Man Lights Girlfriend on Fire During an Argument – The Case of Ellen Marshall

Firefighters were called out to a home in Skygnest, Lancashire

Now part of the Dark Cast Network. Welcome to Indie Podcasts with a dark side. On April 22, 2021, firefighters were called out to a home in Skygnest, Lancashire, uk, that had smoke coming out of it. When they knocked on the door, they heard a, quote, gurgling sound and rushed into the house. The living room was covered in black smoke and on the floor they found a woman conscious and in, quote, extreme pain. There was little ha left on her head. Her face was so badly burnt and scorched, it was difficult to make out her facial features. Her body was scorched where her clothes would have been. End quote.

This episode and all my episodes are sponsored by my Patreon. com

Welcome, LaMs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak. To Homicide. I am your host, Ky, and in today’s episode, we’re talking about a case of a man who didn’t know how to take an argument really well. Before we begin, I know you think you know what I’m gonna say. I want to actually apologize for being so late with this episode. I really, really TR get it out on time and if you listen to the end of the episode, I’ll let you in on basically what happened as to why this episode came out so late. Also, before we begin, I want to remind you that this episode and all my episodes are sponsored by my LaMs in Patreon. patreon.com Love and Murder the November sale has ended where you would have gotten anything. I put out everything I put out, plus hundreds of bonuses for half off for as long as you remain an exclusive lamb. But if you missed that, I do have a December sale going on right now for half off your first month. So it’s only your first month, but you do get half off. So you can go in there for any tier and see what the Patreon’s about. So if you’ve been interested about get into the Patreon, now’s the time to do it. Test it out this month and if you’re interested, go ahead and stay. patreon.com forward/loveandmurder Today I actually put out a surprise bonus about a homeowner who left cats to die alone in a home. It was a really sad episode. And this week will be two more bonuses coming out. patreon.com Love and Murder now, without further ado, grab your butts, Grab your delicious glass of BJs apple juice. Murderin love.com BJs to get your first year’s membership for only $20. And let’s continue with your love and murder.

Lee Payman pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent

So the woman they’d found in the House was rushed to the hospital where she endured 12 hours of surgery and given less than a 50% chance of survival. She’d suffered burns mainly to the top portion of her, her face, her neck, her chest, her abdomen, her limbs. So like her arms and stuff. She’d even lost several fingers and had serious injuries to her eyes. She required a mechanical ventilation and would need constant supervision for the rest of her life. During the investigation into what happened, uh, police questioned neighbors who told them that they’d heard arguing before seeing the smoke. They were also informed that the woman, who was 42 year old Ellen Marshall, had a boyfriend, 45 year old Lee Payman. Police went in search of Lee and found him at his mom’s house. Wait for it. Asleep in his bed, still covered in soot. Lee was arrested because, I mean, and treated for burns himself. So he had soot and burns on himself. Basically a, uh, red sign saying I just burned down a house. And the only house that we know that just got burned down was Ellen’s. So he got treated for burns himself and then he was brought in for questioning. During his interrogation, Lee told police that he and Ellen had been arguing when he walked up behind her as she sat in a chair, poured gas on her and lit her on fire. After she was on fire, he poured two bowls of water on her. Oh, yeah, that helped. Hopped on his bike, rode to his mom’s house and went to sleep in his bed. None of this adds up. Y’all are, uh, fighting. You couldn’t handle your emotions. You poured gas on her and then literally, you know, the whole time you were pouring gas on her, you had time to still stop, so then you lit her on fire. Then you said, oh shit, what have I done? And took two bowls of water to put the fire out. Then Instead of calling 911, you hopped on your bicycle and rode to your mommy’s house, went into your room and went to sleep. What the. What? I. I have no words. Literally. So the case went to trial where Lee pled guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and faced a life sentence for his crime. The court heard how Lee had a history of threatening Ellen with violence, including threatening to set her on fire in the months leading up to the attack. So he had been threatening her with this harm for months. He even kept gas in the house. Ellen, however, dismissed his threats, never believing he would act on them. I agree, Ellen. Before this case, I wouldn’t have ever thought, like, if, uh, for some reason my husband was telling me that he was going to burn me. I don’t know. Maybe because I do true crime. I’d have taken him if he said it for the second time. I’d have been like, you know what? I’m out. But you never think that the person you’re with, you think it’s just words, you know, So I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t say she’s crazy or anything. She probably thought he was just angry and saying words. But this dude kept gas in the house, which again can be explained away as if our cars run out of gas, we have gas in the house, or whatever other reason, you know, but this dude was crazy. Prosecutor Sarah Knight told the court that Ellen was expected to survive but could barely move, would need round the clock help, and now had a reduced life expectancy. Quote, she will now and always look facially different during sentencing, Judge Simon Hurst told Lee, quote, it is difficult to think of a crueler crime than setting someone alight. You used a highly dangerous weapon with the use of fire and an accelerant. Her injuries are irreversible and she will never be able to return to her former life. In March 2022, Lee was sentenced to 17 years and 10 months in prison. Judge Hearst chose not to go with the licenten because Lee’s defense argued that he had a limited record of serious violence. So he went from barely any violence to burning somebody alive. What are you talking about? That’s like this bonus episode I did where there was this woman who gave birth and she literally tossed the baby out a window. She went from no violence to tossing a baby out of the window. Do we give them a light sentence for that? Even so, the judge said that after Lee was released, he would be on probation for another four years. So that’s just probation, unless probation in the UK means something different than the US Ellen battled for nearly two years after the attack, enduring unbearable pain, which I can’t even imagine, and extensive surgeries. Her daughter Paige Clark recounted her mother’s strength, stating, quote, she became weaker and weaker as the days went by. But even then, she was so strong of heart. Despite her strength, Ellen’s injuries left her unable to recognize her daughter during their final hospital visit, a moment that Paige said will, quote, haunt her forever. On March 11, 2023, Ellen died, prompting Lee’s charges to now become murder. His defense, Catherine Goddard, KC Said that Lee had expressed sorrow for what he’d done and what Helen had been going through the last two years. She’d also said that he was taking steps to deal with his Alcoholism. In August of 2023, Lee appeared in a court via video link from prison. In a victim impact statement, Paige shared the profound loss her family had experienced. Quote, the physical, mental and emotional pain that my mother had to go through. It’s almost impossible to put into words. She could not bear to look at herself for a year. She dreamed of holding her first grandchild one day, but that day will never come. Then Judge Simon Hurst told Lee, quote, you know, the only sentence I can pass upon you is one of life imprisonment. What I need to decide is the minimum term you will have to serve before you could appear before a parole board. On December 2, 2024, which is today, as of this recorded at Lincoln Crown Court, Judge Hearst sentenced Lee to life in prison with a minimum term of 23 years and 145 days. So literally, he’s what, he’s 45, so 23 years. So what would he be 68. So that’s still not life, but that’s just minimum. That doesn’t mean he’s going to get out in 23 years. But he’s blaming this all on alcoholism. What did y’all think about that? Do you think it’s a good excuse, that alcoholism. Not that he’s trying to ask to be let out, but he’s saying this is due to alcoholism. And I can’t even imagine what Ellen’s daughter is going through. Having to watch her mother in constant pain for the last two years, having to go through all of this, having to lose her mother. This is just a sad case all around. What did y’all think about this case?

The episode came out late today because I was unable to focus

Now, I know this case was really short, but I did promise to give you a personal update at the end of the episode. So, first of all, I do apologize that the episode came out late today. You know, I usually try and get my episodes out around noon, like sometimes in the afternoon. And today I just didn’t get that. So what happened was last week, out of nowhere, I had a huge allergy attack, ended up having to take Benadryl twice, which for some reason, I don’t know what they put in Benadryl nowadays, but it didn’t used to make me sleepy. It didn’t keep me in a fog. Nothing. I just took Benadryl. Got better, end of story. This time, I was falling asleep on myself just everywhere. Then it kept me in a fog for a couple days. Like I couldn’t think, I couldn’t. Like I was literally in a fog. And, uh, normally I have my episodes recorded, normally recorded a week ahead Just because I’m trying to stay on schedule. But that was my week and I was unable to focus. And then today I have not been able to get it together. Like, my mind has completely been against me. It’s been feeling like my mind just. My mind is in, like, a vice. Not that I’m having a headache. The only thing I could explain it. It feels like my mind is in a. Like a rubber band is around. It couldn’t even explain it to you. But the focus part of my mind isn’t focusing. And I’ve been fighting myself all day just to try and focus. And focus ain’t coming. The focus ain’t focusing. So I finally got to record it to try and get this out. At least it’ll be out by Monday. So I do want to apologize that it was out late. I know some people get annoyed that podcasters, you know, put out the episode episodes late or complain about it. I’ve heard about it. Uh, it hasn’t happened to me, but I’ve heard about it from other podcasters or I’ve seen it in groups where they’re complaining about that. But sometimes y’all gotta understand, we’re just human and stuff happens in our life. Yes, this is our job. But even stuff happens in your life when you go to the office and you call in sick, or even you’re at the office and you have to leave sick, or whatever happens, we’re only human. So thank you for those of you who support me without complaining. Thank you for those of you who support me with complaining. But I did want to let you know why the episode was late today, and then as far as why the episode is short. So basically, it kind of goes hand in hand with why it was late. But also the last two weeks of December, I am going to be off. So you’re going to have quick rants. That’s what I’m calling them, because I still want to bring you your episodes, but they’re going to be all quick rants. So it’s going to be short episodes just like this for the last two weeks of December. So it’s going to be between December 16th to January 3rd, and then January 6th, we’re back to our regularly scheduled program. So I thought, I can’t focus. What a great day to show you an example of what a quick rant would look like. So that is all I have for you today. Thank you so much for your patience. Thank you so much for listening all the way here. And like I said, if you are interested in joining the Patreon and get in bonus episodes, case extras, Kyrans past bonus episodes, all those bonus episodes that I’ve had in there from before and all those that are coming since the December sale that I have going on is 50% off your first month for whichever tier that you choose. Different tiers have different benefits. patreon.com Ah LoveAndMurder and don’t forget that a free and easy way to help out Love and Murder is by simply sharing this episode. So go ahead and hit share and share it to your text Messages and your WhatsApp Everyone you know and then go ahead and go to our social media Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. Choose a clip and share it to everyone on your social media. Everyone you don’t share it to everyone you know and everyone you don’t. And I want to thank you for listening. And as I end each which this isn’t a full episode but it is a Monday episode, I want to remind you that it’s all ah love and no murder y’all. Bye.