12/11/2022
Michael Baines, 81, died as a result of being doused in boiling sugar water as he slept.
Baines’ wife of 38 years, Corinna Smith, 59, was found guilty of his murder. Smith had recently found out Baines allegedly molested her children when they were younger.
In the early morning hours, Smith arrived at the family’s home on Highfield Road in Neston, UK.
She boiled two kettles of water and placed the water into a bucket that she had retrieved from her garden.
Then she added 3 kilograms (6.61 pounds) of sugar. Once the sugar was dissolved, Smith carried the bucket into the bedroom where her husband, Michael Baines, was sleeping.
She dumped it over him, covering his torso and arms.
Smith went to a neighbor’s home, and explained what she had done, saying, “I’ve hurt him really badly. I think I’ve killed him.” The neighbor contacted emergency services.
Emergency services arrived at the Baines home and found Michael in bed suffering from burns so severe that the skin was peeling off of his right arm and hand.
They rushed Baines to Whiston Hospital in Prescot, Merseyside, UK. He remained at Whiston Hospital for two weeks while he received treatment for the burns that covered 36% of his body.
He was improving, but his condition took a downward turn and Baines died on August 18, 2020, as a result of his injuries.
Investigators discovered on July 13, 2020, a day before the incident, Smith had learned from a daughter that her husband had allegedly sexually assaulted his children over many years, while they were growing up.
There were claims which alluded that Baines had sexually assaulted their son, Craig as a child, who took his own life in 2007, when he was 25-years-old.
On June 15, 2021, Corinna Smith was found guilty at the Chester Crown Court after a five-day trial. She was sentenced to 12-years to life on July 9, 2021.
This sentencing guideline means Smith will have to serve a minimum of 12-years before she can be considered for possible parole.
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