Original subtitles

Franklin County Sheriff's Office.

Can I help you?

Hello?

I was-- what is this with you?

What's the address?

Stygler and Agler by the Speedway!

Okay. Okay, I need you to stop screaming

so I can understand you.

- What is the address? - The address is

Stygler and Agler in Gahanna by the Speedway.

What's going on?

Okay, I'm gonna start by asking you your name.

Full name.

Is it okay if I call you Judy?

Now, do you know a man named Michael Slager?

And did you begin dating him in April 2015?

I wanna talk to you about Sunday, August 2nd, 2015.

Do you recall that day?

On that day, were you with Mr. Slager?

A guy just set a woman on fire.

Okay, stop screaming 'cause I can't understand you.

- I got you-- - Are you serious?

A guy just set a woman on fire!

A guy set what on fire?

A guy just set a woman on fire!

- all: * Happy birthday to you - Judith.

all: * Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday, dear Judy

♪ Happy birthday to you

Now, blow out all the candles.

Keep going.

No car.

- Nobody gets the car, okay? - I get the car!

Those are trick candles. I just know.

I kept trying and trying to have a baby,

and trying and trying and trying and trying.

I wanted to be a mom, wanted to be a mom.

And finally...

♪

Judy was my firstborn.

She made me a mom.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was the happiest time of my life.

She was my easiest baby,

and she was just my best friend.

Mama, did you get that?

- She was just loud, happy.

There was nobody that Judy didn't love.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh. Oh, no!

She always would say, "Mom, I wanna have a simple life.

"I wanna be a school teacher,

"and I just wanna live in a nice neighborhood

with a husband that loves me, and two kids."

People can just say, like, I love you and all,

and, like, not always mean it, but for my mom,

like, I always knew that she, like, actually loved me.

And then, her back rubs? The best.

They really help you sleep.

And Amber, did you get your bag?

When I was a little kid, I would look at my mom,

and I would just wanna grow up and look exactly like her.

Nice job!

And then, after the fire,

I still wanna dig her up and be like her.

At Speedway! A lady is on fire!

- Somebody is on fire? - We've already got a call.

The fire department's on the way.

Can you tell me who did this? Like--

There's a guy just out there.

He's standing out there still.

He sat next to her.

He's in, like, a blue or black truck.

He has tattoos all over him.

- He's still here. - What did he do?

What--like, gasoline? What did he do?

The girl was sitting on the grass,

and he--he threw something.

And all of a sudden, she's on fire.

The police are there? I think the police are here.

Okay.

- How are you doing? - How are you?

Lieutenant Cohagen, with Gahanna,

here to see Adams from the Slager case.

Okay. Come on in.

Thanks.

I was at a barbecue with my family

when we got the 911 call.

A lady had been set on fire behind our Speedway station.

♪

There's businesses. There's traffic.

There's a restaurant. It's a very busy gas station.

It's a very busy--I mean, it's an intersection

of two very busy roads.

Okay, this is the Speedway at Agler and...

Our officers are thinking

there was a little fire and someone got burned.

Department's on the way.

But when they get there, they see clearly this instance

was a lot more than what they thought it was gonna be.

♪

- In here, those three boxes. - Okay.

Uh...

Michael's story, at that point,

was that Judy had filled the truck with gas

and accidentally got some gas on her.

And when he went to light a cigarette for her,

that's when she caught fire.

Clearly to our officers and to everyone that was there,

that story did not make sense

because of the amount of damage that was done to Judy.

This first piece is Judy's jeans.

You can see how a lot of the fire went down her back.

You know, went everywhere-- 80% to 90% of her body--

but a lot of it was dumped down her back,

went down her-- went down her shirt,

went down through her buttocks area.

So you'll see how hot the fire was.

It actually melted, like, a backpack or a bag.

But this is Judy's bra.

You can see one half here, and then another half here.

And then, it--it cut this off and actually burned off,

or it melted.

The lighter here

and the fingerprint taken from the lighter.

I had sent detectives to Heartland Bank

to see if they had any footage of the event.

Honestly, we didn't think there would be,

but we knew we had to check.

Those detectives went and got the footage.

They FaceTimed me.

And while we were in the hospital,

we found some room--I think there was, like, a closet--

and we all watched the video together for the first time.

Everyone was silent.

I think we're all kind of taking it in.

It looked--it looked like a movie scene.

Even through FaceTime, it clearly showed

that they had been-- they were arguing,

and then Michael dumped gas over her.

So we knew right away

that Michael's story-- he had lied to us.

Them two--it looked like they were arguing.

She dropped her bags on the ground.

And then, he pulled up

and, like, walked up to her with a lighter

or something to light a cigarette.

And she, like-- I don't know what happened.

Like, something was all over her.

She just ignited immediately.

He is bad.

For me, that scene has played out in dreams

more times than I can count.

I had just talked to Judy,

maybe 20 minutes beforehand, maybe half hour.

Not very long. Not very long at all.

And... I got that phone call.

And I picked up the phone, and someone on the other end said,

"Are you Judy Malinowski's mom?"

And I remember thinking, what a strange question.

And I said, "Yeah, I'm Judy's mom."

And they said this was the hospital,

and "we have your daughter," and that I should come now.

And...

And they said she had been hurt

and that we need to intubate her.

My mom called me, frantic.

She said that there was a fire at the gas station

and that's all she knew, and that they were both burned.

I remember where I was on the highway,

and it dawned on me: they said "intubate her."

And then, it hit me. Oh, that's life support.

I've seen plenty of burns to her degree.

I can't say we've--

I've seen many of them survive past a few days.

And I got there.

I am walking through this maze.

I went into--I was trying to get to the trauma bay.

There was some nurse who took me the wrong way.

I-I went past Michael's room.

I went in before anybody could stop me

'cause I was looking for my daughter.

I was looking for my baby, and I went in there,

and I was like, "Michael, where is Judy?

Where is Judy?"

And I'll never forget it.

He looked at me, and he said,

"It was an accident. It was an accident."

And before I could get my composure

or continue to ask him questions,

they shuffled me out of his room

and said, "No, no, no, you come with us.

Judy's not here."

And I didn't understand why they--

why are the policemen and why are these people--

you know, shuffled me right out, away from him?

The whole family definitely has PTSD

from, like, that incident especially,

so it's weird how we all remember it

a little bit differently.

All I can remember is I just started screaming,

"Tell me there's hope. Tell me there's hope.

Tell me there's hope."

I just--that's all I could say.

And they wouldn't tell me there was hope.

They wouldn't say anything.

They just said they're working on her.

Nothing could possibly prepare you

for the condition that-- that she was in.

All I had seen was my child. All I had seen was my baby.

I did not see what I see in pictures today.

But I looked back over my shoulder,

and there was my other daughter.

She was in the middle of the hallway, sitting on a chair,

and I remember nurses were running to attend to her.

And I-I remember looking.

She was throwing up in the hallway, everywhere.

And it was kind of just slow-motion.

She just didn't see what I'd seen.

I thought, like, I could handle it,

but I ended up, like, starting to pass out.

In the burn world,

we have an equation for mortality,

which is based on the patient's age and percent burn.

And in Judy's case,

she was 31 at the time of the burn, I believe,

and approximately 80-plus percent burned,

so that made her, like, 110% mortality.

We were concerned with Judy passing

and us not getting anything on the record.

Whether or not the courts could get it in,

that wasn't my concern.

I wanted something--

I wanted Judy's voice to be heard as quickly as possible.

Doctors and nurses are looking at you like,

"Do you wanna bring this person out of sedation?"

Judy.

And we knew that we had to.

- She's lifting her arm. - Judy, can you hear me?

- Yeah, honey. My name is Ken-- - Mommy is here!

- Hold one. One sec. - Okay.

My name is Kendra. I'll be your nurse today, okay?

We're taking good care of you. You're in the hospital, okay?

You have some burns, so we're just gonna try

to keep you comfortable here, okay?

Are you hurting right now?

Okay. All righty.

Would you mind if someone asked you a couple questions

about what happened?

Stay calm, Jude. Just stay calm, baby.

I hadn't ever seen trauma like that

to a human body that wasn't deceased.

I remember leaning in to talk to her,

and she doesn't have any ears to talk to,

so, you know, I don't even know if she can hear me.

Judy, this is Detective Cohagen with Gahanna.

Can you hear me?

- Yes. - You can?

Judy, did you spill gas on yourself?

- No? - Mm-mm.

Did Mike spill gas on you?

Did Mike throw gas on you?

Yes.

Yes? Okay. Thank you.

She was clearly processing.

She was clearly-- she understood--

you know, she responded to Bonnie's voice,

she responded to my voice and my two questions.

Judy, you're gonna get better, baby.

She was able to give me the information that we needed

to pursue the investigation at that point.

This is Mommy. You fight for Maddie, okay?

And the police said that they were going to arrest Michael,

and I-I didn't understand why.

No, that can't be.

There must be a mistake,

and maybe-maybe she was confused.

♪

Hi.

- Mike. - Yep.

All right.

We need to talk to you about what happened, okay?

So what, there--am I under arrest or something?

Right now, yeah, you are under arrest.

And what am I being charged with?

You're gonna be charged with felonious assault

and aggravated arson.

Okay. Let me just be direct with you too, Mike, okay?

Where you--where the-- what it happened at,

there's an ATM right there, okay?

That ATM records all the time.

When the detectives go pull the footage,

and they reviewed the footage-- we've all seen the footage--

we know exactly what happened, okay?

So we saw exactly what happened.

We saw you pour gasoline over top of her head.

She stumbles to the ground.

You lean over and light her on fire.

We saw what happened.

We know what happened.

That's not the way it looks,

so I'm just ready to talk to my attorney now.

If it's not the way it looks, I'd love to hear

what--what more there is to it.

Well...

'Cause right now, Mike, it looks like

you poured gasoline on her and you set her on fire.

There's more to the story. I need to know that.

I care.

We care about the truth,

the entire truth of the whole situation.

We were arguing. She-she threw pop on my face.

And then, we was going back and forth with it.

Then, she come in and spit in my face.

And I said, "Oh, we're here.

You know, you wanna ruin my stuff up,"

'cause this is how I told her.

I said, "Here. Boom, I'm gonna ruin your clothes."

It wasn't to-to start her on fire or nothing.

- You know what I mean? - Okay.

It was just to ruin her clothes.

- Right. Yeah. - Okay?

So, "You ruin my stuff, I'm gonna ruin your stuff."

So she--she didn't stumble. She just sat down.

She was sitting down.

And then, she said, "Well..."

You know, I was getting ready to leave, you know?

And she's like, "Well..."

'Cause I was just gonna say, fuck it, you know, leave.

Yeah, take off.

And she was like, "Well, don't leave.

Don't leave," you know?

You know, "Can you bring me a cigarette and stuff?"

And she was getting ready to change clothes,

- 'cause she's got extra clothes. - Mm-hmm.

And she was like-- you know, I didn't think--

I got--you know, there--there was that--

you know, really it was gonna be that.

- Sure. - So she was--

I walked over to give her a light.

- That was it. - And then, she just--

And she--when she went up, I couldn't believe it.

I just didn't think that it was gonna be like that.

Right. You know, in our head,

it never made sense that he went from so angry

that he's pouring gasoline on somebody,

to 33 seconds later,

he's nice enough and has peace of mind enough

to go back and light a cigarette for them.

It didn't--it didn't make any sense.

It was an accident. I didn't--

- He's not going in for it. - Right.

You know, when you're gonna see that thing,

it just makes it look all different.

- You know what I mean? - Oh, mm-hmm.

- I'm coming in. - It does.

It makes it look completely different.

I just wanna turn--

- Hi. - How are you doing?

You know, I'd heard about the case briefly.

I was kinda surprised.

His picture, when I saw,

it kind of looked like he was kind of a big thug

and one of these dangerous physical types,

but he really wasn't.

He was--he was very-very soft-spoken,

more intelligent than I would've guessed,

a little more subdued.

And he's a smart guy. He's not an idiot.

I--he really is a smart guy,

But he had made several statements

about how the gasoline got on Judy,

and that, to me, was probably the biggest detriment,

the biggest problem that we were facing.

So, I mean, I knew the lie, don't get me wrong,

but that--the lie was about how the gas got on her,

and then he developed from there.

"Okay, I did. I panicked.

"I lied about that, and I shouldn't have,

"but she took her sweatshirt off

"and it didn't even occur to me

"that there would still be gas there.

"So when she calmed down and sat down

"and asked me to help her with a light,

I had no reason to think that she would be in flames."

♪

In this case, where I thought that there was some doubt,

was to whether he knowingly caused serious physical harm.

I still have trouble understanding

that someone could do that to another human being.

I ask myself, over and over,

"Are you sure she didn't just get a cigarette out

and light it?"

I called Detective Cohagen more than one time

to come back to the hospital

and tell me again what he said.

"Tell me again. Tell me again. Tell me again."

I have a 9:00 meeting with Detective Cohagen.

My name is Bonnie Bowes.

Okay. Thank you.

- So Judy's right here. - Mm-hmm, I see her.

Uh-huh.

As you can see here, she ran across to here

and walked across to here.

- And now-- - She's angry.

- You can see her hands. - You can tell.

- She's very demonstrative. - Yeah.

- She's very--right. - I just know my child.

She's angry. They see her.

She's--she's throwing her arms,

so she's mad about something there.

Yeah.

At one point, she does pick up the drink,

and she does throw the drink.

She keeps backing up further from him.

And she clearly wants nothing to do with him here,

and she starts walking away.

I'm gonna fast-forward this a little bit.

She'll come on into frame here.

You can clearly see him dumping a red can

over top of her and liquid spilling down.

Oh, my gosh.

So, she comes.

And she'll go to the ground here.

Yeah.

She's in frame here for a little bit,

but then you see her get up, stagger off,

and she's never back in frame.

He bent down and literally just lit her on fire?

He did. Yeah, absolutely.

He dumped that on her

and then immediately lit her on fire?

No, he walks off,

goes back to the truck like he's gonna drive away.

Yeah.

He starts to get in the truck,

and then decides, you know, for whatever reason,

"No, I'm not getting in the truck."

And according to the witnesses, he stomps over to her

like he's going to punch her,

but then that's when he reaches down and sets her on fire.

- So he thought about it. - Yeah.

Yeah.

And then, he went and got a fire extinguisher?

He sat there and watched her in flames,

and then a witness ran over.

And according to the witness,

he felt like his presence there

is what prompted Michael to run around

and get a fire extinguisher.

- Yeah. And just people came. - Right.

We talk in our system

about how defendants deserve zealous advocacy.

I believe victims deserve themselves advocates as well.

I could probably prosecute for another 20 years

and not get a case that is so right for the death penalty.

And really, for the first several months of this case,

we were--we were playing the delay game.

It sounds terrible,

but we were basically waiting for Judy to die

so that we could charge Mr. Slager with the homicide.

And we got a call one day that she was awake,

which is a call I never expected to get.

♪

First homicide case that I've handled

where I got to meet the victim.

So many surgeries and failed grafts.

- Dress from the front. - Ow!

And dressings were... beyond excruciating.

And I didn't--at that point, I don't think

she really understood that there was a case.

It had to be explained to her that Mr. Slager was in jail.

I remember her being emotional about that.

She--she actually felt bad for Mike at that point.

But at the same time, there was a level of fear,

so I reassured her

that I would do everything in my power

to keep him locked up.

That is probably how I ended up being the one

that had a bond with her.

Do you know how many surgeries you've had?

And you're aware that you have coded seven times.

Can you tell me about the pain that you live with?

♪

'Cause, like, you know, like,

if you get burnt by a cigarette or something,

and I thought it was just gonna be like that

on certain parts of her body.

And when I walked in, I definitely was like,

that's not my mom.

You just don't believe that that's

who they're telling you it is.

I need you to stop and come here.

- Okay, I'm coming. - All right.

You're being a brat.

One of my problem-- one of your problems is

that you don't want to deal with it,

'cause I can't--you--you--

I can't manage you if you don't deal with it.

And don't--I don't want you to start crying.

I don't want you to be upset. I just want--

I'm not.

I just want you to know, I get that you're angry.

I get that you're mad.

Nothing will ever be okay for what he did,

but if you ever wanna be happy,

you have to promise me you'll try to engage in therapy.

Okay.

- Is that fair? - Yes.

Judy's medical bills were well into the millions.

I've already--I'm gonna file for victim's assistance.

They sent me a standard form letter,

and it said they were sorry to inform me that if you have

any kind of illegal substance in your system in Ohio,

then you don't qualify as a victim.

They said the law is the law

and they absolutely would not give me a penny.

She was not perfect, but she was human.

And she was on her way to rehab when this happened.

Did you have a diagnosis and a--and a surgical procedure

when you were 27 years old?

Okay. And you had some complications

as a result of that surgery, correct?

Tell me what happened as a result

of those complications from the surgery.

She had told me, "Mom, I'm getting addicted

to this pain medicine."

And I said to her...

"Judy, it's fine." I'll never forget it.

I said, "Just take them as the doctor prescribes them.

"So it says four a day, take four a day.

It's fine."

I didn't know what it was.

So, like, I didn't know it was heroin

or I didn't--I had no idea what exactly she was doing,

but the sister that I knew was deteriorating.

I realized that she was a binge user

and she would go and use

and self-medicate whenever she needed.

We knew my sister, when she was in her addiction,

couldn't care for the girls the same way.

And so, I had helped with Maddie,

and then my mom had Kaylyn full-time.

♪

And we went to a place called Parkside,

and it was a private place.

And it was a lot of money, but she got sober.

And she was going to meetings,

like three, four, five meetings a week.

They got her on the right track,

and now she's living with the girls.

I think for the first time, throughout her whole addiction,

I felt like I had my sister back.

Well, one thing that I feel like I should have known

- before... - Bring it on. What?

Was about the whole drug thing.

Okay, let's talk about that. You want to?

Yeah, because I feel like

there's a lot of secrets that I didn't know.

Well, nothing was a secret, Maddie.

You had the right to know

when you were old enough to understand.

Kaylee, she still doesn't have the coping skills.

I mean, I understand she made a slight mistake.

Okay, so--but she--she--

I know she didn't wanna do them.

Like, she just got addicted somehow.

Age-appropriate. You know I'm always talking about,

to you and to Kaylee,

age-appropriate, age-appropriate.

When you were age-appropriate.

You could have been mature enough at 12,

or you could have been matured enough at 16.

Can't imagine being as young as your mom--

was in her 20s-- having two kids,

and, you know-- you know, her--

your dad left her and--and cheated on her.

She was very, very sick with ovarian cancer.

And then, you're too young to understand

what it's like to have a big, big surgery

and it throws your whole body out of whack.

She was in a lot of pain.

They're giving her lots and lots

and lots of pain medicine.

I did not know how strong

the-the opiate addiction was gonna be.

And you don't even know what an opiate is, do you?

- Mm-mm. - Yeah, so that's pain pills.

That's how she became addicted to pain medicine.

When you can't get it from a doctor,

you just go, and there's a street value

and you buy it on the street.

And I'm sorry, but you should have heard it

when you were age-appropriate.

I'm fine; I just wanna forget that

until I am age-appropriate to...

- That's smart. - Know that.

Like, the fact that we didn't know

that she was on her way to Parkside

that morning before seeing us.

Isn't that a rehab center?

It's rehab for drugs, alcohol,

and it is also for mental health.

But you never told us

that she was being taken to Parkside.

Maybe she didn't want you to know.

Afterwards, you should have told us.

Okay, afterwards they said she was going

to live seven hours.

You could have mentioned a little bit of it

because I thought that she was at her apartment

coming over to talk to us,

but that's not what was happening.

One reason I didn't tell you

is exactly the way you're acting now,

'cause you still don't get what your mom went through

or how she even became addicted to the opiates.

And it was so long ago

that when she got addicted to it more,

it was so full of people OD'ing that they had to set up tents

because so many people were dying of overdoses,

mothers just like yours.

- Is that not true? - Yeah.

And I know you're angry

and you don't know how to process all this,

and I'm trying to have compassion,

but this isn't about your mom, so let's keep her off trial.

Before she connected with Michael,

she was doing the best she had ever done.

♪

Um, everything went downhill

when Michael came into the picture.

So he began to, I would say, dote her.

like, just messaging her

and just everything, I guess, a girl wants to read,

especially, you know, where Judy was in her life,

you know, once they met.

I was like, "He looks like bad news, Judy."

Judy said, "You know, Mom,

you can't judge a book by their cover,"

and so on and so forth. and you know?

I said, "Well, I don't want the girls around him,

"anywhere near him.

"If you're gonna date him, I don't want the girls

anywhere near him."

He came over to my home.

And he pulled in my driveway, and he wanted to speak to me.

He said, "Just because I have tattoos

"or I look the way I look,

"that doesn't mean I'm a bad person.

"If you're a Christian and you have love,

why are you judging me by my tattoos?"

And I thought, wow, he's probably right.

You know, Jesus wouldn't want me to do that.

So I kind of fell in from that moment on,

like, okay, back off, Bonnie.

He knew just where to take me

to earn his trust,

and he knew just where to take to Judy

so that she would continue to depend on him and to need him.

That's when drugs and all that came into play.

This was a toxic relationship

that was centered around drug use

and basically Michael getting her addicted.

I don't think that Michael ever did drugs,

and I think that's an interesting portion

of everything, because he definitely preyed

on women that had addiction problems.

I didn't notice that she relapsed

until probably halfway through,

and he starts to play me against Judy.

He honestly started to play me.

"She's on drugs.

"I don't think I can wake her up.

"I don't think I can wake her up!

You better call 911."

As time went on, there was more and more of this.

She--you know, he would call me and say,

"She didn't come home. How dare her!"

So, I started thinking, bad Judy.

"Okay, Michael, I'll give you $60,"

pay the water bill,

having no idea that I was in this web.

I was giving him money to go buy her drugs.

How stupid of me was that?

♪

The first mark I'd seen on her was her face.

He bought her drugs, she relapsed,

so he had complete control over her.

That was his way of controlling her,

so that he could abuse her

and that he felt power over her.

If he was bringing the drugs, he had the power over her.

Judy had called me when he had choked her before.

He definitely had choked her before.

And I can remember her being so scared of him.

The police were called multiple times.

They never did make him leave.

She hid in hotels, left her own home.

So it was a volatile relationship.

I don't know to what extent, or if at all,

it actually ever got physical.

They argued a lot,

but I think Michael's position is

there was no domestic violence between the two of them.

...22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32.

So 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38.

So, it looks like the first instance

we dealt with Michael and Judy was in May of 2015.

Michael and Judy got into a fight and Judy took his car.

Michael did not wanna pursue charges at that point.

The very next day,

Michael called us to report Judy missing,

said he hadn't heard from her in a couple days.

So it appears to be a run log of 13 or so calls

between Michael and Judy.

A lot of the calls, Mike is the caller.

I can tell you, from my experience,

this is just another overt measure of control.

He's using law enforcement,

and moreover, the threat of law enforcement,

to-to maintain his power.

He knows what he's doing.

He's intelligent, he's calculating,

and he knows that he is painting this picture

that he is just the concerned boyfriend.

Near the end of May of 2015,

I had a lengthy conversation with Judy.

She had been stopped

driving one of Michael Slager's vehicles.

She was convinced that, even while we were on the phone,

Mike had sent someone to find her

and that he was watching her.

"Tell me about him, Judy. What do you see?

What cars do you see?" "No, I gotta go.

"I've gotta go.

He's here. He sent somebody for me."

She flat out said that if she left him

or he found out about this conversation,

that he would kill her.

And then, the call disconnected after that.

Called her back, I can't count how many times,

trying to get a hold of her.

I tried to pass along as much help to Bonnie,

based on my experience, that this is what she should do.

You know, sometimes a person just isn't ready.

Bonnie, you know,

probably more times than I even know about,

tried to get her out of that relationship.

♪

For whatever reason, Judy just wasn't leaving.

You know, call it lo--love, I-I don't--I--you know,

I wasn't--I'm not-- I wasn't in Judy's head.

Are you really asking me, "Is there anything

the police department could have done better?"

She told the detectives, over and over,

"He's going to kill me."

Nobody would even so much as pull him over,

talk to him.

They don't wanna listen.

"Oh, she's got a prior drug possession."

"Oh, she--you know what, she's on drugs."

She goes, "I didn't do that."

When police wouldn't listen to her

and detectives wouldn't listen to her,

Judy knew the only way to save her life from Michael--

not the drugs-- was to find a rehab.

That was the only safe place from abuse.

Sad, but true.

Parkside called, said they had a bed.

Michael picked her up and said, "I'll take you."

I remember thinking, he was never gonna take her there.

I remember thinking it was another one of his lies.

♪

And you know what?

The freak that I am,

I still can't go to a gas station.

I was interested in getting to the bottom

of, for one, who Slager was as a person,

to try to understand

how or why he could have done what he did to my sister.

So, the first thing I did was look at public record

to look at, like, what he had been charged with in the past.

This is Michael's career criminal history.

It's fairly in-depth and lengthy.

He has theft, domestic violence, menacing,

carrying a concealed weapon, aggravated menacing,

making a false police report, domestic violence,

aggravated menacing, assault, aggravated menacing,

inducing panic, domestic violence,

assault, domestic violence, assault, domestic violence,

rape--which was, I think, pled down to a sexual battery--

domestic violence, resisting arrest.

He had a sexual--he was a registered sex offender

at one point.

Petty theft, endangering children,

domestic violence, endangering children,

sexual battery, theft,

menacing, disorderly conduct,

aggravated menacing, stalking,

domestic violence, assault, domestic violence,

resisting arrest, sex offender--failure to notify--

aggravated burglary,

breaking and entering, breaking and entering,

theft, theft, receiving stolen property,

corrupt criminal activity, theft, passing bad checks,

obstructing official business, obstructing official business,

and then we get to the aggravated arson

and felonious assault.

A lot of jurors, I think, would say,

"Well, he did it before. He'll do it again,"

and we file a motion to keep that kind of information out.

You know, those admissibility rules

are-are designed to protect the defendant.

If Michael had convictions for assault

or-or domestic violence,

the jury would never have known.

We are frustrated with domestic violence

almost on a daily basis.

We do the best job we can.

We give that--at our level, we give them all the facts.

And then, what the courts do with it, the courts do with it.

♪

You can go home and punch your wife

in the face as hard as you can,

and as long as she didn't need surgery

or any type of permanent disfigurement,

that's a misdemeanor.

And in those cases, sentencing is usually extremely light.

We had a phone call with Warren Edwards,

and he explained to us that if Judy lived,

that might Michael could get 11 years plus 2,

and that was the maximum

that he could get under the state of Ohio,

that he could cause that amount of suffering to somebody

and be able to walk out and see daylight again.

It was crazy to me.

Michael Slager appeared in a Franklin County court today

on charges of aggravated arson and felonious assault.

This is 5CR3933 and 08CR3828,

state of Ohio versus Michael Slager.

If the grand jury had indicted on attempted murder,

then the state would have the burden

of proving that that was his intent,

that was what he wanted to do, was to make sure she was dead,

and that's just harder to prove.

To the indictment of aggravated arson, F1,

during this incident-- or I'm sorry...

He was taking her to rehab.

He was taking her to get inpatient help

for her drug addiction.

He meant to ignite her cigarette.

Whether he knowingly caused her serious physical harm,

like, that--you know, that would be kind of the angle.

And also, you know, remember, he went

and immediately got a fire extinguisher and put her out.

So if he's trying to hurt her, why is he putting her out?

This claim of Mr. Slager

that this was somehow an accidental ignition,

that she produced a-a-a cigarette

and, in that 32 seconds while he's off-frame,

that they somehow made up

and she asked for a light to the cigarette...

I said, she can refute it.

I said she can refute his--his def--

he is locked into this defense, and she is--she can refute it,

and I can't think of any other definitive evidence

that would do that.

The question then became,

was she gonna be available as a witness in our case?

We're preparing for jury trial.

We don't think she's gonna testify.

She was not in a condition that would allow her to testify,

and suddenly, her-her condition improved.

You know, she wanted to tell her story.

She--I think she--she fi--

wanted somebody to finally listen to her.

And we were actually prepared for trial that morning.

And at that time, Judy was gonna testify via video, live.

It's one thing, seeing something on TV.

And I know that this was gonna be video,

but the knowledge that that was happening in real time,

that there was this woman just a few miles away

on the other end of this video feed

that was going through what you're watching,

that the jury is gonna want somebody to answer for that--

I had to go back to Michael and say,

"Michael, look, she's gonna testify,

"and this jury is gonna hate you.

They're absolutely gonna hate you."

It really was a bluff.

We didn't know if she was gonna be able to testify

and we didn't know if it was gonna kill her.

And when I looked at Bob and said, "You know,

if he pled today, I wouldn't have a testimony."

And he said--he said, "Let me see if he'll buy that."

Michael understood that if she testified

and she was cross-examined--

if she later died, her testimony under oath

would be admissible in his murder trial.

so he decided to enter a plea of no contest,

We will stipulate that there is sufficient, factual basis

for this plea at this time.

And he doesn't have to say the word "guilty."

I mean--and that was somewhat important to him,

but more important was, you know, keeping Judy's testimony

out of a potential and very probable future murder trial.

In your previously-entered not guilty plea,

you're pleading a no contest plea in this matter?

- Correct, Your Honor. - Slager changed his plea

from not guilty to no contest.

And that way, he avoided a trial

and she was not able to testify.

He silenced her again.

And there was nothing we could do.

What are you gonna do?

Judy felt like, "He's doing it again.

"Look, he is manipulating me and the system again.

"He's controlling and pulling everybody's strings, Mom.

Everybody, right down to the prosecutors."

The Gahanna woman doused with gasoline

and set on fire will never get the chance

to testify against her ex in court.

But the truth of the matter is,

telling the story at that time

was not optimal for the case,

that having that testimony for months or years

before she passed would have given them--the defense--

an opportunity to prepare a defense

around Judy's testimony.

And the judge sentenced him to 11 years in jail.

Judy has a life sentence,

and her children have a life sentence.

And with domestic violence, it's ugly, it's cruel.

Everybody has a life sentence in this.

Mrs. Bowes was correct when she said

this girl has a life sentence.

The pain inflicted by burns--

there is no pain-- there's no pain like that.

And you've done it, and you haven't been sorry.

You've done all the things that clearly show

what a despicable individual you are.

And I see your record,

so I know you have a history of domestic violence.

You have a history of menacing.

Judge Julie was so distraught.

And she looked over at the prosecution

and said, "I blame legislators.

"I blame legislators that I cannot sentence him

or do more with this."

You really do seem like one of those people

that have no soul,

and you need to be incarcerated.

And that's all I have to say.

Take him out.

♪

Honey, sometimes there are no answers--

Both your girls need you, and I need you,

but sometimes there are no answers, Judy.

- How are you doing, my love? - Loving it.

Work it!

Go, Judy!

No, Judy. Don't be doing that.

No, no, no.

both: "Everybody!"

She was not happy, and we were--we were informed

she was not happy.

You know, Judy had a temper.

She wasn't afraid to tell me how she felt,

and she was angry that day.

I wasn't done,

and I made that clear in court

that we'd be coming back for more.

There was a strategic decision.

As far as I was concerned,

the case was unfolding to plan.

♪

No, Judy. No, no.

- Come on. - And you, dance!

But there was this part of her

that wanted to-to make it and to live,

to fight for every other woman

that had been through something like that.

She definitely wanted the law to change,

and she was willing to do whatever she needed to do

to help change the law.

Judy's Law would increase the maximum sentence

for felonious assault by 5 to 20 years

for people who intentionally maim or disfigure someone.

The law would not be retroactive,

meaning it won't have any impact on her case.

Still, Judy continues to fight

for other survivors of domestic violence.

You're the sister that I never had.

Doctors say they really have no medical explanation

as to how she is still alive, but Judy's mom, Bonnie Bowes,

says she believes that Judy is fighting

to see Judy's Law through to the very end.

This is a miracle, that she survived that

with her spirit intact,

her will to wanna help other people intact.

Women are strong.

Women are strong.

While we stand here today, my mom lays in a hospital bed,

where she has been for 609 days.

She has been in a lot of pain,

and every day is another fight to stay alive.

Mike committed a horrible crime

and only received an 11-year sentence.

Please pass my mom's law, because together,

we can prevent this from happening to other people.

With the slamming of the gavel,

Judy's Law moves on to the Senate

after a unanimous vote in the House.

Thank you, Senator Hughes.

Do you wanna say anything?

Uh... uh...that's...

That's nice.

A person only has so much resilience.

I just think her body was giving out before her spirit.

Cases are about will sometimes.

You've got to have the willpower to keep moving

to not be satisfied with something

that doesn't feel like justice.

She wanted to be heard, her mother wanted to be heard,

and I wasn't satisfied with 11 years.

♪

The prosecution explained to Judy and I

that there would be nothing

but Michael's story for a homicide trial.

And that's when they approached Judy

about testifying to her own homicide.

It was a long shot, 'cause it had never been done.

Nobody had ever testified

to their own homicide in the United States.

In Ohio, there isn't a criminal rule

with regard to preserving the testimony

of someone that we all knew was gonna pass

for future criminal prosecution.

There is, however, a civil rule, Rule 27,

used in preserving testimony of people injured

in insurance claims who later died,

things like asbestos claims or fire-related claims.

We were denied her testimony at the trial

when, at the last minute, there was no contest plea,

and we didn't have her testimony.

It was, at least I felt, a stroke of genius

to come up with the idea taking her deposition,

where she could testify from the grave,

at a subsequent homicide trial.

For Ron to get up and stake his professional reputation,

his career,

saying that we should be allowed

to set this precedent, was huge.

The man is such a legend in-in Franklin County

that when he gets up and speaks, everybody listens.

A woman who was set on fire, has been in the hospital now

for nearly 18 months,

will be able to tell her story in court.

She said, "Mom, I know

I haven't endured this much pain in vain."

Today, a Franklin County judge ruled

that Malinowski could give a deposition via video.

The biggest concern for us, as lawyers, was,

is she so under the influence of these pain medications

that she doesn't understand what's going on in court?

And again, this is a competency issue.

Is she competent to testify?

She had to come down off of the amount of pain meds

that she was on

to be lucid enough

to where she could speak under oath.

I know.

She was in horrible pain with the best

of the pain medicine.

You're gonna get five milligrams of gelatin.

I know.

It was hard to wean off her medication.

Most burn victims require

a really large amount of medication.

She-she had a high tolerance for it,

as common also with narcotic addicts,

so it was--it was part of her challenge too.

As a mother, you know your child.

Where was her limitation?

Could she do this, even though her intentions were good

to-to do this,

so that he would never hurt another person?

I think it was extremely courageous of her,

but I also--it doesn't surprise me at all.

Um, I think that was always the person that Judy was.

It was the night before her deposition was to be taken.

I'd stopped down to Ron's office,

and he was nervous.

He was thinking about pulling the plug on it.

And I think he was concerned that

if it wasn't gonna go well,

we didn't wanna embarrass her or anybody else.

And so, it made me mad.

I got in the car, went back to the hospital,

and videotaped her.

Tell me your name and that you're ready to testify.

Tomorrow. All right.

And I showed it to Ron, and I said, "She's ready.

"You know, I know what I'm doing.

We got this."

There. There you go.

Originally, they said, "Well, we want Michael present

in the hospital room."

Actually, I took that as an intimidation tactic.

Michael wanted to be there.

Michael said, "Look, I've got a right to be there."

Right of confrontation.

He wanted to see her testify.

And more importantly, he wanted her to see that he was there.

And he--his--his belief was, "She won't lie if I'm there."

And in fact, at that point, while we were arguing,

that Michael wanted to cross-examine her himself.

The judge thankfully overruled his motion,

and no one was allowed to the hospital room

during the deposition.

All right. Let's go on the record.

They sealed that door, and, oh, my gosh, it was like

leaving my child to drown in the middle of a--an ocean.

This is Magistrate Elizabeth Waters.

I'm going to swear you in.

Could you please raise your right hand

to the extent that you possibly can?

Do you solemnly swear or affirm

the testimony you're about to give in this deposition

will be the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth, as you shall answer to God

or under penalty of perjury?

Thank you.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Warren Edwards, Ron O'Brien, Casey Chapter,

and Michael M. Bonnett for the state of Ohio.

And counsel for the respondent.

Bob Krapence on behalf of Michael Slager.

Okay, you need to push the button when you're talking.

Please note our ongoing objection to this procedure,

including any objection to any irregularities,

starting with swearing the witness, saying,

"All the way through the conclusion of her testimony."

Thank you.

I don't think it was necessary.

I thought the evidence that the state had was enough,

without putting her through that.

Sunday, August 2nd, 2015. Do you recall that day?

Okay.

And on that day, were you with Mr. Slager?

When you were with Mr. Slager,

you indicated that the two of you stopped at Speedway.

What-what did you stop there for?

Your--your-- you smoke cigarettes, correct?

You used to do it?

What happened as you stood behind that Speedway?

You threw a pop on him?

Did you splash it on him or actually throw the pop at him?

Okay. What was his reaction to this?

And what did he do?

The gasoline in your throat burned really bad?

And what's his demeanor

as he's pouring the gasoline on you?

And...

After he poured the gasoline on you,

what happens next?

Did you make up with him in any way during these 30 seconds

between him pouring gasoline on you

and pulling out the lighter and setting you on fire?

Did you have a cigarette?

Did you ask for a light?

Was his approaching you with that lighter accidental,

that he tripped or anything like that?

Okay.

Okay--

Okay.

♪

Mike saw pictures in the media of her

many years ago-- beautiful girl--

and then pictures of her as she was after the incident

and those two juxtaposed.

And he said, "Look, they don't know

"about the intervening thing.

"Do they understand that she was doing drugs?

"Do they understand she was addicted?

Does the media understand I was trying to help her?"

I wanna tell the jury in closing argument,

she lied or she was mistaken.

Now, I don't like to call somebody a liar,

but whether you're lying or mistaken,

you know what they have in common?

You can't rely on it. It's unreliable.

Unfortunate, but it's true.

We can't rely on it. That type of thing.

Miss Malinowski, can you see me?

Okay. My name is Bob Krapence.

I don't--I believe we've never met or talked before, correct?

I've organized some questions,

and I hope to keep it to the point, pretty quick,

but if I skip around a little bit, I apologize.

I don't mean to.

If you have any questions

or you're not sure what I'm asking you, okay,

please ask me to repeat it or rephrase it.

Fair enough?

Okay.

Okay.

Did you start stealing money from Mike?

Mike gave you money?

My question is, you stole money from Mike, correct? Okay?

Did you steal property or money from your mother?

When Michael called the police in May--

I think May 29th, 2015-- because of your behavior...

Okay.

Can you--can you tell us what you were wearing

that morning of August 2nd?

All right.

Do you remember getting dressed that morning?

Don't remember what-- where you went to do drugs,

but you knew it was a bathroom of some kind, correct?

Okay. It would be fair to say that the trauma you've suffered

has affected your memory?

Okay, that it has affected your ability

to recall events accurately?

Would you agree that,

because of the trauma that you have suffered,

your ability to recall events accurately

has been compromised?

Okay--

I understand. What--what I'm trying to get to is--

Okay--

I appreciate that. Ma'am, I...

I just remember walking out, thinking, that was awful.

That was horrible. I didn't wanna do it.

Glad it was all over.

I felt bad for her from day one.

I mean, I absolutely felt bad for her.

I don't know who didn't feel bad for her.

I'll-I'll talk to you later about it, okay?

Yeah.

Three hours of questioning.

I couldn't interrupt.

I couldn't knock on the door and see if anybody was--

if--if she was okay.

And when I went in there,

I walked around the side of that bed, and I--

she just grabbed me

as best she could with her physical limitations,

and her entire burned body just shook.

And I remember, she just cried and cried and cried,

and shook and cried.

I think Judy went back down the path of,

"Did I deserve this?

Am I really a bad person?"

Medically, it set her back. Absolutely.

I think Judy expressed

being tired of fighting and in pain.

But she would not say to me, "Mom, I wanna give up.

I wanna stop," because she knew that--

she knew what that would do to me.

At times, I thought my mom was selfish

because I thought that she just didn't want my sister

to pass away.

And to me, I felt that enough was enough.

And I-I can remember asking my mom and dad

why they don't put people to sleep

like they put dogs to sleep

and why they couldn't just up my sister's pain medicine

when we knew that she was gonna pass away.

And they told me that she--

she can't basically die from medicine

because that could impact his murder trial.

After nearly 60 surgeries and two years in the hospital,

Judy has been moved to a care facility

and is no longer getting medical treatment.

♪

So they asked me to sign these papers,

and I said, "No, I will not sign these hospice papers."

So Judy, with one-- her arm was amputated

'cause it was burnt at the bottom--

she said, "Mom, I will," and she put an X.

And I know Judy, because Judy would have normally tried

to do her name, and she just put an X

and handed it back.

Judy Malinowski's family now says

they're coming to a fork in the road.

Kind of slipped down a spiral hill.

We're either gonna have to make a choice

to let God and nature take its choice,

or hopefully she'll pull out of it

and we'll be able to move forward.

I said, "Okay, Judy.

I'll hold your hand and hope Jesus takes the other."

And...

And I stood up, and only for a second.

And I turned-- I let go of Judy's hand

and I turned--and Judy was breathing in okay--

and I turned.

And I went and picked up her hand, and I looked,

and Beth looked, and--and--

I mean, I'm talking seconds, just...

She was gone.

♪

I don't--

You all right, Mads?

I love you.

Oh.

Mm, you're allowed to be sad.

Well, a new chapter

in one family's long fight for justice

since the man accused of burning a woman alive

faces a judge, now charged with murder.

Michael Slager is facing the death penalty.

Michael William Slager, 17CR5335.

Two counts of aggravated murder

with death specifications and two counts of murder.

Michael was adamant that he was innocent

and he wanted a trial.

So the state said,

"Okay we want the death penalty."

And he didn't waver.

"I'm innocent. I want a trial."

Can a person be able to testify at the trial

of the suspect accused of killing them?

A potential historic decision.

So we knew how horrible this thing was,

and we knew that we don't want a jury to see this.

The prosecutor, Ron O'Brien,

calls this case "unprecedented."

The defense attorneys will fight like heck

to keep that testimony of the victim excluded

from any jury trial.

I went to every single hearing,

every single one, right down to--

we had a hearing to see, I think,

if he could wear a suit or something

into the courtroom.

And he was at all those,

and so, I made it sure that I was at all those,

because I felt like I needed to be Judy, sitting there.

Your Honor, this is what I will share.

These kind of cases don't come before this court, ever.

And in death penalty cases,

the Supreme Court has recognized

that more of being processed, more protection is due,

not less protection be afforded to Mr. Slager.

The criminal defendant's right to confrontation

is of paramount importance,

but the defendant, in this case,

did have an opportunity to confront the accuser,

to subject her to cross-examination.

Two-thirds of the deposition consist of cross-examination.

Thank you, God.

Now on "10," an emotional debate

leads to a groundbreaking court ruling.

A jury will hear the testimony of Judy Malinowski.

So you're aware right now

he's going to plead no contest?

We've said, "No, it has to be a guilty plea."

Right, I feel like

Michael has not taken accountability for anything.

And Casey said we'll make sure

the judge knows your position.

Once we're done, once I have an update,

- I'll give you a call. - Uh-huh.

And take care. I'll talk to you in a little bit.

Okay, thanks.

Hey, little buddy.

Are you feeling sad?

Your heart is broke?

Why is your heart broke?

Because Judy?

You miss Judy?

I miss Judy too, but you know what?

After Mommy goes to court

and the bad guys get their punishment,

will you feel better, baby?

Uh-huh.

♪

When you're representing somebody,

and the government says, "We want to put this guy

to death," you know,

you go to bed thinking about the case

and you wake up thinking about the case.

I think if we went to trial, there was a good chance

that a jury would return a verdict for death.

We had been asking the prosecutor early on,

you know, give us an offer, make us an offer,

but you know, Mike said, "I'm not--

"I can't admit I did this knowingly.

I didn't do this knowingly. I--I'm not gonna say that."

And so, we kind of started working hard on Michael

to swing his head around.

And he had a--he had a good relationship with his daughter.

And so we--we brought her now,

and then we got permission from the judge

and from the sheriffs to bring her in

and have a conversation with him

with the sole objective of saying,

you know, "Dad, don't die."

Here's a guy who did this horrible thing,

making a decision of life and death

and how it affects, you know, his kids.

And that's--it's just hard.

I'm gonna call your grandpa.

I'm gonna put him on speaker.

- Hello? - Hey.

I-I have not told the girls anything,

and I thought I would tell you at the same time.

Ron O'Brien has reached out to me

and said that Michael is willing to plead guilty,

says, You know what, I was fighting for all along."

And he's willing to do life in prison

with no chance of parole

in exchange for the death penalty being off the table.

Her testimony will be unsealed and given to the family.

I told Ron I would like it played or shown when he pleas,

but will he really do that?

I don't know. Do you?

Yeah, what he said before,

and he got two different things, so...

You know, Mr. O'Brien is-- says there's a 50/50 shot

that he could back out on this guilty plea, that--

Oh, for sure.

- I still have a question. - Okay.

You know how, like,

he'll probably have life with no parole?

Uh-huh.

Would it still be okay if, like,

he wrote letters to his family?

- Mm-hmm. - Is that still up?

I would think so, yeah.

Yeah, because not able to see anybody or go out.

He can still write letters and stuff.

- He can still see people too. - David?

But it's life with no parole.

Parole is, he can't get out.

He can't get out, but his family can still go

- and visit him. - Oh.

Yeah, that kind of stinks,

'cause you can't see your mommy.

Yeah, that's the thing. It's not fair.

If he--if we don't get to see part of our family,

he shouldn't get to see his family.

Yeah, but it doesn't bring back our family either.

Yeah, but it just makes it fair.

Life in prison would mean nothing to him

because he's already been in prison multiple times.

Just say you want the death penalty

'cause you're mad 'cause your mom is gone.

No, he deserves the death penalty.

So, do you believe in the death penalty?

Not in all cases, but in this case.

If he had the gut to do that to somebody,

somebody should have the gut to do it to him.

- Who told you that? - No, I-I made that up.

I don't think we should get all worked up about it

because who knows what he'll do,

and whatever he does is in God's hands anyway.

God--God's already sorted this out.

Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow

in the murder trial of Michael Slager.

Judge Guy Reece sent out a notice late last night

that there has been an important development.

The hearing had suddenly and unexpectedly

been scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Heavenly Father, and Son, and...

all: Holy spirit. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

♪

You may be seated.

The state of Ohio versus Michael Slager,

case number 17CR5335.

If you would, I would ask you to play the video.

Judy, can you tell me about the pain that you live with?

Objection.

I...

And not...

I don't want an eye for an eye.

I don't want malice. I don't want harm on him.

I heard that he's not sorry.

I really want to understand

why and how he cannot be sorry.

I want him to be sorry.

I guess I want him to be sorry

because she was a human being.

Judy, I would just like you to state here,

if you were to die from your injuries

and Mr. Slager were to be convicted of having done that,

I want you to tell a future judge

what you want to see happen to Mr. Slager.

Okay. Thank you, Judy.

Yeah.

She didn't believe in the death penalty.

And while I very much think Michael Slager deserved to die

for what he did, I think she had the right

to tell the judge, who ultimately would impose

the sentence, what penalty she wanted.

I think the best thing for Michael, unfortunately,

was that that deposition was taken,

that she said what she said.

And-and that ended up-- all those rulings

that we were fighting against so hard

probably combined in some way to save his life.

I think we're done here. You can kill the feed.

Thank you.

Sir, what's your plea...

- Guilty. - To one count

of aggravated murder without capital specification?

- Guilty. - You understand

- Yes, Your Honor. - You will spend

the rest of your natural life incarcerated.

Life in prison with no chance of parole

is the sentence for the man convicted

in the murder of Judy Malinowski.

My mom taught me that you could stand up to anybody.

Malinowski gets her wish.

Slager avoids the death penalty

but will go to prison for life.

Do I think he's innocent?

Um...

Yeah, no.

No, I can't-- I-I find it hard to buy.

I find it hard to buy as--

as I would find it hard to sell to a jury.

If that happened to a loved one of mine,

that sentence wouldn't be enough.

I mean, it just wouldn't be enough.

I don't know what sentence would be enough, though.

There are people in the system,

and the system itself,

that will fight for people like Judy--

people who aren't perfect,

who aren't saints, who have baggage.

I'm proud of the fact that, you know, whether we needed it

to prove the case or not, that she got to tell her story

and that she got what she felt was justice.

Yeah, hi. Good afternoon.

Was this the right outcome?

Yeah, it's what-- it was the right outcome

because it was what Judy wanted.

How important was it to you

to hear the word "guilty" come out of his mouth?

You know, that held up a lot in negotiations

because I could not accept anything but a guilty plea.

It had to be guilty or not guilty.

There's just no one in between.

* When I find in trouble

♪ Sister Judy comes to me

♪ Speaking words of wisdom, let it be ♪

♪ In my hour of darkness

♪ She's standing right in front of me ♪

♪ Whisper words of wisdom

♪ Oh, guess you let it be

♪

Oh, hey, everybody. How's it going?

both: "Hi, everybody!"

"How's it going?" both: "Everybody."

♪

- Mama, did you get that? - No, I haven't.