Documentary about Columbus woman who died after being set on fire to premier on Paramount+
A documentary account of a New Albany mother of two who died some 22 months after she was brutally attacked and set afire by an ex-boyfriend in 2015 in Gahanna will soon be premiering on Paramount+.
“The Fire that Took Her,” an MTV Documentary Films production directed by Patricia E. Gillespie, tells the story of Judy Malinowski, 33, who died June 27, 2017. Her ex-boyfriend Michael W. Slager doused her with gasoline and set her on fire with a lighter on Aug 2, 2015 after the two argued behind a Gahanna business.
'The Fire that Took Her': Documentary revisits Judy Malinowski's battle for justice
Though the fire disfigured her and resulted in more than 50 surgeries and left her hospitalized the rest of her life, she packed the 22 months afterwards with numerous emotional victories that included giving a video deposition that helped lead to Slager's conviction and a change in Ohio law. "Judy's Law," which was passed shortly after her death, enhanced penalties in felonious assault cases where victims suffer permanent disfigurement or are incapacitated because accelerant was used.
The 2022 film will be released on May 23 on the streaming service Paramount+.
But a screening in central Ohio scheduled for May 18 will provide an opportunity to see the documentary before its Paramount+ debut. "The Fire that Took Her" is scheduled to be shown at 7 p.m. on May 18 at the Palace Theatre in downtown Marion. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and admission is free.
Gillespie will be part of a panel discussion, along with Malinowski’s mother, Bonnie Bowes, and Marion County Common Pleas Court Judge Warren T. Edwards, both of whom are featured in the film. At the time, Edwards was an assistant prosecuting attorney in Franklin County who prosecuted Slager.
Before her death, Malinowski recorded a video not only testifying against her attacker but asking that Slager be spared the death penalty and instead sentenced to life in prison, which he eventually was after he was convicted of aggravated murder.
The documentary features graphic video footage of Malinowski on her death bed telling her own story, as well as disturbing video evidence of her being set on fire.
Featured in the film along with Bowes and Edwards is Detective Chad Cohagen from the Gahanna Division of Police, along with several other people who had direct contact with Malinowski during the two-year period following her attack.
Edwards praised the film for elevating Malinowski's voice beyond the courtroom proceedings, and hopes the documentary raised awareness of the perniciousness of domestic violence.
"When people saw her in the film after she had been burned, they gasped and cried in the theater," Edwards said. "Just the sight of Judy was so impactful, but her voice and her message were equally impactful. Her voice being heard meant more to her than even the outcome of the case. It meant so much to her to be able to tell her side of the event and what led up to it.
Gillespie has been busy promoting the documentary ahead of its release on Paramount+ on May 23. In the past year, she has attended many film festivals and screenings along with Bowes to push the message out to the public and to state lawmakers. She said the documentary has gained significant traction.
"It's one of those films that really gains ground by word of mouth. I think stories like Judy's and in general stories about women get lifted up and brought to the front as much as we promote them," said Gillespie, a Brooklyn, New York-based documentary filmmaker. "And not just me as a filmmaker, but people talking about it online, people telling their friends, 'You gotta go see this thing.'"
ecarter@gannett.com
@AndrewACCarter
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Film about Columbus domestic violence victim to debut on Paramount+
