AS a child, Amanda Bohm stood helplessly by as mum Janet was abused, chased with a hammer and threatened with murder by her alcoholic husband.
She begged her beloved mum to leave violent drunk Carl before it was too late – but when she finally plucked up the courage to file for divorce, Janet paid with her life.
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In February 2019 Carl, 68, lured estranged wife Janet, 58, into the garage, having poured petrol on the floor, and threatened to torch her.
When Amanda, then 18, intervened, her father flicked a lighter and all three went up in flames.
Amanda, from Nebraska, US, suffered third degree burns to her ankles, while Janet received third degree burns to 65 per cent of her body.
Sadly, Janet died two years later, after succumbing to her injuries.
In January 2022, Carl Bohm pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree arson and assault, but died days later, while awaiting sentencing in prison.
Now 22-year-old Amanda, from Nebraska, US, is speaking out to raise awareness of domestic violence.
The healthcare worker says: “My father was an evil man. He terrorised me and my mother for years.
“He was never going to let her go.”
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Hammer threat
Growing up, Amanda and her mum were best friends.
But she wasn’t close to her alcoholic father.
When Amanda was nine, she witnessed her dad follow her mum and threaten her with a hammer during an argument.
Eventually, aged 12, Amanda begged her mother to leave her father.
She says: “I told her he was a bully and would never change. I even threatened to run away if she didn’t, but she told me it wasn’t that simple.
“I thought she was making excuses, but didn’t realise how scared she was of him.”
Years passed and Carl continued to terrorise his wife – even making death threats against her.
Amanda witnessed him threaten to shoot her and “dispose of the body out the back.”
Then, one night, in summer 2017, Amanda and her mum returned home from shopping to find Carl throwing all their belongings into a 6ft bonfire he’d made in the garden.
Afterwards, Amanda’s mother, Janet, filed for a protection order against her husband.
But for reasons unknown, it was dismissed by the court and Carl carried on living in the house.
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Fireball
In December 2018, Janet plucked up the courage to start divorce proceedings.
But on 24th of February 2019, the day before she was to hand in the paperwork finalising the end of their marriage, Janet and Carl had an argument.
In the early hours of the morning, Amanda spotted her mum and dad go into the garage.
Amanda remembers: “I followed them and spotted a large puddle of liquid on the floor. Then I saw the gas cans.
“Mum yelled at me, ‘Get the lighter!’
“She was wrestling with Dad, so I jumped in to try and get it off him.”
Moments later, Carl flicked the flint and all three were engulfed in flames.
Amanda’s hair and legs were on fire.
She ran outside and dropped to the floor, before patting herself out.
She says: “Mum was still on fire and was desperately rolling in the snow to put it out.
‘Her clothes were melted to her body and her hair was completely singed off.”
Amanda called the emergency services and within minutes, she and Janet were blue-lighted to St. Elizabeth’s Regional Medical Center, while Carl fled.
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Fighting for life
Janet had suffered third degree burns to 65 per cent of her body and was put into an induced coma.
Her chances of survival were slim.
Meanwhile, Amanda suffered third degree burns to her ankles.
Amanda says: “Officers took my statement and told me Dad had been arrested.
“They told me he was being treated for his burns at another hospital but I didn’t care how he was, all I could think about was Mum.”
Two weeks later, Amanda underwent skin graft surgery on her ankles.
Over the following three months later, Janet had over 70 operations where she received multiple skin grafts using pig and donor skin.
She survived stomach and organ failure, burst lungs, dialysis and Covid-19.
When she finally woke up in May 2019, she had a permanent tracheotomy and had to learn to walk, talk and eat again.
In September that year, Carl was charged with two counts of 1st degree arson and assault. But he denied the charges.
Amanda says: “Mum was determined to get well enough to face him in court, but I never wanted to see him again.”
A year later, Janet was discharged and Amanda became her full-time carer.
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Tragic outcome
Every day, her mother got stronger.
Then, in October 2021, while the pair took a trip together to Colorado for Amanda’s 21st birthday, her mum passed away from her injuries.
Amanda remembers: “I was clearing out her suction tube from her tracheotomy when her face turned red.
‘She started gasping for air, so I grabbed the oxygen mask but she continued spluttering for breath.
“Within seconds, she was gone.
“My world was shattered.”
In January 2022, Carl Michael Bohm finally pleaded guilty, but died a week later in prison before he was sentenced.
Amanda says: “After what he did to me and my mother, my dad didn’t deserve to be alive.
“Now I want to beg anyone in a violent relationship to leave before it’s too late.”
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