She Poured Boiling Sugar Water on Him — Justice or Vengeance? | Corinna Smith

Just after midnight in a quiet UK neighborhood, 59-year-old Corinna Smith ran to her neighbor’s house, screaming that she thought she had killed her husband, Michael Baine. Minutes later, police found 81-year-old Michael Baines in bed, whimpering in pain, his skin peeling from severe burns. What unfolded was a story of grief, shocking allegations, and a horrifying act of vengeance.

In today’s episode, we’re covering the disturbing case of Corinna Smith—a wife, a mother, and a woman pushed to the edge after learning devastating claims about the man she’d been married to for nearly 40 years. What made her pour boiling sugar water over her sleeping husband? And what did the court decide when the truth was more complicated than it seemed?

Listen as we break down how this case of betrayal, trauma, and rage turned deadly.

Poll Question: Should a history of emotional trauma or shocking revelations be considered a valid reason to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now part of the dark Cast Network. Welcome to indie
podcasts with a dark side. She had poured a diabolical
mixture over her sleeping husband, driven by a devastating secret
that shattered everything she thought she knew. She then walked
nine doors down in the dead of night, trembling with

(00:21):
rage and grief, and confessed to something unthinkable. Today we
talk about the devastating case of Karina Smith right now
on Love and Murder. Some relationships are built on trust.

(00:47):
Others hide secrets, and sometimes those secrets kill. Welcome Lambs.
Welcome to Love and Murder, Heartbreak to Homicide, the podcast
that takes you inside the darkest corners of love gone wrong.
Week we break down true crime cases where obsession, betrayal,
or heartbreak ends in murder. Don't forget to subscribe so

(01:07):
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(01:28):
help the victim in getting their stories told, and a
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to patreon dot com forward slash a Love and Murder
and unlock the full story today. Now, grab your butts,
grab your glass of apple juice, and let's get into
today's case of love and Murder. Just after midnight on

(01:48):
Tuesday July fourteenth, twenty twenty, a nine to nine to
nine call came in from a neighborhood in Neston, Cheshire, UK.
Fifty nine year old Coriina Smith had run to her
neighbor's house, nine doors down from hers. She pounded on
the front door until someone answered. When the door opened,
Corina yelled, quote, I've heard him really bad. I think
I've killed him. Shocked. The neighbor immediately called the police

(02:11):
and ambulance services arrived. Video footage later showed Karina practically quote,
howling in grief and fear. When officers and paramedics got
to Karina's house, they found eighty one year old Michael
Bains lying in bed, whimpering in agony. The skin on
his right arm and hand was peeling off. He told
them quote, I'm badly burned. I'm burned all over. She

(02:35):
poured boiling water all over me. I just want to die.
He was rushed to Wiston Hospital in Nestin, where he
was treated in the burns unit for two weeks. He
was in critical condition, undergoing surgeries and skin grafts, but
his condition unfortunately deteriorated and due to his age and health,

(02:55):
on August eighteenth, twenty twenty, more than a month after
the attack, Michael did Initially, Karina was charged with grievous
bodily harm, but after his death, the charge was upgraded
to murder. Now who are these people and why this happened.
Let's get into that. Corrina Smith and Michael Baines had

(03:15):
been married for thirty eight years. They married when Karina
was twenty one and Michael was forty two years old.
They had both been married before, and each had children
from previous relationships, and they had one son together, named
Craig Baines. The marriage was a happy one, and as
Michael got older, Karina became his caregiver. Their relationship on

(03:38):
the surface seemed typical a long term marriage, going through
the usual ups and downs, you know, but cracks had
been foreman beneath that surface for a long time. In
two thousand and seven, at the age of twenty five,
Craig had died by suicide. He had struggled mentally and
had served prison time for a violent assault. Before his death,

(03:59):
Craig had told it mother, quote mum, he's a pedophile
who had quote touched him sexually. Karina assumed he was
referring to the man he had assaulted, and when he
seemed calmer the next day, she didn't ask more questions.
That day was the last time she saw her son alive.
The guilt stayed with her for thirteen years. She carried it,

(04:22):
wondering if she had missed something that could have saved
her son. Now back to the present, So, like I said,
police had arrested Karina. During her interview, Karina gave varying stories,
but as time went on, she eventually admitted to pouring
boiling sugar water over Michael daya bollaicle. She said that

(04:48):
quote whole thing was a bit of a blur. I
just lost it. I was so emotional. I wasn't acting
out of revenge. So she told them the entire story.
She said that on Monday, July thirteenth, twenty twenty. She
had spent the day with her daughter. It was a
good day until she got a phone call from Michael.
When Karina told Michael she wanted to stay a bit

(05:10):
longer with her daughter, he wasn't happy about it at all.
Which I don't understand why she's with her daughter. It's
not like she's out with some other dude. She's with
her daughter. But anyways, he wasn't happy about it. Notice
in her mother's reaction, Corna's daughter said, quote, Mom, I
have something to tell you. And what she had to
tell her was something about Michael, but she wasn't sure

(05:33):
if she should tell her mother. Karina insisted, like any
good mother, that she'd tell her what it was so
they can handle it together. You know, you could tell
me anything, and her daughter finally broke down through tears.
Her daughter then delivered quote devastating allegations that Michael had
committed sexual abuse against children quote for many years. She

(05:58):
also said that part of the children included claims of
child sexual abuse against Craig, his own son. She didn't
go into full detail because it was just way too
painful for her, but she said it was quote so
bad that she could not tell you, but she did

(06:18):
say this is why Craig had killed himself. Karina, who
was in shock, found it all difficult to process, as
I can't even imagine. But now the pieces were suddenly
fallen into place. Her precious son had said, quote, Mum,
he's a pedophile, and now her daughter's telling her this news.

(06:42):
She was to say the least quote very upset and
also once again to say the least quote angry and
very upset, quote livid and fuman at the thought of
what had allegedly been done to her children. Now I
say allegedly because Michael is dead and that case didn't

(07:03):
go to trial or anything like that, so, according to
the reports, I have to say allegedly. Don't want to
be sued. She wanted to call the police right then
and there, but her daughter begged her to wait, concerned
about dividing the family, and she said she should just
at least take a polygraph test so you know, she
could tell the family. Look, I'm not lying. Her daughter

(07:26):
and son in law calmed her down. They found a
polygraph test that was like sixty dollars, and they scheduled
it and then they took her home but as these
things do, as time passed, Karina's anger started building again. Now, Lambs,
I'm asking you, after you found this information out and

(07:47):
you're sitting at home with the man who caused your
son to take himself out, and your daughter's telling you
he's done this multiple times, and you're sitting there watching this, dude,
what do you think is gonna happen? You think you're
gonna stay calm? She started calling other relatives to tell

(08:08):
them about what she had heard. So maybe she's trying
to calm herself down. Maybe she's trying to rationalize it.
I don't know, but she started calling her relatives just
to talk to them. So remember she's talking to police.
This is her telling the police what's going on. So
she told police that the intent to hurt Michael had
started later on that night while she was quote dwelling

(08:30):
on what you had been told. And sometime later that
night or early the next morning, Corna snapped. Sometime after midnight,
Corina went outside to the garden and grabbed a bucket.
She boiled two kettlefuls of water. Then she added three kilos,
which is about seven pounds of sugar, which is about

(08:52):
like three bags of sugar. She stirred that into the
boiling water. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hughes later explain, quote
add in sugar makes the water vicious. It becomes thicker
and stickier and sticks into the skin better. It stays
on the skin and causes greater damage. Karina stood there

(09:13):
for about thirteen minutes preparing the skalden sticky mixture. Then
she walked into the bedroom where Michael was asleep, ah
and poured the entire bucket over his arms and Torso.
Now I understand I can sympathize with Karina I one

(09:34):
hundred Look, I could honestly understand where she's coming from. However,
you kind of should have walked out instead of doing this.
I look, I'm the last one to talk, but I
understand her. I understand where she's coming from and why
she did what she did and how it happened and

(09:55):
everything like that. Just the thought of somebody hurting your
child anyways, But she should have just walked out instead
of her letting this anger build. She shouldn't even gone
back home, Like I know, I wouldn't have gone back
home because I know I would have end up on
an episode of love and murder my own show. So

(10:15):
I know I wouldn't have gone back home because I
can't see in any world that it would have ended
good if I went back home. So I would have
made the rational choice to not go back home, and
then i'd have call the police. That's what I would
have done personally, and then we could hash this out
in court and figure it out. And that's what I
would have done. With that being said, like I said,

(10:39):
I can understand. I could completely understand her not saying
it's right, but I can understand her. Let me know
your thoughts in the comments below. Michael suffered thirty six
percent burns to his body after the attack. She didn't
stay to help him. That's when she you know, I
ran from the house and ran to the neighbor's door
that was like nine doors down. So. Corina's trial started

(11:03):
in twenty twenty one at the Chester Crown Court and
lasted five days and ended in June twenty twenty one.
The defense, led by Mary Louram, QC, argued for a
conviction of manslaughter due to loss of control stemming from
the sudden and devastating allegations about her husband. Attorney Louram

(11:23):
described how Karina had brought Michael into the family a
much older partner, and how his alleged actions had quote
destroyed her family. So they pushed for manslaughter. However, the prosecution,
led by Mark Ryan QC, refused to accept the manslaughter plea.
The Crowd Prosecution Service CPS argued that her actions were

(11:46):
quote deliberate and considered. Prosecutor Ryan said that quote she
was in control and acted in anger and to extract
vengeance for what she believed that Michael had done. CPS
Mercy Chesshire's Jane Morris agreed, saying, quote the evidence demonstrated
that she was in control and acted in anger when

(12:06):
she poured the lethal mixture over her husband and wanted
to extract vengeance. The prosecution also argued that her argument
of loss of control was weakened by the planning involved,
specifically pointed out the thirteen minutes it took to boil
the water and to fill the bucket. The prosecution said
that she intended either to kill Michael or to cause

(12:29):
him really serious harm. Basically, what they're saying is she
knew what she was doing. They also pointed out what
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hughes had said when she'd wasted
valuable time by going to a neighbor she barely even knew,
instead of calling for help herself. Now side note, in
the reports, I did see that there were some rumors

(12:51):
that Karina targeted Michael's genitals, but there was no evidence
to support that, so I do want to put that
out there. The judge, the Honorable Miss Justice Amanda Yip Dbe,
accepted that Karina believed what her daughter said. She told
the court that these revelations were quote truly shocking for

(13:11):
Karina and acknowledged clear evidence of her distress before and
after the attack. However, the judge also pointed out that
the trial could not and did not explore the truth
of the allegations made against Michael. On Tuesday, June fifteenth,
twenty twenty one, after hearing the evidence, the judge found
Karina guilty. On Friday, July ninth, twenty twenty one, Justice

(13:36):
Yip sentenced her to life in prison, with a minimum
of twelve years before being considered for parole. In her
sentence and remark, Justin Yip said that she sentenced Karina
on the basis that her intention was to cause serious
harm rather than to kill, and that this intention was
formed while Karina was in a state of distress. She

(13:59):
accepted that it was not a long held, carefully formed plan,
and that Karina's initial reaction had been to call the police. However,
the judge pointed out several aggravating factors. Number one, Michael
was an elderly man and vulnerable, and Karina was his
carer caregiver. They say, I guess in the reports they

(14:21):
called it a carer, so I guess in the UK
they call it a cara. In the US we call
it a caregiver. Number two, he was asleep at the
time of the attack, so you know he couldn't defend himself.
And number three, the deliberate mixing of the sugar solution
involved a degree of planning and sustained action. Justice Yip said, quote,

(14:42):
Although the background provides some explanation as to why you
did what you did, I am sure you know that
it cannot provide an excuse. Your actions cannot begin to
be justified. Whatever you believed your husband had done. You
have taken mister Bain's life and caused terrible grief and
shock for his children and for those who loved him.
Killing mister Bains also took away any opportunity for the

(15:04):
allegations to be tested. That took away his right to
a fair trial, bearing in mind that everyone is innocent
until proven guilty. It also took away the right of
your daughter to have her allegations heard, and deprived other
family members of the chance to establish the truth. The
allegations are left hanging but unproven. The judge also discussed

(15:27):
the impact of Karina's actions on the family, particularly Michael's children.
Quote set against this. I sentenced you on the basis
that your intention was to cause serious harm rather than
to kill. Further, that intention was formed while you were
in a state of distress. This was not a long
held and carefully formed plan. You made use of materials

(15:49):
you already had at home. I accept that your initial
reaction had been to call the police, and that the
intent to harm your husband only developed later when you
were home and dwelling on what you had been told.
On that basis, I am prepared to accept that you
were in an acute stress state at the time of
the attack, and that you have displayed symptoms of post

(16:09):
traumatic stress disorder as a result of all that happened
on the thirteenth of July. However, the central factual issue
for the jury was whether you had lost control, and
I am satisfied that their verdict reflects their findings that
you had not. I consider that you remember more than
you were prepared to tell the jury, although it would

(16:31):
not be surprising if you had blocked some of the
details of the traumatic events of that day. It is
possible to have sympathy for the situation you found yourself
in while condemning your actions. On the one hand, the
shockun revelations made by your daughter undoubtedly led to your
uncharacteristic violence. Against that you made the deliberate choice to

(16:52):
inflict horrific injury and took calculated action just to do that.
Aside from the dreadful physical pain you caused, Miss Baines,
your actions have caused yet more pain and suffering to
your families. This is perhaps best summed up by your son,
who has struggled to make sense of what happened. He
concluded that your actions, although very wrong, were an emotional

(17:14):
reaction to the devastating information you had just received. I
cannot put it any more eloquently than that. Coriina Smith
for the murder of Michael Bains. I sentenced you to
life imprisonment. The minimum term will be one of twelve
years less than one hundred and sixty six days that
you have spent on remand in custody and ninety six

(17:35):
days credit for the time spent on a qualifying curfew.
And that was the quote from the judge. And also
you know she said your son remembers she had children
from a previous marriage. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hugh of
the Cheshire Constably Major Crime Directorate, Major Crime Directorate, Wow,

(17:57):
that is a long title. Detective Chief Inspector then his
name Paul Hughes and then of the Cheshire Constabilary Major
Crime Directorate WOW. Describe the killing as quote a painful
and cruel way. He said, quote to throw boiling water

(18:18):
over someone when they are sleeping is absolutely horrific. To
also mix three bags of sugar with water showed the
determination she had to cause serious harm. Like I said,
Karina was given credit for the time she had already
spent in custody and she will be eligible for parole
on June third, twenty thirty two, and will be on

(18:41):
probation for the rest of her life. If and when
she is released. This case tells you that sometimes vengeance
doesn't heal old wounds, sometimes it just leaves deeper ones behind. Now, Lambs,
how do we feel about this case? I totally want

(19:03):
to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Now, I
did plan on reading your comments today, because you know,
I read them in various episodes. I don't read them
in every episode, and I did plan on reading them today.
But I'm already late with this episode. My weekend was bluh,
my day with Blue and Bye Blue, I meaning busy,

(19:23):
so very busy. So I'm already late with the episode,
so I'm not going to read your comments today. I
do apologize that it is coming out so late, but
better late than never, so you're still getting your Monday
full episode. Also, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so
I do have some things coming out this month in

(19:44):
recognition of mental health awareness, so I'll keep you all
up to date when that happens. So that is all
I have for you. Let me get this episode out
so you can hear it. I'm gonna go ahead and
put a poll out on this episode because I have
a feeling a lot of people are gonna understand what
was going on with Karina. So the pole question I'm

(20:05):
gonna have for you, and this is based on I
guess UK law and US law because I know every
country has their own laws. So should a history of
emotional trauma or something like shocking revelations be considered a
valid reason to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter? So
basically the answers will be yes, no, or you don't know.
So go ahead and head on over to our Spotify.

(20:26):
The pole question is going to be in there. If
you don't listen to this on Spotify, you can also
head on over to our Patreon. You can sign up
for free and our poll question will be over there.
To patreon dot com forward slash Love and Murder. And
as I end each full episode that we do, I
want to remind you that it's say it with me now,
all love and no murder, y'all,