The timeline given to officials by former pastor Matt Baker about his wife’s death will be debated at Baker’s murder trial, scheduled for this week in Waco’s 19th State District Court.

A key question is exactly how long Hewitt teacher Kari Baker had been dead when her husband called 9-1-1 — a pivotal issue as prosecutors attack his version of events on the night of April 7, 2006.

Their job, however, will likely be hampered by the fact that 31-year-old Kari’s death was originally ruled a suicide. It was only at the insistence of the woman’s family and friends that her body was exhumed and autopsied three months after her funeral.

In a not-before-reported transcript from the August 2007 inquest hearing held in Justice of the Peace Billy Martin’s courtroom, Texas Ranger Matt Cawthon said the investigation was mishandled from the start.

“This investigation was handled poorly in the beginning by the police,” Cawthon testified. “Had we been able to gather forensic evidence in a more timely fashion, this may have been different.

“. . . Now, we have to go back and we have to build this investigation block-by-block with evidence that is largely circumstantial.”

Cawthon, however, then testified that a conviction is not “insurmountable” because Matt Baker had plenty of motive to kill his wife. The state has called 97 witnesses. Testimony is expected to begin Wednesday in Judge Ralph Strother’s courtroom.

Prosecutors say the 38-year-old former youth chaplain poisoned his wife of 12 years with sleeping pills, smothered her with a pillow and typed a suicide note explaining that his wife wanted to be with her middle daughter, who had died seven years earlier.

Baker said his wife was dead in the 45 minutes it took him to rent a movie and gas up the car between 11:15 p.m. and midnight. A crime scene expert hired by Kari Baker’s parents, however, said that crime scene photos show that lividity — the pooling of blood in the body — had set in, which he says, would have been impossible during that time frame.

“There’s medical testimony that . . . would show that there is no way that the timetable he gave for what happened that evening could have taken place,” said Hewitt police detective Benjamin Toombs, who also testified in the inquest hearing.

Officials later investigated Internet searches performed by Baker and statements Kari Baker made to friends and a counselor, in addition to questioning Baker’s motives and behavior. Key dates in the case include:

March 2006 — According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by Hewitt police and Texas Ranger Matt Cawthon, computer records show that Matt Baker began to search Web sites specializing in drug overdoses and prescription drugs. He searched for Ambien, which toxicology reports stated was in his wife’s system when she died, and ran a search for “overdose by sleeping pill.” Matt Baker told the Tribune-Herald in 2007 that was doing online research because he was concerned his wife was taking too many sleeping pills at night.

Monday, April 3, 2006 — Kari Baker reportedly found a bottle of crushed pills in her husband’s briefcase. According to the affidavit, Matt Baker told his wife that children at the Waco Center for Youth sometimes spit out their medicine, and that’s where the pills came from. The center has a strict medication policy, and Baker was not there when the students took their pills, the records state. Baker reportedly told Hewitt police that the pills were his wife’s and that she must have hidden them in his briefcase.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 — Kari reportedly told her counselor, Joanne Bristol, that she found crushed-up pills in her husband’s briefcase and thought he was going to kill her. Authorities say she also told Bristol that she thought her husband was having an affair.

Friday, April 7, 2006

* Morning — Kari had a job interview for a reading-teacher position at Midway Middle School. Matt Baker told the Tribune-Herald that after the interview, she called him and told him that she was going to Wal-Mart to get something that she told him was personal. At some point she called her mother, Linda Dulin, and told her the job interview went well and that she was hopeful.

* Afternoon — Matt Baker told the Tribune-Herald that Kari drank a fuzzy-navel wine cooler before they went to the Waco Family Y for a swimming lesson for their oldest daughter, Kensi. Matt Baker said his wife threw up at the pool’s restroom and again when they got home. According to the affidavit, witnesses at the pool did not see Kari acting unusual or sick.

* Evening — Matt Baker told the Tribune-Herald that the family picked up McDonald’s for dinner on the way home from the pool. He said that his wife didn’t have much an appetite. He said that after the children were asleep, the couple had a wine cooler.

* Night — Matt Baker told police that his wife asked him at 11:15 p.m. to gas up the car, get some M&Ms and rent their special movie, When a Man Loves a Woman, he told the Tribune-Herald.

April 8, 2006 — Matt Baker told authorities that when he arrived back home at midnight, the bedroom door was locked. He knocked, and after his wife did not respond, he picked the lock open with a screwdriver, he said. Matt Baker said his wife was lying on the bed, naked. Matt Baker told the Tribune-Herald that he called 9-1-1 while dressing her, explaining that he knew his wife would not have wanted paramedics to see her naked. Investigators said a bottle of Unisom, an over-the-counter sleep aid, and an unsigned, typewritten suicide note were on a table next to the bed.

Early April 8, 2006 — Justice of the Peace Billy Martin rules Kari’s death a suicide after consulting with the Hewitt police. No autopsy is ordered.

Middle of April 2006 — An employee of Kay Jewelers in Richland Mall sees Matt Baker in the store with his two children and an infant in a child carrier with a tall, blonde woman, Cawthon testified in court. The employee, who told Cawthon she recognized Baker from church, said the couple was shopping for an engagement ring. Cawthon said he thinks the woman was Vanessa Bulls, with whom Cawthon says Matt Baker had an affair from February to July 2006. Baker told the Tribune-Herald that he was in the store to look at earrings for his two daughters. He said he was not there with Bulls.

July 10, 2006 — At the request of Kari Baker’s parents and Hewitt police, Martin orders Kari’s body exhumed for autopsy.

July 31, 2006 — Kari Baker’s parents, James and Linda Dulin, file a wrongful death lawsuit against Matt Baker, alleging he killed their daughter.

August, 29, 2007 — Martin conducts an inquest hearing into Kari Baker’s death. In the hearing, Texas Ranger Matt Cawthon testifies that Hewitt police initially mishandled the investigation and that any evidence gathered is largely circumstantial. Still, Cawthon said he thinks Matt Baker had plenty of motive.

Sept. 18, 2007 — Martin changes his ruling in the death from “suicide” to “undetermined,” matching the autopsy results.

Sept. 21, 2007 — Matt Baker is arrested in Kerrville in his connection with wife’s death. He was working as a teacher at Kerrville Tivy High School and living with the couple’s two daughters.

equinn@wacotrib.com

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