When Dorothy Spinella, a mother of one, finished a night shift at the restaurant where she worked, she had no idea what horror awaited her outside.
Her obsessive boyfriend and former colleague William Helmer, 67, was lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce.
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Moments later, the monster doused 67-year-old Dorothy with kerosene, before setting her on fire.
Dorothy, from Michigan, US, suffered third-degree burns to 49% of her body, with only an 18% chance of survival.
After nearly three months in a coma, she defied the odds and woke up.
In November 2023, Helmer was convicted of assault with intent to murder and sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison.
Now, five years after the attack, Dorothy has been left scarred for life, but she is determined not to let the experience ruin her future.
“I finally get justice for what he did to me,” she says. “I have my life in front of me while he rots in prison. I am so grateful that I survived.”
Dorothy met Helmer, known to his friends as “Rusty”, in March 2019, after he moved in next door to her best friend.
The couple hit it off and Helmer would often go to stores for her and pick up some cigarettes.
He quickly offered her a ride to and from her workplace in a restaurant.
“He would often sit and wait for me to finish my shift, so I would invite him to dinner,” she says.
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Within two months he admitted that he liked her.
Dorothy just wanted them to remain friends, and told him she wanted to build a friendship instead.
Weeks later, Dorothy was having problems with her landlady, so Helmer offered her a place to stay.
“At first we were fine,” Dorothy says. I paid half the rent and bills, and burdened myself with cooking and cleaning.
“However, whenever we went out in public together, he would introduce me as his ‘girlfriend.’ Not wanting any drama, or hurting his feelings, I didn’t correct him.
Turn dark
Three months later, after an argument, Dorothy woke up startled. Helmer threw a cup of cold water at her face.
“He was angry and shouted, ‘If I don’t sleep, no one will sleep,’” she recalls. I didn’t want to anger him further, so I remained silent.
The next day Dorothy decided to go out. She stayed for a week at a friend's and heard nothing from Helmer.
Shortly after, he asked her for forgiveness and convinced her to come back. But when Helmer began pressuring Dorothy to sleep with him, she moved into her own place.
Within days, he began stalking her in his car and bombarding her with calls and texts.
One time, when her boyfriend drove her to work, he parked the car in the driveway.
She says: “When we sounded the horn for him to move, he jumped out and hit the car window screaming: ‘You bastard!’” “I was terrified.”
By the time police arrived, Helmer had fled. They advised Dorothy to take out a protective order, but she deemed it useless.
One night, soon after, she answered one of his calls.
When we honked the horn for him to move, he jumped out and hit the car window screaming “You bitch!” “I was terrified.”
Dorothy Spinella
“He said, ‘You know I'm going to lure you out of the house and ruin you.’ I just hoped he'd get bored and leave me alone,” she says.
But later that week, he showed up at her workplace and tried to fire her, telling her boss she was stealing from the till.
Helmer was banned and removed from the restaurant. Then he tried to kick her out of her house.
Evil attack
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Two weeks later, in November 2019, Dorothy finished her shift.
As she headed out the back of the restaurant, she heard a male voice say “b***h.”
She spun around and spotted Helmer. Suddenly, she felt a chemical liquid spray on her face.
“Then I heard the sound of a lighter, and I saw it was yellow and it was on fire,” she recalls. “I fell to the ground, rolling around, screaming like a banshee.”
Eventually, some of her colleagues extinguished the fire using a bucket of mop water.
She was taken to Detroit Medical Center and placed in an induced coma. She was diagnosed with third-degree burns to nearly half her body.
In the first month, she was on the verge of death, and only had an 18% chance of survival.
Then I heard the sound of a lighter, saw it turned yellow and caught fire. I fell to the ground, rolling, screaming like a banshee.
Dorothy Spinella
Soon after, Dorothy underwent numerous skin grafts using donated pig skin, and had countless blood transfusions to save her life.
Three months later, she was brought.
“I woke up with my whole body wrapped in bandages, my arms in splints and a tube in my throat,” she says.
“I looked around the room, noticed the Christmas cards and the New Year's banner, and realized I had missed months.”
Fight for justice
A few weeks later, Dorothy gave a statement to police, who confirmed that Helmer had been arrested four days after the attack.
Over the next few months, Dorothy underwent physical therapy to help her walk again, but she had to drink through a straw.
“It was exhausting just sitting in the chair,” she says. But I was determined to improve.”
Eventually, her tracheostomy tube was removed and she was transferred to a rehabilitation center.
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When she was released from hospital, she moved in with her son Brian Morrissey, 34, who cared for her for a year and a half until she was well enough to live on her own.
Four years later, the case finally went to trial. In November 2023, William Helmer was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison.
Since the attack, Dorothy has undergone more than 50 skin grafts and other surgeries to help with the movement of her arms. However, she embraces her scars and her new look.
“I may not look like I used to, but I hold my head up high and look to the future,” she says.
“It's an ongoing journey that will never end, but I'm continuing.”
To help support Dorothy, please donate here.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call Samaritans free of charge on 116123.
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