A Waco judge declared former Baptist minister Matt Baker indigent Thursday, cut his bail bond in half and said he likely will approve county funds so he can hire forensic experts to assist in his defense.

With a courtroom full of spectators in a case that has captured national media attention, Baker’s attorney told 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother that Baker likely could post a $200,000 cash bond with help from a family friend as he did after his arrest in September. However, prosecutor Crawford Long objected, saying Baker is now under indictment in his wife’s death and the bond should reflect that.

Strother agreed, setting Baker’s surety bond at $250,000, down from the $500,000 bond he set after Baker’s indictment. As a condition of the bond, Strother ordered Baker or any member of his defense team to not contact Vanessa Bulls, who officials say was seen looking at engagement rings with Baker shortly after his wife’s death in April 2006 and whose testimony two weeks ago before a McLennan County grand jury helped secure Baker’s indictment.

Matt Baker

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Baker, 37, is charged with drugging and smothering his wife, Kari, at their Hewitt home as their two daughters slept down the hall. In numerous media interviews, Baker has denied that he killed his wife and has said that she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills because she was despondent over the death of their daughter.

Baker remained in the McLennan County Jail late Thursday.

Major media attention

At the end of the hearing Thursday morning, Strother again admonished both sides not to talk about the case in the media. Baker’s case has drawn national attention, with representatives from ABC’s “20/20,” NBC’s “Dateline” and CBS’ “48 Hours” in court Thursday to cover the latest developments.

Strother also said Thursday that he hopes to try the murder case at the end of September, the current trial date for the wrongful-death lawsuit Kari Baker’s parents, James and Linda Dulin, filed against Baker. The judge put all proceedings in the civil case, including defense requests to take Bulls’ deposition, on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Strother resolved one defense motion behind closed doors, emerging to say he denied a request from defense attorney Richard Ellison, of Kerrville, to hold prosecutors Crawford Long and Susan Shafer in contempt of court for trying to obtain a DNA sample from Baker in jail without a search warrant and without first contacting Ellison.

The judge said he sealed the record and other matters concerning the controversy and denied comment about the issue after the hearing.

Baker, who served as pastor at several local Baptist churches and was chaplain at the Waco Center for Youth, testified that he paid the $40,000 that he got from his wife’s life insurance policy to his civil and criminal attorneys, including $24,000 to Ellison. Baker said he made $17,000 last year, primarily selling items on eBay for a percentage of the sales price.

He said if he makes bail, he and his two daughters, ages 8 and 12, will move back in with his parents in Kerrville, adding that he only has $350 left in a bank account and is making payments on a truck.

Ellison, who is retained, asked Strother to declare Baker indigent and to approve county funds to hire experts in toxicology, crime scene reconstruction, pharmacology and psychology to help Baker with his defense.

Strother said he was “having a difficult time” with the motion, especially since Baker has hired an attorney and said he could post a $200,000 cash bond to get out of jail.

The judge said he would take the matter under advisement, instructing Ellison to get him a more detailed list of witnesses he thinks he will need and how much he thinks they will cost the taxpayers.

“I probably will give you some funds, but I need a better idea of what this means to the taxpayers of this county,” Strother said.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

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