Wrongful death lawsuit against former Central Texas minister Baker pushed back
It will be at least fall before a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a Hewitt elementary school teacher who died mysteriously in 2006 makes it to trial.
The Nebraska wrongful death lawsuit, which alleges that former Central Texas Baptist minister Matt Baker killed his wife, Kari, and tried to make her death appear to be a suicide, had been set to go to trial in April.
At a hearing Thursday, Judge Ralph Strother of Waco’s 19th State District Court granted more time for Matt Baker’s Kerrville attorney, Richard L. Ellison, to investigate and take depositions from expert witnesses called by the plaintiffs.
The purpose of the hearing was for Strother to rule on Ellison’s motion asking the judge to throw out the lawsuit, citing a lack of evidence to support the allegations against Matt Baker. That decision has been pushed to a later pretrial date.
Matt Baker, who now lives in Kerrville, was not at the hearing.
About a half-dozen members of Kari Baker’s family were seated in the court.
The family’s attorney, Bill Johnston, said the family is ready to see the case go to trial but is being patient and understanding of the judicial process.
Kari Baker’s death initially was ruled a suicide by sleeping pills, and she was buried without an autopsy or further investigation. Her parents, James and Linda Dulin, pushed investigators to look into their daughter’s death, as they became convinced that their son-in-law had killed her.
After her body was exhumed and the investigation was reopened, Justice of the Peace Billy Martin changed his cause-of-death ruling to “undetermined.”
The McLennan County District Attorney’s Office continues to work on the criminal case against Matt Baker. First Assistant District Attorney Crawford Long said the office is waiting for forensic evidence to be returned.
The case has not gone before a grand jury.
“The civil action is a way of figuring out what happened, alleging it, and then proving it,” Johnston said.
Ellison said he intends to prove that expert witnesses called by the plaintiffs are biased and that their testimony will be based on hearsay.