. The jury had to
(13:14):
consider whether Berlina's actions or the sole cause of his death, or.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
If there were any other contributing factors.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Her defense argued that she could not be held fully
accountable since he chose to be euthanized. The jury found
Berlina not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. They found
her guilty of throwing a corrosive substance with intent. And
that is the part where I will throw my opinion
in on this because that disgusts me. I one hundred
and ten percent believe that her actions led to his death.
(13:46):
He would have never been in that state to make
such a decision if she would have never done that
to him. And who's to say he wouldn't have eventually
died later anyway? He had so many problems, He got
so many infections, He had organ issues, I mean, you know,
issues with his stomach, is liver, his lungs. Many burn
(14:07):
victims survive a while and then die later. So who's
to say that he wouldn't have died solely based on
her actions and not the fact that he had chose
to end his suffering.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So I disagree with that, and I will.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Stand by that that what she did to him caused
his death because he never would have been put in
the situation to make the choice. The judge had a
very good statement at the hearing for her. It's kind
of a long one, but I'm gonna read a snippet.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Of that on here.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
The judge stated, quote, on the second of September twenty fifteen,
you bought a leader of ninety eight percent sulfuric acid
if necessary. Your intention was to use the acid to
attack Mark van Donkan because you wanted to and he
left you for another woman. You removed the label from
the bottle containing the colorless fluid, which stated that the
acid costs severe burns and eye damage. You did so
(15:01):
to prevent detection of the acid in your home. You
chose your moment for your attack. It occurred when Mark
van Dongen, wearing only box or shorts, was asleep in
bed which you had shared in your flat, vulnerable, almost naked.
He awoke, but he had no real opportunity to avoid
the focus of your asset attack, namely his face and
then his body. The burns which Mark sustained covered two
(15:25):
thirds of his face and a large percentage of his
upper chest, arms, and upper thighs. The burns were almost
all full thickness, affected twenty five percent of his total
body space.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
As a result of skin graft procedures.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Over forty percent of Mark's total body area was affected
by the burns. A consultant and burn surgery said there
had been no equivalent patient with similar extensive injuries following
a chemical attack. Mark spent a total period of eleven
months in the Intensive carry unit. He underwent a number
of operative procedures. His left leg had to be amputated.
(15:57):
He lost the sight in his left eye and damage
was caused to this in his right eye. The doctors
had to use the strongest pain relief in which in
themselves caused difficult side effects. For four months, Mark was
not really able to communicate. He sustained not only burns,
but injury to the systems of his body. When in
the ICU, he suffered recurrent chest infection, septocemic shock, his
(16:19):
kidneys were injured, There were problems with his gut and
bleeding from a bow. His harpe and liver function were altered.
At the time of his discharge from hospital in November
twenty sixteen, he was paralyzed from the neck down with
no movement in his upper arms and legs. Had Mark survived,
there would have been further operations. He would have required
extensive care for the rest.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Of his life.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Another trading clinician said that his physical appearance would never
be restored to anything which could be described as normal.
He had permanently and irrevocably been disfigured. His facial scarring
was categorized at the severe end of very severe scarring
end quote. At the hearing, Mark's father stated quote he said, Dad,
(16:59):
I'm tired of fighting. I've suffered so much pain and
I can't take anymore. Please let me go end quote.
Bertleina Wallace was sentenced to a minimum of twelve years
in prison. Her convention and sentence sparked reactions that were mixed.
Many believed her sense was insufficient, giving Marks suffering and
ultimate death. Debate was sparked over purchase of acid for
it to be used as a crime and so easily obtained.
(17:22):
This led to the Offensive Weapsons Act of twenty nineteen.
The Act imposed age restrictions on buying corrosive products and
restrict at home deliveries for certain high concentration substances. Many
retailers began tightening their policies voluntarily to limit sales and
regulate purchases of dangerous chemicals. Mark's family still struggles to
(17:42):
find closure. They became advocates for stricter laws on acid
sales and attacks. Mark's younger brothers set up a crowdfunding
page for their father. His brother described how their father
spent months traveling back and forth to Bristol, even sleeping
in his car. He also described Mark's condition and suffering.
The funds would go towards helping their father get his
life back on track. Thirty seven, two hundred and forty
(18:04):
five years were raised the doorbell Mark rang at the
neighbor's home after the attack. Steele shows corrosive marx from
him touching it. Berlina is serving her sense in a
UK prison and she will be eligible for parole consideration
in twenty twenty seven. Mark's family hopes that her behavior
and actions in prison will prevent her from being released
from prison. And I strongly hope that too. Since she's
(18:29):
known to be a very volatile and violent person, I
personally hope she messes up in prison bad enough to
keep her there because she gets out in two years
or will be up for pearl consideration in two years.
And I do not think this woman needs to be
out there because I think she will just do this
to all of her boyfriends.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I will end this with a statement from Mark's father too.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Actually in court it was stated my son was gentle, accommodating,
and too good for this world.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
And that's kind of in.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
A statement where he was talking about Berlina and the
type of person she was and then the type of
person he was.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I feel like a broken man, completely drained, and the
old keys no longer exists. Mark and I lost her battle.
In the past, nothing would phaze me, but now I
have lead in my shoes. That concludes this episode, and
thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed and until
next time,
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