Hewitt police officials have reopened the investigation into the April death of a teacher at the request of her parents, who allege she was the victim of murder, not suicide.

As part of their investigation, Hewitt police last month obtained a court order to exhume the body of Kari Lynn Baker, 31, because no autopsy was ordered after Justice of the Peace Billy Martin declared her death a suicide.

“The cause of death was determined to be suicide at the time of report but has since come into question due to the suspicious circumstances before and after Kari Baker’s death,” said an affidavit filed to support the exhumation request by Hewitt Detective Ben Toombs.

An autopsy was performed in Dallas and officials are waiting for the results of toxicological tests in an attempt to determine the manner of death, ruled at the time as an overdose of sleeping pills.

In the meantime, Kari Baker’s parents, James and Linda Dulin, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on July 31 against their son-in-law, Matt Baker, alleging that the Baptist minister and former Waco Center for Youth chaplain killed their daughter, “then falsely reported the death to police as a suicide.”

On Friday, Matt Baker’s attorneys, Gerald Villarrial and James Rainey, filed an answer to the wrongful death lawsuit that included a general denial of the allegations and a request for sanctions against the plaintiffs.

“Clearly, plaintiffs have no grounds to bring this suit and it is brought solely to harass defendant and cause unnecessary litigation,” the request for sanctions says. “Further, plaintiffs have no evidentiary support for any claim made by plaintiffs and there is no likelihood that there will be evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery.”

Villarrial said Matt Baker did not kill his wife. Baker and the Dulins recently worked out an agreement to allow the Dulins’ regular visitation with their granddaughters.

“I don’t know what they are questioning,” Villarrial said. “To me, based on what I know, it was a suicide and the grandparents are the ones pushing the issue. We really don’t know a whole lot about the allegations, other than they are questioning whether it was a suicide or not.”

Move to Kerrville

Matt Baker, who recently moved to Kerrville with the couple’s daughters, Kensi, 10, and Grace, 6, did not return phone messages left at his residence.

Waco attorney Bill Johnston, a former federal prosecutor who represents the Dulins, declined to discuss at length specific allegations against Matt Baker, saying he did not want to jeopardize the ongoing Hewitt police investigation.

“We, too, are looking for sanctions against Mr. Baker, but of a different sort. However, we believe that there is certainly sufficient evidence to bring a civil action against him,” Johnston said of Baker’s response to the lawsuit.

The standard of proof in civil cases — a preponderance of the evidence — is less than in criminal cases, which require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

While Hewitt Police Capt. Tuck Saunders confirmed that his agency has reopened the investigation into Kari Baker’s death, he declined to discuss specific areas of the investigation.

Judge Martin, a former federal drug agent, said he did not order an initial autopsy when Matt Baker, former pastor at Crossroads Baptist Church in Lorena, reported finding his wife’s body at their home at 803 Crested Butte on April 8 because police investigators told him it was a suicide.

“They said she was under severe depression and said it was a clear case of suicide,” Martin said. “They are the investigators. They are the ones studying it. I based my decision on them and their investigation.”

The Bakers lost an 18-month-old daughter, Kassidy, about seven years ago and officials said Kari Baker, a teacher at Spring Valley Elementary, had undergone some grief counseling at the time.

However, Johnston said, at the time of her death, she was not depressed and was looking ahead.

“In terms of Kari’s mindset at the relevant time frame, I would be hesitant to give too many details,” Johnston said. “But our investigators have found that she was looking toward the future and had many things in her life which were forward-looking and the future was something she was enthusiastic about.”

Linda Dulin, Kari Baker’s mother, deferred comment to Johnston.

“Kari was a fine person who was very well-liked by everyone who knew her,” Johnston said. “She was a hard-working teacher who had already had tragedy in her life and on whose behalf we are speaking now.”

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

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