A retired Waco couple is pushing state officials to amend Texas law in honor of 31-year-old Hewitt teacher Kari Baker, whose husband almost got away with murder by making her death look like a suicide.

Tom and Jan Purdy wrote a letter this week to 14 local and state officials urging them to back “Kari’s Law,” which would mandate that an autopsy is conducted on any suspected suicide.

Some states, such as Florida, have long required an autopsy on every apparent suicide. In other states, it’s at the discretion of each county or medical examiner’s district.

A man’s body is placed in the back of a van by Waco Mortuary Service workers. Bodies from Waco are usually taken to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for autopsies.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

“Suicides should be autopsied,” said Tony Mead, operations manager with the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office in Florida. “There is just too much chance otherwise. We do have people that set up scenes to make a death look like murder.”

The Purdys know Kari Baker’s parents, Jim and Linda Dulin, from Calvary Baptist Church. They attended the January murder trial at which 38-year-old Baptist pastor Matt Baker was sentenced to 65 years in prison.

“The case raised more questions for us than answers,” said 71-year-old Tom Purdy, who retired from Baylor University, where he worked in development. “It seems that someone with real technical, medical abilities should make decisions about whether to order an autopsy.”

In McLennan County, a justice of the peace has the sole discretion on whether to order an autopsy. Justices of the peace are elected, and about six of the 80 hours of training they receive their first year are related to conducting inquests, or determining the cause and circumstances of a death. The law allows a JP to conduct an inquest at any “place determined reasonable by the justice.”

When Kari Baker was found dead in her bedroom in April 2006, Texas law allowed Justice of the Peace Billy Martin to make a ruling that the mother of two had killed herself without leaving his home to see her body.

With the insistence of Kari’s parents and friends, and with evidence mounting against her husband, Kari Baker’s body was exhumed three months after her funeral.

“Had a law like this been in place when Kari was murdered, it would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars spent investigating and fighting for justice, both out of the Dulins’ pockets and the county’s pockets,” said Shannon Gamble, whose son was a student of Kari Baker’s, and writes a “Justice for Kari” blog. “It would have saved almost four years of agony and uncertainty for all involved.”

On average, about 25 people commit suicide each year in McLennan County, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Justices of the peace say they order autopsies on suspected suicides and any other death if there is any question as to how the person died.

The Purdys said the apparent mistake made by Martin and law enforcement in the Baker case is reason enough for that decision to be made by a trained medical examiner.

“With all the other duties of a justice of the peace — performing marriages, issuing warrants, setting bail, conducting criminal and civil trials — it seems that determining death is one duty that should be void of discretion and ultimately up to a medical professional,” the Purdys’ letter states.

State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, who was one of 14 state and local officials to receive the letter, said the issue “bears investigation” to see whether the topic of mandatory autopsies for suspected suicides has been brought before the Legislature in the past.

“It seems there is an area there that needs clarification,” Anderson said. “I can sure see what these folks are concerned about.”

Calls to State Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, and State Rep. Jim Dunnam, R-Waco, were not returned. The chairmen of the Legislature’s jurisprudence committees, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, also did not return calls.

The issue has not recently been raised, according to Texas Legislature Online.

Local autopsies

When a McLennan County judge orders an autopsy, most of the time the body is taken by Waco Mortuary Services to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas.

Steve Moore, McLennan County’s auditor, said autopsies in 2009 cost the county $161,018. Depending on the amount of testing needed, an autopsy in 2009 cost between $1,850 and $2,250. This year, the cost of autopsies has risen $100.

Martin said that some deaths are obviously suicides and could be too much of a burden on taxpayers if every one is sent to Dallas for an autopsy. He said, however, that he takes no stance on the proposed “Kari’s Law.”

“Whatever the Legislature wants me to do is what I’m going to do,” Martin said. “I follow the rules and the laws that are put out there. I took an oath to obey the constitution, and that’s what I do. But, I’m not going to say one way or the other on this.”

Justice of the Peace Kristi DeCluitt, Martin’s colleague, said “Kari’s Law” couldn’t hurt.

“It could be a good thing,” she said. “The taxpayers pay taxes for a reason, and I don’t think that people would complain about something like this. It’s kind of like chicken soup, though. It could help, but there’s no way to really know.

“I think there’s a misconception out there, though, that just because a body is sent for autopsy, you get an answer. But I don’t see any harm that could come from it.”

Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen, a 25-year veteran medical examiner and a past president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, said he has worked in jurisdictions with and without mandatory autopsies for suspected suicides.

“My preference is to do autopsies on all suspected suicide victims,” Jentzen said. “It’s just a matter of saying you want a system that is going to work. And you’re looking for a system that is going to catch things.”

What happened in the Kari Baker case “could be a fluke,” he said. “But you don’t know how many more cases like hers were not caught.”

For Linda Dulin, “Kari’s Law” would mean that something good, and lasting, could come from her daughter’s murder.

“This would save people heartache,” she said. “Everyone has a right to have answers. ‘Kari’s Law’ would make it so that no one else has to go down the same road that we have.”

equinn@wacotrib.com

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