Zahra Baker, a murdered child

[Lady Cop]

a very small consolation.




WCNC

LENOIR, N.C. -- Adam Baker, the father of the late Zahra Baker, was found guilty in a brief trial Thursday afternoon to one count of assault with a deadly weapon in a charge unrelated to his daughter's death.

Instead of taking a plea deal, Baker pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and communicating threats, all misdemeanors. The Caldwell County judge dismissed the communicating threats charges but found Baker guilty of assault. Baker ran a relative off the road in May of 2010.

"We negotiated all day with the D.A.'s office and we weren't able to come to a resolution that we can all live with,” said Baker’s attorney, Shell Pearce.

With the guilty verdict, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail but will not go to jail immediately. Instead, Baker has already started the appeals process, meaning the case will likely go to superior court later this year.

Earlier in the day in a Catawba county courtroom, Baker pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for using a relative’s name to illegally obtain electricity. He was ordered to pay restitution and sentenced to unsupervised probation on those charges.

"He just wants to get back to Australia and take his daughter with him," said attorney Mark Killian.

"These cases were holding him up."

Baker still faces several worthless check charges as well.

[Lady Cop]

and in another courtroom...

Hickory Record






It took only 21 minutes to seal Elisa Baker’s fate in federal court Thursday, where she pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge. She is expected to receive the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The plea agreement with the US Attorney’s office disposes the last pending charges against Baker, who is serving 14 to 18 years for the murder and dismemberment of her stepdaughter, Zahra Baker.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the one charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, the remaining six drug charges were dropped.

Baker said little during the hearing, except to answer the questions posed by US Magistrate Judge David Kessler.

Wearing Mecklenburg County Jail’s red prison outfit with a white thermal shirt underneath, Baker’s thick, mostly-gray hair was braided into four thick cornrows. She had a black air cast on her left foot. OH NO! DID SHE FALL DOWN AND GET A BOO BOO?

She nodded her head in addition to softly saying yes to Kessler’s questions, only occasionally looking down at the table where she was seated.

Baker said she understood she was admitting guilt to the charge, and that her plea could not be later withdrawn.

During the plea hearing, Cortney Escaravage with the US Attorney’s office said Baker conspired to distribute 12,000 units of Oxycodone, 10,000 units of Hydrocodone and 29,000 units of Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, between May 2006 and October 2010. Oxycodone and Hydrocodone are used to treat moderate pain, while Alprazolam is prescribed for anxiety.

The investigation into Baker’s missing stepdaughter, Zahra, began Oct. 9, 2010. Baker was arrested the following day for several charges unrelated to Zahra’s death, including writing bad checks, and has remained jailed ever since.

Zahra, a 10-year-old Australian cancer survivor, was found dismembered in Caldwell County in the fall of 2010. Baker, 43, pleaded guilty to Zahra’s murder in September 2011 and was sentenced to 14 to 18 years for Zahra’s death and eight other felonies.

It was a case that touched many in Catawba County, where Baker, her husband, Adam, and Zahra were living, sparking outrage that a child who lost part of her leg and hearing to cancer could be brutally murdered. People across the region and beyond rallied around the child who was no longer with them, demanding justice for Zahra. They also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a park for disabled children in her honor.

The four lead investigators from Hickory Police Department’s who spent thousands of hours immersed in the investigation into Zahra’s death were at Baker’s plea hearing Thursday, sitting in the front row of the gallery. One of them, Maj. Clyde Deal, said they were at the hearing to see the investigation through to the end.

In the federal courtroom Thursday, Baker did not receive a sentence for the drug conspiracy charge. However, according to the plea agreement, she can receive the maximum sentence for the charge, which is 20 years, a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release.

Kessler said Baker could receive a sentence higher or lower, and would still be bound by her plea. She will learn what her sentence is at a separate hearing, which has not been scheduled.

Catawba County District Attorney Jay Gaither said it is his understanding that Baker’s federal sentence and the state sentence will run consecutively. hahahaha

According to Lia Bantavani with the US Attorney’s office, Baker will serve time for her state sentence prior to serving her federal sentence. Baker is currently incarcerated in the Mecklenburg County Jail.

[Sterling]

The four lead investigators from Hickory Police Department’s who spent thousands of hours immersed in the investigation into Zahra’s death were at Baker’s plea hearing Thursday, sitting in the front row of the gallery. One of them, Maj. Clyde Deal, said they were at the hearing to see the investigation through to the end.

The LEOs are men of honor. It is somehow tragically fitting that Zahra's father was not in the courtroom for the continued criminal proceedings against his daughter's killer. He wasn't there for Zahra when she needed him the most - so why now? I take pleasure that she looks like shit, scared and in pain. I wish the same for Adam Baker, too.

[Lady Cop]

wouldn't it be the ultimate ironic karma if she had to have that injured leg amputated? and the state wouldn't buy her a prosthetic leg like poor Zahra had?

she threw Zahra's out into the roadside dump.

[Sterling]

wouldn't it be the ultimate ironic karma if she had to have that injured leg amputated? and the state wouldn't buy her a prosthetic leg like poor Zahra had?

she threw Zahra's out into the roadside dump.

Brilliant! Goddammed fucking brilliant!

[aussiefriend]

Aussie, you originally joined Mock to follow the Zahra case...have you noticed recent news about elisa and adam?

http://mockforums.net/post-214170.html#pid214170

There has been nothing at all in the media here regarding little Zahra. In fact, the latest news I get, I get from Mock. Some of the updates I read here have not been mentioned in the media in Australia. I have satellite tv so I have all the extra news channels, and I haven't heard anything. Also, have not heard a thing about Daniel Morcombe. I think the Australian justice system moves slower than in the US, and not as harsh sentences either.

[Lady Cop]

so which is it?? 2 different reports on same day. he's in jail or he's in OZ.

i think the truth is the fucker is back in OZ and will never face justice.
the stupid hickory record posted both versions on same page with no clarification! i just emailed them for an explanation.

ABC and others
Adam Baker, the father of slain North Carolina 10-year-old Zahra Baker, has been deported to Australia, and has taken the girl’s remains with him, Baker’s attorneys said today.

Baker’s attorney, Shell Pearce, told the Charlotte Observer that his client left the country quietly about two weeks ago, after receiving a suspended sentence for misdemeanor crimes in Cawtawba County. Charges against Baker in Caldwell County remain pending, though Pearce said Monday he did not believe Baker would be brought back to the U.S. for those hearings, according to WSOC.



Herald Sun
ADAM Baker's plan to take his murdered disabled daughter Zahra's ashes back to Australia next week has hit a road block after a North Carolina judge sentenced him to a month in jail.

Former Queensland sugar mill worker Baker, 34, spent Thursday in courts in two North Carolina counties for a variety of charges that were not expected to lead to jail time.

However, the Hickory Daily Record newspaper reports District Court Judge BJ Mullinax sentenced Baker to 30 days in jail for an assault with a deadly weapon charge relating to an incident where Baker tried to use a car to run a family member off the road.

[Duchess]

the stupid hickory record posted both versions on same page with no clarification!

Honest to God, they are truly tards.

[Lady Cop]

a decent reporter replied to me:

Linda:

He was sentenced to 30 days, but the sentence was immediately appealed by his attorney, and he was allowed to go free until the appeal would be heard. I guess the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) decided that he didn’t need to wait around for those pending charges, and allowed him to go back to Australia. He left the US on Jan. 19, according to ICE, and is back in Australia.

Sarah Newell Williamson

Staff writer

Hickory Daily Record

[Tammy75]

The four lead investigators from Hickory Police Department’s who spent thousands of hours immersed in the investigation into Zahra’s death were at Baker’s plea hearing Thursday, sitting in the front row of the gallery. One of them, Maj. Clyde Deal, said they were at the hearing to see the investigation through to the end.

I have known all 4 of these guys for years and they are good men that will forever be haunted by a case that has no happy endings.

My Mom is in a similar position, she is retired LE from another county, and she is still haunted by so many children crimes cases that she could not solve 100% beyond a reasonible doubt.

And the Hickory Record, that I learned how to read by growing up is not the Hickory Record of the past.

I don't believe AB had a clue what the fuck was going on because he was a class A asshole shitty biofather, but he is guilty in my book by not giving a chit if he saw his daughter and loved his dope more than he loved his kid. Adam Baker has been deported. Has been there for weeks.

To the Bakers, karma is a bitch and you both will get yours.

[aussiefriend]

it was reported in the news here, that Adam Baker has been deported. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...s-remains/

[HairOfTheDog]

it was reported in the news here, that Adam Baker has been deported. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...s-remains/

He is such a disgrace. No matter where he lives, I certainly hope Mr. Baker never fathers another child. He is not worthy.

[Lady Cop]

it was reported in the news here, that Adam Baker has been deported. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/20...s-remains/

yes, i posted that on previous page. 627

i hope a saltie bites off his arm and leg and poisonous funnel web spiders bite the rest of him. he's a filthy, thieving, lying, ugly, stupid despicable crap excuse for a man.

[Lady Cop]

not deported...couldn't wait to get out of Dodge.

Hickory Record

SYDNEY — The Australian mother of Zahra Baker said Tuesday she has no idea what became of her daughter's ashes since Adam Baker brought them to Australia.

Zahra's biological mother Emily Dietrich said her daughter's remains might have been buried in Australia without her knowledge.

HICKORY --

Adam Baker has returned to his native Australia, taking the cremated remains of his murdered daughter, Zahra, with him.

Baker, 34, voluntarily returned to Australia on Jan. 19, said Vincent Picard, southern regional communications director for the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Mr. Baker coordinated his return to Australia with ICE officials who verified that he had purchased a ticket to Australia and had boarded the plane prior to departure,” Picard said.

He said Baker was not deported, because he purchased his own ticket and left the country voluntarily. However, ICE officials were at the San Francisco airport to ensure Baker boarded his plane, Picard said.

[aussiefriend]

Here is the latest Zahra update. It is just breaking in the news in the last few hours here in Oz.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breakin...6426073055

IT may be October before police can confirm whether a small human skull found in woods in the US state of North Carolina belongs to murdered Australian schoolgirl Zahra Baker.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the medical examiner have decided to send the skull to a lab out of the state to run tests on it, the Hickory Daily Record reports.

"The SBI and the state medical examiner decided to send it to a specialist because with the procedures they had available, they were unable to do the appropriate tests," Clyde Deal, deputy chief of police with the Hickory Police Department, told the newspaper.

Officials were hoping to have the results from the tests in 90 days, he said.

The skull was found by a turkey hunter on April 17 in Caldwell County, not far from Hickory, the North Carolina town where Zahra, 10, lived with her biological father Adam and American stepmother Elisa.

Elisa pleaded guilty last September to murdering and dismembering Zahra in 2010 and while she led authorities to some dumped body parts, Zahra's skull was never found.

Elisa was sentenced to a maximum 18.5 years jail for the horrific murder.

[Lady Cop]

wow. thanks. that is news!
search area

[aussiefriend]

The latest in about Zahra. (Give little Zahra a hug for me LC, thanks).

State investigators confirmed a skull found last April in Caldwell County is that of 10-year-old Zahra Baker.

For much of Thursday afternoon, Eyewitness News saw people stopping by the memorial site for Zahra in Caldwell County. They said they are glad there may be some closure in the case, but still have questions about how the girl died.

A hunter discovered the skull in an area north of Lenoir last April. Ten months later, DNA testing showed the skull was Zahra’s.
Police Chief Tom Adkins led the investigation into Zahra’s death and spoke about the latest developments.

“It reminds us of the tragedy that fell on Zahra but also brings us closure to know that she is finally home,” he said.

Police believe Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, murdered her in September 2010 at the family’s home in Hickory, which is still boarded up today. Her remains were scattered at three locations in Caldwell County.
Investigators said there were no signs of trauma on Zahra's skull, leaving open the question of how she died.

"I would love to know how she was killed,” community member Jake Icenhour said. “I guess it doesn't matter knowing it was her skull. Brings some closure, but there is still some questions."

Since her death, the community came together to build the Zahra park in Hickory to remember the 10-year-old. Debbie Gautreau took her children there Thursday and said the case has changed people who followed it.
"You always heard about it, and it made you hold your kids a little bit tighter,” she said.

[aussiefriend]