True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

I was in the middle of researching another true crime case when I stumbled across this shocking story in a newspaper article. I thought I would share it with you as it's a little known case which took place here in the UK not that long ago. 

Before I begin, I just wanted to let you know (if you don't know already) that I have recently posted a new video to my YouTube channel. I know a lot of you have been asking me for quite a while about podcasts and creating videos and I have had in my mind for quite a while that I wanted to do something with the channel.

I'm currently putting plans together and I will be sharing podcasts, audios and videos of cases that I have already covered here on my blog but also fresh new cases too. I will continue to post cases here every Sunday but you will have the option of whether you want to read the stories or listen to me talking about them. 

Obviously since my discovery of yet another YouTube channel ripping off my work (I talk about the whole situation here), I really wanted to leave my mark on YouTube with my content. I've been lucky enough that I have so many readers of my blog that I've been informed of times when my work has been stolen and read out word for word on certain YouTube channels. I have my own style of writing, talking and sayings that when I'm copied it stands out so much, I was annoyed at first but I suppose I should take it as a compliment in a way. These people who have to copy your content to the letter are not going to get very far and seeing the amount of views that I get on my posts compared to the views that they get on their videos, makes me feel so much better. 

You can tell who's serious about making true crime content and who's in it for the views and money. I want to be a true crime author. I want my books to be in the true crime section of the bookstores. I'm not interested in being a famous 'Influencer'. I take my work seriously. 

Anyway, please check out the video if you can, it would mean a lot to me if you did (a like & subscribing to the channel would be fabulous too if that's possible). Saying that line 'it would mean a lot to me if you did', reminds me of Matthew McConaughey's character in Dazed & Confused when he says ''It'd be a lot cooler of you did''. All of my readers are cool anyway but that just randomly popped into my head. 

I'll get on with this story but just a reminder that you can find all of my social media links here. I have to mention that too because lately it seems that if it's not my true crime content that's getting stolen, it's my pictures being used for fake accounts (and that's another story which I previously shared here - on a side note: I have had emails from girls who have said this post really helped them & I'm so glad to have something positive out of that situation) so I have to let people know which accounts I actually own so they don't get scammed. 

That's enough about me lol, let's get into this case....

So I stumbled across a newspaper article about this case and decided to do more research. There's not a whole lot of information about this online and a severe lack of pictures so I will tell you what I did manage to find out. 

Corinna and Michael Baines were a married couple from a place called Neston In Cheshire, England. The pair had been married for 38 years and seemed to have a good relationship according to friends and neighbours of the couple. They had a son and a daughter together and all seemed to be well with the family but like I always say in a lot of my previous posts, you never know what goes on behind closed doors with a relationship and with a family. 

Eyebrows may have been raised at the age gap between Corrina and Michael, she being just 59 and he was 81. Corrina had been her husband's carer. They'd had some trauma in the past when their son took his own life. It was a devastating shock to the whole family. Their son Craig had been troubled for quite a while and had spend some time in prison for an assault on a man he claimed was a child abuser. 

Shortly before he died, Craig tried to open up to his mother about the horrible sexual abuse that he endured but he could never bring himself to reveal the identity of the perpetrator. Corrina didn't push the issue because she knew how difficult it was for him to talk about it as it would be for anyone. She wanted to give him time to talk about it fully when he was ready but unfortunately even though Craig seemed to be getting better from what his family could see, he was struggling and couldn't go on anymore. 

For years, Corrina and the rest of the family struggled to come to terms with the loss of Craig and the unanswered questions. Corrina missed her son and it was very difficult for her to cope with. 

Craig was in his early 20s when he died, he had his whole life ahead of him and somebody out there had hurt him, caused him so much pain that he didn't want to live anymore, it was heartbreaking. Corrina and her daughter had a strong bond and she was able to see her daughter grow up and have a family of her own, Corrina couldn't have been more proud. 

Being 81 and having health issues, Michael mostly stayed at home and Corrina did all of the housework, cooking, shopping etc. Sometimes it would be very stressful and Michael would call her when she was out somewhere demanding to know where she was because he wanted something. It was hard work being a full time carer. To lighten the load, Corrina and her daughter would spend time together going shopping and having lunch. The women would catch-up and talk about whatever was on their minds and it really helped them both have a bit of a break from their everyday lives. 

One day in July of 2020, Corrina and her daughter were relaxing at a cafe when Michael phoned her demanding to know where she was. Corrina's daughter was growing tired of how her mother was being treated and offered her mother the chance to come back to her house for a little bit to relax so she wouldn't have to face Michael. 

At some point Corinna and her daughter started having a heart to heart about Craig and Michael when her daughter dropped a devastating bombshell. Corinna listened in horror as she heard her say that Michael had been sexually abusing her and her brother Craig for years when they were children and she was worried that Michael was going to try something with her children. 

Corinna was beyond anger and in her mind Michael had been the abuser that Craig had been trying to tell her about all those years ago before he took his own life. It made sense to her why he struggled so hard to reveal who the abuser was. Corinna was frantic and didn't know what to do, after further discussion with her daughter and other family members it was decided that they were going to arrange for Michael to take a lie detector test. It sounds crazy but I can imagine at that point Corinna being desperate to know the truth about the man she thought she knew and had been married to for 38 years. She also wanted to get to the bottom of what really happened to Craig. 

The situation must have been going over and over in her mind because she left her daughter's house that night and returned home. She paced the floor wondering what to do and the anger was eating her up inside. Michael was in bed sound asleep and when the clock struck just after midnight, Corinna was hell bent on revenge.

Going out to the garden she grabbed a bucket and went to the kitchen, She poured in as much boiling water ad she could carry and emptied in packets of sugar and headed to the bedroom. There before her was Michael, fast asleep. Without a word, she stood over him and poured the boiling liquid over him as he woke up in shock and screaming in pain. 

She threw the bucket down and walked out of the house, didn't bother to call for an ambulance. She went to a male neighbours house who lived 9 doors away and banged on the door. The man answered and could see she was in a bit of a state, she told him ''I think I've killed him''

The man got on the phone straight away and called for an ambulance and the police who rushed to the scene. When the cops and paramedics arrived they found Michael yelping in pain with his skin peeling off. Through the screams of agony he managed to tell the police ''I'm badly burned, I'm burned all over. She poured boiling water all over me. I just want to die''. 

Michael was rushed to a hospital and placed on a burns unit where he had several operations. He tried to cling onto life for a few weeks but passed away as a result of his horrific injuries. 

Corinna wouldn't plead guilty in the beginning and told the police a different version of events, she claimed that she had lost control and didn't know what she was doing. At her trial which lasted 5 days, the prosecution believed that she was influenced in her actions by the grief, loss and anger about what happened to her son and for the horrible news that she had just learned from her daughter. They believed that she wanted some sort of revenge and that the crime was planned due to the actions of filling the bucket with boiling water and adding sugar which is known to cause more severe damage to the skin. 

They also brought up the fact that Corinna's particular kettle took up to 13 minutes to boil so it was difficult for them to believe that it was a random moment of rage when there was some time that had to be spent putting everything together. Also, her action of not phoning for an ambulance and leaving Michael to carry on suffering was also taken into consideration when a verdict was being decided. 

Corinna was found guilty of her husband's murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 12 years. The judge expressed that another factor of tragedy in this case is that Corinna's actions had ruined any chance of a further investigation into the allegations that Michael was a child abuser. The answers to the questions that the rest of the family and Corinna herself had, would never be answered. 

One would ask why Corinna's daughter would lie about something as serious as that, especially as her own brother had been a victim and took his own life over it. I know we say innocent until proven guilty but going by this story I believe the daughter to be telling the truth. You can understand why Corinna came to the conclusion that Craig must have been talking about Michael. It's hard enough to talk about who your abuser is but when it's a close family member and in this case, father, it must have been incredibly difficult. 

So, what are your thoughts on this case? I know it's quite a sensitive one but I thought you would find it interesting as it is not a case which is well known. 

It's heartbreaking what happened with this family. When it comes to child abusers, I have no sympathy but I am sad for Craig and his sister. It's just a very difficult story.

RIP Craig.

Further Reading & Sources: 

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Mirror

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | BBC News

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Liverpool Echo

- Corrina Smith Baines: Article | Daily Mail

- Corinna Smith Baines | Court Documents

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post and hope you will join me next time for another true crime case x 

 

Today is September the 11th, the 20th anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks which took place in the US in 2001. Today is always a difficult day for me as it is for a lot of people. My plans were to have a quiet day, to watch the memorial, light a candle and pay my respects in my own way. I still plan to do this but something is weighing heavy on my heart and I need to rant about it so that I can get it off of my chest and move on.

If you've been a reader & friend of mine (I class all of my readers as friends) for a while, you'll possibly remember a post I had written back in 2019 about a well respected true crime podcaster who was constantly having their work copied by Youtubers (you can find the post here) who were basically reaping all the views and financial gain from this man's hard work. 

Well, I was pissed off about the situation, this guy had a full time job and busted his ass researching, editing, writing, organising and putting together videos every week only for lazy chancers to come along and just copy everything he did. He was aware of it and it caused him a considerable amount of stress as it would to anyone who'd seen their hard work stolen. He almost gave up his podcast over it. Luckily his readers and others in the true crime community caught on to this pretty fast but unfortunately I'm sure there's still people out there who copy his work, being online there's always that risk. 

Well darlings, it seems like it's my turn! I've had my blog for a few years now and it's something I am very proud of and worked tirelessly for. I'm always amazed at the amount of views that I get on my posts everyday but it's true what they say, hard work does pay off. I don't do this for fun or to make money (although that would be amazing), I do this because I have a passion for it and you can tell that by all of the hard work, detail and time that I put into it. I want to be a true crime writer, that's my dream, to have my books on the shelves at Waterstones. 

I studied Criminology at university and have had an interest in true crime since I was a child. This is something I am serious about. Unfortunately with the popularity of true crime documentaries now, it seems that a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon trying to make a few dollars. I have friends in the true crime community who work so hard on their content because they are truly passionate about it but there are some of the newer crowd who are trying to create their own channels by using other peoples work (and when I say 'using other people's work', I mean, word for word, even copying layouts, titles etc) and setting up Patreons to make money. 

I have a popular true crime blog so it's inevitable that I was going to be copied at some point, still doesn't mean that I'm not annoyed by it. I have had various Youtube channels who have used me as a source, as much as I don't agree with using blogs as sources (it's lazy, you should do your own research yourself) these people didn't copy me word for word. 

Last night however, a new Youtuber was brought to my attention and to say I was pissed off is an understatement. I sat in shock and utter disbelief (felt like I was in an episode of The Twilight Zone) as I watched this video (I'm not including the link cause she's had enough views from my work as well as other bloggers): The Husband From Hell: Mitchell Quy (this was posted a month ago on this copycat's Youtube channel: Beyond The Pale). You may remember that I posted about this story back in 2020: The Husband From Hell: Mitchell Quy

Well, Beyond The Pale (@beyondxo_pale ) took chunks of my blog together with another blog and read word for word like I had written in my post, basically doing an audio of my blog post then trying to get away with it by including me as a source with another two true crime blogs and a newspaper article (which was also the first newspaper I publicly listed in my sources - oh, what a coincidence) in the links below the video. If this sad woman was such a huge fangirl of me she should have just asked for a collaboration if she's not bright enough to do her own research. Like I mentioned before, I don't agree with using blogs as sources but if you want to ref a quote or at the very least make sure all your words are your own and you have done proper research like others who have referenced my blog. You have to put in the work in order to be taken seriously. The coward behind Beyond The Pale has no public face and sounds like a middle aged woman, straight off the bat, she loses credibility as someone in the true crime community because she's been exposed as a word for word copycat in the early stages of her channel. If she's copied me, you can be damn sure she copied other people.

I confronted this person on Youtube and Twitter and was blocked (says it all really). My readers and friends also left comments on her Youtube channel which were removed and they were also blocked. It seems that when this person gets called out for their actions, they like to remove comments and block people. It makes you wonder how many other people she has done this to and is currently copying right now. 

Anyway, here's some screenshots of me trying to communicate with this fangirl of mine (Single White Female vibes) lol: 

She knew she'd been caught out by myself and my readers and thought she could squirm her way out of it. Plagiarism is Plagiarism, she read word for word of paragraphs from my original post from this case (even in the order I had written them in, the unique sayings I have and the title was also copied) which I published in 2020. Blatantly doing an audio of my work and then listing me as a source is just a bullshit way of trying to get out of it. 

It's hard to believe that we are now at the 20th anniversary mark of the heartbreaking day of September the 11th 2001. I think we all remember where we were that horrific day, some of us may have lost a loved one, some of us may be a survivor. I don't think there's anyone who could say that the events of that day didn't have an effect on them at some level. 

It was a day that began like any other, just people getting ready to start work, sitting down at their desks, collecting their coffee, nothing out of the ordinary. It was a beautiful morning, anyone who was in New York that morning will tell you that before the nightmare began, the sky was beautiful, New York was beautiful and that iconic skyline that so many of us have seen on the movie screens, was just as magnificent as ever. 

Then hell became reality, something none of us could ever have imagined or thought could be possible. New York city was under attack and those of us here in the UK watched our TV screens in utter shock and disbelief. I remember clearly just staring at the TV screen not being able to comprehend what I was seeing, I remember the fear for the people in those towers and the people of New York. I have images in my head that will never go away, because everything was live on the news I saw the heartbreaking moments where people who had been in one of the towers above the impact zone were stood clinging onto the windows, desperate for air and desperate to escape. There was so many people and nothing could be done to help them. I felt powerless and devastated.

Then objects or what we assumed to be objects were falling from the buildings and the horror at realising that some of what we had just seen were people. It was a day that none of us will ever forget and the days and weeks that followed, New York in darkness, the endless search for possible survivors and for people's remains. The way the people of New York all pulled together and over the years they rebuilt their city to what it is today whilst also paying tribute and never forgetting who they lost and who survived. 

The horror of what was happening in New York and the details that were emerging of a highjacking of planes by a terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda, 19 of these monsters who were working on the orders of Osama Bin Laden caused so much death, pain and destruction not only in and around the World Trade Center but the Pentagon and Flight 93 whose brave passengers took on the terrorists costing them their own lives in the process as the plane crashed down into a field in Pennsylvania. 

So much heartbreak and disbelief but some time after the horrible events had happened, stories began to emerge of heroes, volunteers, people who risked their lives to save others and people who by some miracle managed to get to safety that day. One of those people who became a beacon of light and a tower of strength for survivors and the families of victims was a lady by the name of Tania Head. 

Tania, who was originally from Spain claimed to have been working for Merill Lynch on the 78th floor of the South Tower when the plane hit. She went into heartbreaking and raw detail of how she (who was just one of 19 people who survived from those floors above the impact zone) was badly burned and could smell her own flesh burning whilst she tried to crawl to safety over other people whilst trying to help them. 

People were gripped as they heard Tania explain that she was carried out by a brave firefighter (who we know were all heroes that day and heroes for what they do everyday) and rushed to hospital to be treated for horrendous burns to her arm, she recalls not remembering anything after that but the horrible news that her beloved fiance Dave had died. Dave had been working in the North Tower and sadly lost his life, she was utterly heartbroken as anyone was who listened to her story. Tania and Dave were due to be married and they had their whole lives as a married couple just ahead of them before this nightmare happened, Tania even had her wedding dress all arranged. 

Tania had a strength about her and such confidence, the way she was able to talk about what had happened with such courage warmed people to her. She created a group online to help support other survivors and came across as such a kind woman who just wanted to help other people in her position. She soon teamed up with another survivors group and created The Survivors Network. This Network was an amazing support for people who had lost loved ones or who had survived and felt like they were struggling, Tania was so committed to the group and had shown so much strength that she became the president of the Network. 

As time went on, Tania became like a face for the survivors, she did interviews, public appearances and when it came to something that the members of the Network needed, she would fight for it. She was almost like a mother goose to everyone, always listening, being a shoulder to cry on and she even held workshops to help people try to cope with their post traumatic stress disorder. She also managed to raise a lot of money for the survivors and never took a penny for herself. 

So Tania was amazing wasn't she? She'd come out of this horrific situation with the burns on her arm to prove it and she took what was a horrible and traumatic situation and tried to make something positive out of it by helping other people. If only that had been the case because with all of the attention that Tania was getting, some of the members wondered why her story was always the one that everyone seemed to focus on plus her attitude was starting to change. It was almost as though she was enjoying the cameras being on her and some members felt that she was acting above herself.

Then came the emails and the changes of stories, she couldn't help but talk about herself non-stop and would email the members of the group telling them something one minute and then saying something different the next. There was confusion over her partner Dave, was he her fiance or husband because she kept changing that detail depending on who she spoke to. 

Her original story about how she survived that horrific day was changing too and people in the Network became suspicious especially when she was chosen to guide important public figures around the World Trade Center memorial and she seemed to be nervous and rambling. More suspicion began to grow when The New York Times were interviewing survivors of 9/11 especially those that had survived above the point of impact in the towers Tania was supposed to have been in and were surprised to see that Tania Head was not on their list. Questions were raised and inaccuracies in Tania's stories were pointed out by the media and Tania moaned to the other survivors that the press were bullying her. 

Then a shocking expose on Tania was published for all to see and The New York Times called her out on her lies. 

The shocking and unbelievable truth about Tania Head was that she was never a 9/11 survivor, the fiance 'Dave' didn't even exist, She hadn't even set foot in New York until 2003, Everything she said was a lie. Even the burn mark (which obviously helped make her story seem more believable) was caused by something else. 

As soon as everything was out in the open, Tania (or Alicia Esteve Head, which was her real name) fled America and went into hiding, For the members of The Survivors Network is was very traumatic, they'd already been through enough and now this? Someone they believed in, trusted and confided in was a pathological liar. 

So why did she do it? People assume it must have been a money thing but she didn't take any money, she actually raised a lot of money for people. She was obsessed with 9/11 as eerie as that is and wanted to be part of it, she loved the attention and fame that it brought her. When watching interviews she took part in, you can see her almost smiling as she talks about the tragic events in which she struggled to survive and the loss of her fictional fiance Dave. 

During the attacks she'd been in Barcelona at University and had a history of making up lies and stories. Her brother and father had been in prison for fraud too so it ran in the family. 

To this very day nobody knows what became of Alicia Esteve Head, some people have said they spotted her in New York others have claimed to have seen her in Barcelona. There was also a report that she had taken her own life but nobody knows if that is a fact. 

The police were not looking for her because in the eyes of the law she didn't steal anything or cause physical bodily harm. To those who survived 9/11 or lost a loved one, what she did is inexcusable. She took a horrible event in which thousands of people lost their lives or where injured and traumatised for life and tried to turn it all round and make it all about herself for fame and attention. 

She may have helped the survivors in terms of support and raising money but what she did was disgusting. 

My heart goes out to all of those who lost their lives on that day, to the survivors, to all those affected. 

I will be watching the memorial this week and paying tribute. I never have forgotten what happened that day and never will. 

Further Reading & Sources:

- September 11th Attacks | Wikipedia

- 9/11 | History

- 9/11 Memorial & Museum

- 9/11 Investigation | FBI

- Alicia Esteve Head | Wikipedia

- Tania Head: Article | The Independent

- Tania Head: Article | Daily Mail

- Tania Head | Documentary

- Tania Head Interview

- Tania Head: Article | The New York Times

- World Trade Centre: Article | History

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post and I hope you'll join me in my next one (You can find me elsewhere on social media here) x