Matt Baker, the former Central Texas Baptist minister who was arrested on a murder charge in the 2006 death of his wife, is again a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by his wife’s parents.

James and Linda Dulin, the parents of Kari Lynn Baker, refiled their wrongful death lawsuit against their former son-in-law Thursday, alleging that he killed the 31-year-old teacher at the Bakers’ Hewitt home and tried to make it appear a suicide.

The Dulins dismissed their lawsuit in October, a few weeks after Baker surrendered to Kerrville authorities on the murder warrant filed by Hewitt police. After his release from the McLennan County Jail, Baker went back to Kerrville, where he is living with his parents and two daughters.

The suit, like the first one, was filed in Waco’s 19th State District Court by the Dulins’ attorney, Bill Johnston. The suit seeks unspecified damages for the Dulins and their two granddaughters, Kensi and Grace.

“We refiled the suit to preserve our right to pursue the civil case, not wanting to interfere with any criminal investigation,” Johnston said. “But since there hasn’t been an indictment yet, we have to do what we have to do to preserve our right to pursue it civilly.”

Matt Baker, 36, told Hewitt police that he found his wife’s body in their locked bedroom on April 7, 2006. There was an unsigned, typewritten note beside the bed, convincing authorities initially that she died by sleeping pill overdose.

The Dulins faced a two-year limit to file their lawsuit, which would have expired April 7. Kerrville attorney Guy James Gray, who represents Baker against the criminal allegations, said Thursday he is unsure if he will represent Baker in the civil lawsuit.

A police affidavit to support Baker’s Sept. 21 arrest in Kerrville, where he was working as a substitute teacher at Tivy High School, alleges he slipped his wife crushed sleeping pills, then suffocated her after she lost consciousness.

The Dulins and other family members say they never believed Kari committed suicide. They convinced Hewitt police to reopen the investigation into her death and obtained an order to have their daughter’s body exhumed for autopsy.

Much of the information contained in the police affidavit to support Matt Baker’s arrest was uncovered by Johnston’s civil litigation team, including allegations Baker had a mistress and visited Web sites pertaining to sleeping pills and drug overdoses.

Justice of the Peace Billy Martin, who initially ruled Baker’s death a suicide, without ordering an autopsy or going to their home, has since changed his ruling to “undetermined,” the same finding issued by medical examiners after the autopsy.

McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest and his top assistant, Crawford Long, declined comment Thursday about the progress of the criminal case.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

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