The parents of a Hewitt teacher who allege their son-in-law killed their daughter have asked a judge to grant them access to student and employment records, some dating back 15 years, that they claim will establish a long-standing pattern of his assaultive behavior.

Calling the request for a portion of the records a “long stretch,” a skeptical 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother on Monday took under advisement motions filed by attorneys for Matt Baker, a Baptist minister and former chaplain at the Waco Center for Youth, to quash subpoenas.

Monday’s hearing came as part of the ongoing wrongful death lawsuit filed in July against Baker by James and Linda Dulin, the parents of Kari Baker, whose April death was ruled a suicide.

In seeking to block discovery of Baker’s records, one of Baker’s attorneys, James Rainey, called the request an “improper fishing expedition” designed to smear Baker with no substantial proof.

“They are wanting to bring up allegations from 10 to 15 years ago that were not found to be true, that had no basis at the time, and now bringing them up today to suggest that Matt had a bad past of some sort and that supposedly means he killed his wife. That is outrageous and unfair,” Rainey said.

Linda Dulin, a communications professor at McLennan Community College, and James Dulin, a civilian Defense Department employee who works at Fort Hood, allege in the lawsuit that Baker killed their 31-year-old daughter and “then falsely reported the death to police as a suicide.”

Hewitt police have since reopened their investigation into Baker’s death and obtained an order to exhume her body in July for autopsy. Justice of the Peace Billy Martin earlier had declared her death a suicide by overdose of sleeping pills and did not order an autopsy at the time.

The autopsy, completed in September, failed to determine a definitive cause of death.

The Dulins’ attorney, Bill Johnston, told Strother on Monday that if he were allowed access to Baylor University police records and Matt Baker’s student records, he could show that Baker reportedly sexually assaulted a female student on campus in December 1991.

Employment records, according to Mike McNamara, a private investigator working with Johnston, would show that Baker left at least two church jobs and one at the Waco Family YMCA “under awkward circumstances” after allegations that he had inappropriate contact with underage girls.

McNamara said they are seeking phone and computer records from the Waco Center for Youth because they would show that Baker, former pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Lorena, called and e-mailed a girlfriend he had at the time of his wife’s death. They also want to see whether Baker accessed pornographic Web sites, McNamara said.

Johnston said he is seeking the information so Waco psychologist Lee Carter, who testified briefly Monday, can have the best evidence available to develop a profile of Baker for possible use at the civil lawsuit trial.

“How do all these bad acts, if they occurred, relate to whether he murdered his wife?” Strother asked.

Johnston told Strother that Baker invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during attempts to depose him. A psychological profile, one that included a history of long-standing improper behavior, might convince a civil jury that Baker could have killed his wife, Johnston said.

Baker has since moved to Kerrville, Texas, with the couple’s older daughters, Kensi, 10, and Grace, 6. He did not attend Monday’s hearing and is working as a substitute school teacher and part-time pastor.

Rainey said after the hearing that Baker took the Fifth on his advice.

“They are saying he killed his wife,” Rainey said. “That is a matter of standard procedure when they are accusing you of something like that.”

Strother asked Johnston on Monday how the criminal investigation was going. Hewitt Police Capt. Tuck Saunders would say only that the investigation is “ongoing.”

“I want to take a detailed look at the file and the pleadings and look closer at some of the cases that you have provided,” Strother told the parties. “Some of these things seem like a stretch to me. Some of it may be a shorter stretch. We’ll see.”

The judge said he might order that the records be produced for his inspection only before he makes a final ruling on their availability.

Johnston also is seeking medical records related to the Bakers’ 18-month-old daughter, Kassidy, who died about seven years ago. Baker told police investigators that his wife was undergoing counseling and was depressed over the death of their daughter, who had a brain tumor.

McNamara testified that there is “some basis to suspect foul play” in Kassidy’s death because of “similarities” in her death and that of her mother.

Rainey said after the hearing that the plaintiffs have resorted to “character assassination” because they have no evidence to substantiate their claims.

“The death of that child devastated Matt and Kari Baker, and Kari never recovered,” Rainey said. “There are numerous witnesses who are ready to testify that she was very depressed and ultimately killed herself. Kari’s parents need to be helping their son-in-law instead of attacking him. It is very unfortunate.”

Linda Dulin said after the hearing that her daughter was never depressed, was never diagnosed as being depressed and never saw a counselor on a regular basis.

Johnston said he thinks the hearing went well.

“We probably gave the judge quite a bit today. It’s the first time he’s heard anything about the case and that is certainly prudent to consider and take it under advisement,” Johnston said. “Obviously, that is just part of the process.”

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

757-5737