GUILTY TX - Kari Baker, 31, found dead in her Hewitt home, 7 April 2006

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Days after his wife’s death, Baker, former chaplain at the Waco Center for Youth, was spotted at a jewelry store looking at engagement rings with another woman, Hewitt police allege in the arrest complaint. Evidence from his computer reportedly shows Matt Baker researched overdoses with sleeping pills on the Internet, records filed in the case state.
Because of a scratch on Kari Baker’s nose and an abrasion on her lip, authorities now believe Matt Baker drugged her by putting crushed sleeping pills in her drink, then smothered her with a pillow or other object.
Matt Baker moved to Kerrville, population 20,400, with his daughters after his wife’s death. He began substitute teaching in the Kerrville school system in October 2006, teaching 111 days in 2006-07, said school spokeswoman Lisa Winters.
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http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/09/25/09252007wacmattbakerfolo
.html
 
I happen to know this guy and I know this sounds typical but he is a really a great guy. I know the affidavit sounds pretty bad and I agree if I had only known that information I would believe he is guilty as well. I am going to let the courts decide his fate. I guess I am just in denile that he would do this. Some of it could be explained away but the switching of the computers is what gets me. :snooty:
 
http://tinyurl.com/2zrgwu
Arrest warrant affidavit for Matt Baker

At the time of Kari Baker’s death, the Defendant had access to three (3) computers. Of these computers, one (1) was at Crossroads Baptist Church, one (1) was at the Waco Center for Youth and one (1) was at the Baker residence. On or about June 14,2006, an officer of the Hewitt Police Department went to the Waco Center for Youth to speak with the Defendant. In that same time frame, the Crossroads Baptist Church demanded that the Defendant return the church computer that he had been using. According to computer technicians at the Waco Center for Youth, the Defendant covertly switched computers with his secretary (on) June 14, 2006 when he learned that a Hewitt Police officer was coming to The Waco Center for Youth. The Defendant even switched inventory labels on the computers in an effort to disguise the computer switch. On or about June 17, 2006, the Defendant disposed of his home computer. In a civil deposition, the Defendant explained that he disposed of the computer because it was too slow. In that same deposition The Defendant claimed that he threw away his home computer printer because it was “not
compat.” On or about June 19, 2006, the computer located at the Defendant’s secretary’s desk, which was actually the Defendant’s computer, went missing. This date was a state holiday when all administrative offices of the Waco
Center for Youth were closed. There were, however, a few employees working that day and one (1) of the employees remembers seeing the Defendant go into his office area.
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Innocent ministers don't spend their time playing switcheroo with the computers. This, combined with evidence found on those computers of Baker researching overdose by sleeping pill seal the deal for me.

Kari Baker told a counselor that she feared he would kill her. Kari had just completed a sucessful interview for a better teaching position and tlod her friends she felt it went well. She was making plans for the future, not contemplating suicide. And a typed, unsigned "suicide note" ? Puh-leeze Matt, you could have done better than that.

Dolphin, I hear what you are saying about what a nice guy Matt is. Abusers are typically put on a "good guy show" for friends, co-workers and casual aquaintences. They want you to think that they are good people because they enjoy making their wife look like she is crazy for fearing them. Manipulation- it's the name of their game.

Susan
 
I can't believe that there wasn't even a autopsy done on Kari. They just took that husband's word for it and that was that. I'm glad that her parents aren't letting this go. There are so many red flags here that anyone with half a brain could see what happened.....seaching the web...new woman days after his wife dies...switching computers and getting rid of his...good grief! His poor little kids are still with him but hopfully not for long. LE has a good case why not arrest the creep.
 
just watched the show....this is a difficult one....not enough evidence that she was murdered.....looks like it was suicide to me.
 
I saw this tonight, and I'm only basing my opinion on the show. I do believe it was suicide. Nobody wants to believe their loved one has commited suicide, but these things do happen. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. I speak for myself when I say that my family (back home in Tx) knows nothing of what I suffer from depression. Without getting personal, if I were to accidently take more of my meds than I should, my family too would be reacting the way the wife's family is. Not because of any dislike of my husband, but I've kept my mental ups and downs from them. This applies to all marriages, what we see of the couple out in public does not mean that is how they are behind closed doors when nobody is around.
 
MsRusty said:
I saw this tonight, and I'm only basing my opinion on the show. I do believe it was suicide. Nobody wants to believe their loved one has commited suicide, but these things do happen. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. I speak for myself when I say that my family (back home in Tx) knows nothing of what I suffer from depression. Without getting personal, if I were to accidently take more of my meds than I should, my family too would be reacting the way the wife's family is. Not because of any dislike of my husband, but I've kept my mental ups and downs from them. This applies to all marriages, what we see of the couple out in public does not mean that is how they are behind closed doors when nobody is around.
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IKWYM, but if you were to accidentally or deliberately overdose, do you really think your husband would spend the next few weeks grieving and consoling the family OR do you think he'd be looking at engagement rings with another woman?

6000 minutes in 25 days? My husband, teenaged son, and I share cellphone minutes, for personal and our business, and we don't use that amount in a month!
 
The husband may have very well been having an affair with the woman, and I think that only adds more suspicion for her family.
I just have a problem with some cases--and we see them all the time---where something happens to either spouse and lots of times the victim's family wants to pin it on the surviving spouse. Again, all I say is we don't know what goes on behind closed doors. Another example on my own life, and this is something I joke about with the husband....he goes to *advertiser censored* sites, I'm not into online *advertiser censored*, so I couldn't tell you what kind of sites he visits, etc....but I tell him do you know if something happened to me, like I were killed or ended up missing, LE is going through the computer and automatically make you the suspect and not look any further. They'll say, "Oh, the wife probably stumbled upon his *advertiser censored* stash on the computer, confronted him and the fight led to him to killing her and disposing the body."......You know we've heard that one too.
I'm sorry, it just irks me when people, even loved ones THINK they know their loved ones. Because some of us would be surprised at WHAT WE DON'T KNOW about them.
I didn't mean to go off topic, sorry.
But I'm pretty sure if I died today, before the year was up my hubby would be dating or looking. (and that's only my opinion, I'd like to think that he'd never remarry because I am irreplaceable.)
 
I watched the 48 hrs show also. My feeling was that it wasn't suicide. A suicidal person shows those indicators for a while before they actually commit the act. And the friends say they didn't see it. The time of death is questionable, and seems to be indications that she was dead before hubby went to the gas station. A grieving hubby may spend a lot of time on the phone with a friend after the loss of a wife. But not that much time. 6000 min in 25 days= 240 min/day= 4 hrs. per day- with one person who is allegedly only a friend. There is also the computer searches, the drugs in her system that she didn't have a perscription for, and the missing computers. And a possible girlfriend. Maybe not enough evidence to prosecute, but definately enough to be suspicious IMO.
 
Husband arrested!


"A former pastor was indicted on a murder charge in his wife's 2006 death, which initially was ruled a suicide before her parents pressed authorities to reopen the case.
Matt Baker, 37, turned himself in and was jailed on $500,000 bond Thursday, a day after a grand jury handed up the indictment that alleges he killed his 31-year-old wife, Kari, by giving her drugs and suffocating her with a pillow."
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Mar26/0,4670,SuicideQuestioned,00.html
 
Steadfast thank you for bringing this here. I've been watching this drag out for years. I have always felt so bad for her family.

This arrest has been long coming and torturous for her family. I pray that they can finally find peace of heart and some justice.

This is a fascinating case for anyone that wants to read up on it.

O/T The Texas Rangers are impressive and I deeply admire their work.
 
I saw this case on 48 Hours Mystery tonight. I believe that the Grand Jury finally indicted him in part based on testimony provided by the now ex-girlfriend. I must say, listening to the story, that I was just blown away at the poor police work on the night she was found. He was gone for 40 minutes, during which time she supposedly overdosed on sleeping pills, yet paramedics stated that her body was cold and lividity had already begun when they arrived. Bodies don't go cold in 40 minutes. There were very visible abrasions on her mouth and nose. I believe that she was dead long before he ever left the house and not by her own hand. JMO. Justice for Kari!
 
If their marriage was rocky (affair-prone on his part), that could very well have made her depressed. Some people experience dramatic highs (good job inverview) and lows (suicidal thoughts) with amazing speed. A girl who went to high school with my son committed suicide last year by jumping out of her dorm window. She'd been out for the evening with friends (happy, having a good time) but somewhere between there and a few hours later, her mood dramatically shifted, to the point where she felt suicide was the better choice.

I hope the husband had nothing to do with this. It's hard to say. However, if it's true that he did indeed give her cell phone to someone else, and was seen looking for engagement rings soon after her death, even if she did commit suicide, he seems like no prize as a husband.
 
I watched this last night. I definitely believe he murdered her. MOO.
 
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