In 2010, a Texas minister named Matt Baker was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Kari. Initially, the case appeared to be suicide. According to NBC News, sleeping pills and a suicide note were found beside the victim’s bed. Furthermore, Baker even revealed that his wife was suffering from depression because their 16-month-old daughter passed away in 1999.
After Kari’s parents shared evidence of their daughter’s murder, authorities reopened the case. One of the key witnesses of the state during Matt Baker’s trial was his ex-mistress, Vanessa Bulls. She told jurors how the Baptist minister gave his wife the prescription sleeping aid, Ambien. She furthermore revealed that Baker handcuffed her to the bed and covered her face with a pillow after she fell asleep. He did these antics to make his wife believe they were spicing up their marriage.
Vanessa Bulls even said that the minister typed a suicide note and rubbed his dead wife’s hands on it. According to CBS News, he terminated Kari to be with his mistress.
To learn more about this case, tune in to the upcoming episode of Prosecuting Evil With Kelly Siegler, which will air on Saturday, December 23, at 8 p.m. ET. This episode is titled The Mask of God.
The official synopsis of The Mask of God reads, “A grieving mother takes her own life, or so it seems. Her parents start an investigation and secrets emerge about the Baptist minister and husband that leaves friends and family wondering if there’s more to the story.”
What happened in Matt Baker’s trial?
At Matt Baker’s trial, prosecutor Crawford Long said that the Baptist minister cruelly murdered his wife. Furthermore, he added that Baker was taking pleasure in getting away with the heinous crime.
Crawford Long said, “Folks, I can look every one of you in the eye and say Matt Baker deserves the maximum sentence, and Matt Baker, I can look you in the eye and say because of your heartless, soulless conduct, you do deserve a maximum sentence.”
When the judge asked Matt Baker if he had any legal reason for not being sentenced, he stated, “I truly believe in my innocence. I believe the jury made a mistake in this.”
Prosecutor Susan Shafer said that the former minister was very cunning as he could easily make people believe that he was a good person. Shafer told the jurors, “He thought no more of them than to murder their mother and then erase her legacy with them by convincing them that she didn’t love them enough to stay and raise them, that she committed suicide.”
Additionally, several women came forward to testify that Matt Baker tried to make sexual advancements toward them. Furthermore, one woman even complained to the police of an attempted sexual assault.
It was also reported that the disgraced minister used his church-issued laptop and a computer to explore pornographic websites. He used the internet to visit websites where married people sought affairs.
At the time of Kari’s murder, she was 31 years old. Matt and Kari met when they attended Baylor University in Waco.
