'I'll turn into him': Woman recalls how depraved ex-GF's threat after watching Netflix's 'You' came true
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at thehotline.org.
CARMARTHENSHIRE, WALES: Chloe Coehlo, now 21, had no idea what was going through her girlfriend's mind as they cuddled up to watch the Netflix thriller, 'You'. In the Netflix series Joe Goldberg, played by Penn Badgley, is a man whose love turns into obsession, and he ends up brutally killing his victims. A young Coehlo was stunned when her girlfriend Chloe James turned to her and said, “If you ever finish with me I'll turn into him.”
Coehlo brushed off the remark as a joke but two years later, when she tried to call it off with James, who wouldn’t give up on their four-year relationship, the latter attacked the former attacked Chloe with a claw hammer. The couple first met when Coehlo was 14 and James was 19. In September 2020, after she agreed to meet James at an isolated spot near Llangennech in Carmarthenshire, James attacked Coehlo leaving her deaf in one ear.
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Shockingly, James escaped prison for the attack. Speaking to The US Sun, Coehlo said "I was utterly devastated when she got a suspended sentence. It was an absolute joke. I felt like I had been assaulted all over again.”
Coehlo shuddered as she recalled the moment James made the sick threat while watching 'You'. “I now realise Chloe she was being serious that night we watched You," she said.
Describing the attack Coehlo said, "We went for a walk and got back to our cars. She begged me to go for a drive and tried to kiss me and told me she loved me. But I pushed her away and told her it was over between us for good. She then asked me if my car's dash cam was on and I said no. Looking back it was a strange thing to ask."
"She then told me she had something in her car for me but was embarrassed to give it to me. Then she told me to close my eyes. Seconds later I felt this searing pain in my head - like my skull was being smashed in," Coehlo continued.
“I fell to the ground and could see she had a claw hammer in her hand. I was covered in my own blood. I thought I was going to die,” Coehlo recalls.
Chillingly, James told her, "If I can't have you, no one else will." James even added that "no one would want" Chloe as she would be left disabled. “She said I’d be left disabled and nobody would want me. I kept begging her to stop because I was absolutely terrified," Coehlo said.
Dizzy and disorientated, she managed to make a run for it and stumbled towards the headlights of an oncoming car. Coehlo continued, "It was pitch black and I could see a car coming towards me. I somehow found the strength and got to my feet and made a run towards it. The driver stopped and I begged him to help me. I was delirious with the blood loss and shock and lost consciousness."
She was later taken to the Prince Phillip Hospital in Llanelli and treated for bruising and lacerations to her ears and scalp. She has been left deaf in one ear because of the attack and has to wear a hearing aid. James was arrested the day after the attack by the police.
In her police interview, James, 27 gave a prepared statement claiming she had been acting in self-defence. The court noted that "no weapon has been forensically linked" to the incident. James had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the day, she was due to stand trial when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. At Swansea Crown Court, she was given a 22 months prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. She was also ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and compensate Coehlo with $904 to her victim in compensation. James' attorney Andrew Evans said that she was genuinely remorseful for what happened.
Coehlo said that James was controlling throughout their relationship as she allegedly forbade her from wearing "dresses, skirts or anything tight". “Looking back I think she took advantage because she was older. I was just a kid and she was a young adult," Coehlo said.