12-01-2010, 12:36 PM
WSOC report re: warrants---->
HICKORY, N.C. -- More than 100 pages of search warrants related to the investigation into Zahra Baker’s disappearance and death were made public Tuesday, revealing disturbing details in the case.
Zahra Baker’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, led police to at least three locations in the investigation, the warrants say. She told police through her lawyer that she and her husband, Adam Baker, threw Zahra’s prosthetic leg in a Dumpster outside of Fox Ridge Apartments in Hickory, according to the warrants. The prosthetic leg was wrapped in a white trash bag.
Elisa and Adam Baker also left a mattress and box spring that had belonged to Zahra at a dump on Congress Street in Granite Falls, the warrants say.
In addition, the warrants say Elisa Baker directed police to a Dumpster behind the Fair Value Grocery Store in Hudson. A car cover and bed comforter were used to conceal and transport Zahra’s body parts there, the warrants say.
Elisa Baker’s lawyer also told investigators to check the drain of the bathtub at the Bakers’ Hickory home for blood and bone fragments, according to the warrants. The documents also say latex gloves were used while Zahra’s body was dismembered.
Rape allegations are also revealed in the documents. Investigators searched a home in Hildebran after receiving information from an unnamed source that 10-year-old Zahra may have been raped there, according to the warrants. The documents allege that two men raped the girl and that one of those men had some type of relationship with Elisa Baker.
Eyewitness News reporter Alan Cavanna contacted one of those men on Tuesday night. James Young denied the allegations, saying he was a family friend of the Bakers, but that he never saw Zahra at his home. He added that he was questioned by police for 10 hours and passed a lie detector test.
The other man named in the warrant is Young's cousin, Sammy.
Young said at one point, Elisa Baker and Sammy had a relationship, but said he doesn’t think his cousin had anything to do with Zahra’s disappearance.
“I can’t say for sure that he didn't, but my mind can't wrap around the fact that he would do something like that,” he said.
Eyewitness News attempted to contact Sammy for comment but he hung up the phone.
The warrants also say that a polygraph test done on Elisa Baker showed deception when police asked whether she hurt Zahra. The test also showed deception when investigators asked if Elisa Baker knew if anyone had done harm to Zahra and whether she knew who wrote the ransom note that was found the day Zahra was reported missing.
In addition, one warrant mentions a report made to the Department of Social Services alleging that Elisa Baker had physically abused Zahra. The report, which says the girl had a black eye due to the alleged abuse, was made with the Caldwell County DSS and then transferred to the Catawba County DSS.
HICKORY, N.C. -- More than 100 pages of search warrants related to the investigation into Zahra Baker’s disappearance and death were made public Tuesday, revealing disturbing details in the case.
Zahra Baker’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, led police to at least three locations in the investigation, the warrants say. She told police through her lawyer that she and her husband, Adam Baker, threw Zahra’s prosthetic leg in a Dumpster outside of Fox Ridge Apartments in Hickory, according to the warrants. The prosthetic leg was wrapped in a white trash bag.
Elisa and Adam Baker also left a mattress and box spring that had belonged to Zahra at a dump on Congress Street in Granite Falls, the warrants say.
In addition, the warrants say Elisa Baker directed police to a Dumpster behind the Fair Value Grocery Store in Hudson. A car cover and bed comforter were used to conceal and transport Zahra’s body parts there, the warrants say.
Elisa Baker’s lawyer also told investigators to check the drain of the bathtub at the Bakers’ Hickory home for blood and bone fragments, according to the warrants. The documents also say latex gloves were used while Zahra’s body was dismembered.
Rape allegations are also revealed in the documents. Investigators searched a home in Hildebran after receiving information from an unnamed source that 10-year-old Zahra may have been raped there, according to the warrants. The documents allege that two men raped the girl and that one of those men had some type of relationship with Elisa Baker.
Eyewitness News reporter Alan Cavanna contacted one of those men on Tuesday night. James Young denied the allegations, saying he was a family friend of the Bakers, but that he never saw Zahra at his home. He added that he was questioned by police for 10 hours and passed a lie detector test.
The other man named in the warrant is Young's cousin, Sammy.
Young said at one point, Elisa Baker and Sammy had a relationship, but said he doesn’t think his cousin had anything to do with Zahra’s disappearance.
“I can’t say for sure that he didn't, but my mind can't wrap around the fact that he would do something like that,” he said.
Eyewitness News attempted to contact Sammy for comment but he hung up the phone.
The warrants also say that a polygraph test done on Elisa Baker showed deception when police asked whether she hurt Zahra. The test also showed deception when investigators asked if Elisa Baker knew if anyone had done harm to Zahra and whether she knew who wrote the ransom note that was found the day Zahra was reported missing.
In addition, one warrant mentions a report made to the Department of Social Services alleging that Elisa Baker had physically abused Zahra. The report, which says the girl had a black eye due to the alleged abuse, was made with the Caldwell County DSS and then transferred to the Catawba County DSS.