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Posted by: kwflatbed

By Brian Fraga
Standard-Times staff writer
April 10, 2008 6:00 AM

NEW BEDFORD — Three months after she was doused with rubbing alcohol and lit ablaze inside her own apartment, a now disfigured city woman has left the hospital and given police enough information to arrest her alleged attackers.
Police say Bonnie M. Germano, 38, formerly of 18 Holly St., threw a lit packet of matches onto the victim, who had been doused with rubbing alcohol, allegedly by her own boyfriend. The attack caused a fire that left the woman hospitalized for three months and permanently scarred with burns all over her body.
Ms. Germano faces a dangerousness hearing in District Court today after being arrested this week in the horrific attack, which police say occurred Dec. 6. Arrest warrants also have been issued for two New Bedford men: Ms. Germano's boyfriend and the victim's boyfriend.
"This level of atrocity and viciousness transcends even what I would expect to come from a crack-crazed domestic batterer," said New Bedford police spokesman Lt. Jeffrey P. Silva.
"It's among one of the most heinous crimes I've ever heard of in my time as a police officer."
According to court records, the victim, whose name is being withheld by The Standard-Times, suffered severe burns to her legs, torso and neck and was airlifted to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. After months of waiting to speak to her, detectives were finally able to interview the victim in mid-March, a week after she left the hospital, court records said.
The victim told police she was outside her Holly Street apartment building when Ms. Germano and her boyfriend, who lived in the building, confronted her and began arguing, court records state.
During the argument, she said Ms. Germano's boyfriend, Kenneth Whalley, 38, of New Bedford, struck her across the back with a stick, causing her to fall to the ground. She said Ms. Germano and Mr. Whalley kicked her as she lay on the ground, court records said.
At that point, the victim's live-in boyfriend, Michael Barboza, 45, also of New Bedford, arrived and told the three to go inside the apartment, police said.
Inside her own apartment, the victim argued with her boyfriend because she did not want Ms. Germano and Mr. Whalley there. The victim also was upset because the other three individuals were talking about smoking crack cocaine, court records state.
The argument quickly escalated, according to police.
Mr. Barboza walked to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He poured it all over the victim, court records stated.
At that point, Ms. Germano was given a box of matches by Mr. Whalley, who told her to "burn the bitch," court records state.
Police said Ms. Germano lit the matches and threw them on the victim, who quickly became engulfed in flames. She screamed for help, but Ms. Germano and Mr. Whalley ran out of the apartment, according to police.
Mr. Barboza yelled to a neighbor to call 911, police reported.
Later, Mr. Barboza told officers she had set herself on fire after pouring the rubbing alcohol on herself, police said.
Lt. Silva said that, as she was being driven to the hospital, medics asked the victim why she would burn herself, and she answered, "I didn't do it," but she didn't say who did.
It was only after she was released from the hospital that she described the attack in detail, Lt. Silva said.
Police said Ms. Germano is the only suspect arrested in the case so far. She is charged with mayhem and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. If deemed to be dangerous, she will be held without bail for up to 90 days, while awaiting trial.
Police have issued arrest warrants for Mr. Barboza and Mr. Whalley, who will both be charged with mayhem and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, Lt. Silva said.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/...NEWS/804100354

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Police arrest remaining two suspects


Kenneth Whalley, 38, of New Bedford was arraigned Friday on charges of mayhem and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon related to the burning of a New Bedford woman on Dec. 6, 2007.

By Brian Fraga
Standard-Times staff writer
April 12, 2008 6:00 AM

NEW BEDFORD — Police have captured the remaining two suspects charged with burning and disfiguring a city woman in a horrific attack in December.
Kenneth Whalley, 38, of New Bedford, was arraigned Friday in District Court after he turned himself in to police. He is being held at the Bristol County House of Corrections pending a dangerousness hearing on charges that include mayhem and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
On Thursday, police arrested Michael A. Barboza, 45, of 1757 Acushnet Ave. on the same charges. He is also charged with witness intimidation for allegedly threatening the victim, his former live-in girlfriend.
Bonnie Germano, 38, formerly of 18 Holly St., was the first suspect arrested in connection with the brutal Dec. 6, 2007, attack. She and Mr. Barboza are both being held without bail pending dangerousness hearings on April 15.
According to court records, the three suspects assaulted the 50-year-old victim following an argument outside their Holly Street apartment building. Police say Mr. Barboza poured rubbing alcohol on the victim. Ms. Germano then allegedly set her on fire with a packet of matches Mr. Whalley had given her.
The suspects told police they did not set the victim on fire. Mr. Barboza said the victim lit the match to herself after dousing herself with the rubbing alcohol. The three suspects also said the victim was drug-addicted and had tried killing herself in the past, according to police reports.
But based on police interviews with the victim and the suspects, detectives felt they had probable cause to issue arrest warrants for the three individuals. The warrants were approved in New Bedford District Court on April 2.
New Bedford police spokesman Lt. Jeffrey P. Silva said he discounts suggestions that the victim fabricated the story of how she was set on fire.
"There is drug use in and among all the people involved, from the information that we've gathered," Lt. Silva said. "But there is no reason to believe that this is anything other than a vicious example of domestic abuse."
Police records show Ms. Germano, Mr. Whalley, Mr. Barboza and the burn victim all have prior arrests for drug possession.
According to court records, during the ambulance ride after she was burned, the victim was asked by medics why she would burn herself. The victim responded, "I didn't do this to myself." But when asked who had burned her, she refused to answer.
It was not until mid-March, after she had spent three months recovering in a Boston-area hospital, that the victim contacted police detectives and told them her story, court records said.
According to reports, the medics who treated the victim spoke to police and said the victim, while she was inside her apartment, had had a "very scared look" on her face and would become quiet whenever Mr. Barboza was in view.
The medics also told police they had transported the same victim to the hospital on Nov. 17, 2007, after receiving a call that she had cut herself. Police reports said when the medics arrived, they found the apartment trashed, with items thrown about and a window smashed. They said the victim was cooperative, but would stop talking when Mr. Barboza was present.
Court records indicate Mr. Barboza has 15 domestic violence arrests since 1998.
Mr. Barboza spoke with detectives the day after the incident, and denied several times that he was responsible for the burning, according to police reports.
Mr. Barboza told police the victim got out of bed, ran to the bathroom and began cutting her hair off. He said the victim walked out of the bathroom holding a bottle of rubbing alcohol, then poured it on herself. He said she grabbed a nearby box of matches and set herself ablaze.
Mr. Barboza also told police the victim had tried killing herself in the past, court records said.
However, police charged Mr. Barboza based on the victim's statement, as well as allegations of witness intimidation.
Court reports indicate Mr. Barboza made repeated phone calls to the victim's parents in an attempt to talk with her. When the parents asked him to stop calling, he had someone else make the calls, according to court records.
In addition, a police report said the burn victim was boarding a bus on April 3 when a green pickup truck pulled up, and the driver — allegedly Mr. Barboza — rolled down the window and yelled, "You are (expletive) dead!"
The woman had recently left the hospital, where she was treated for the severe burns that left permanent scarring on her neck, torso and legs. She was not able to talk for months because her throat had been damaged by the smoke and fire, court records said.

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