Apr 10, 2008 3:13 pm US/Eastern
Woman Lit On Fire Identifies Attackers
NEW BEDFORD (WBZ) ―
-
-
Bonnie Germano and Michael Barboza
WBZ
A New Bedford woman who was doused with rubbing alcohol and set on fire in her own apartment last December has recovered enough to identify her alleged attackers. Now police have arrested two people - one of them is the victim's former boyfriend.
Bonnie Germano, 38, and Michael Barboza, 45, are now in police custody. Barboza, the victim's former live-in boyfriend, was arrested Thursday morning.
Germano was apprehended earlier this week. A dangerousness hearing scheduled for Thursday was postponed until next week because her lawyer was unavailable.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for Germano's boyfriend, Kenneth Whalley, 38, of New Bedford.
Police say the victim suffered severe burns over her entire body in the attack and spent more than three months at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Because of her condition, investigators were unable to interview her until mid-March.
According to the New Bedford Standard Times, the victim told police that the argument began outside her apartment, when she was confronted by Germano and Whalley, who lived in the same building. Then Barboza, who lived with the victim, arrived and ordered all three inside. The argument, according to the victim, quickly escalated.
She told police that Barboza poured a bottle of rubbing alcohol over her. Whalley then allegedly handed Germano a box of matches and told her to burn the victim. That's when the victim told police that Germano threw a lit match on her.
Lt. Jeffrey Silva, a police spokesman, said it was among the most "heinous" crimes he's ever seen.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
