The death of a Texas minister’s wife left a church community shocked and her family convinced it was foul play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened to Carrie Baker?
No, here, take your pacifier out. Say Christmas. Can you give a kiss? The kids came quickly. They look like this perfect young couple with this beautiful baby.
Carrie wanted children. She always had, and she was a wonderful mother.
And then Cassidy came. It looked to the outside world like everything was just coming together for the bakers.
If you know our children or not, this is my wife, Carrie. And it's special for me to do this because it is, they are my children, our children.
Cassidy, hi.
But it was just after Cassidy's first birthday when the family was dealt some heartbreaking news about her.
It turned out that she had a brain tumor. Carrie was devastated, absolutely devastated.
We went to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth.
It was a scary time, and she struggled in pediatric ICU for 60 days. They started chemotherapy on her.
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Chapter 2: Was there an autopsy done on Carrie?
Back then, maybe 12,000 people. They have their own city, government, police.
And when Carrie and Matt moved in, they quickly became part of the community.
But in early April 2006, right here in the heart of the Bible Belt, a chaotic scene is unfolding inside this house. Local pastor Matt Baker has arrived home to find his wife Carrie unresponsive in their bedroom.
And what's the problem? Tell me exactly what happened. My wife is laying in the bed, and her lips are blue, hands are cold. Is she conscious? No, she's not. Is she breathing? No, no, no, she's not breathing at all, no pulse or anything.
I put my head to her chest and didn't see or feel her chest rising, no air coming out, felt for pulse, nothing.
Okay, listen carefully. I need you to get her laying flat on her back on the ground and remove any pillows, okay? Okay, put her on the floor? Correct. On the bed now, put her on the floor. All right, she needs to be on the floor, yes, sir.
Okay, okay. The 911 operator tells Matt to do CPR, to put Carrie on the floor and start CPR.
Do that and tell me when you're done. Okay. Hold on. Okay, hold on.
Hold on.
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Chapter 3: What evidence suggested foul play in Carrie's death?
She had been taking sleeping pills to go to sleep since Cassidy passed away and started taking more and more of them. And we had discussions that you've got to stop doing this. This is too many. This can be dangerous.
We ran out of the car and as I started running up to the front of the house, an EMT person stood in front of me and grabbed me and told me that my daughter was dead.
I just kept saying, there's no way.
There was a piece of paper on the end table, and something didn't set right. For me, it all pointed back to that note.
A frenzied scene has been unfolding in the middle of the night at the Bakers' home. Matt Baker's wife is dead. And there's a note.
On the bedside table, there's a suicide note.
That was the first time that the word suicide entered my mind. I had no idea at that moment what had happened.
In the note, there was reference to Cassidy. Matt explained to me that Cassidy was their daughter. And it's a very difficult time for Carrie because of the anniversary of Cassidy passing away. The first person I remember showing up after me, I explained all the things that Matt had shown me, and I took a step back.
In Texas, in small counties where they don't have medical examiners, the justices of the peace decide what happens when there's an unexplained or sudden death.
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Chapter 4: How did Carrie's family react to her death?
Less than one week after Carrie's funeral, Pastor Matt Baker is back at the pulpit here at Crossroads Baptist delivering the Easter sermon. He tells his congregation that just like Jesus, Carrie has risen up to heaven.
There was always the desire in her to be with a daughter that was in heaven now. And she did voice that several times, that Cassidy needed her, she needed Cassidy.
This was my wife's Bible that she carried for years.
Matt had given her a Bible years earlier, and she started writing her feelings in the margins.
She says, I want to go with Cassidy. She could never let go of Cassidy. It was such a strong hold on her.
The week Carrie died, she had a session with her grief counselor and also saw a doctor who prescribed her medication.
The next day, she ripped up the prescription. She wouldn't fill it.
After finding out Carrie died, I had talked to my sister Kay. I just kept saying, there's no way. Carrie would never take her own life. And then that's when she told me about a visit she got from Joanne.
Joanne Bristol is Carrie's grief counselor and also friends with Carrie's aunt, Kay Bailey.
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Chapter 5: What did the investigation reveal about Matt Baker?
Well, I just want to sit and talk to him.
Questions needed to be asked and questions needed to be answered.
31-year-old Carrie Baker has been found dead in her home. It was deemed a suicide by police, but her family began investigating on their own, and they urged police to question her husband, preacher Matt Baker.
Sit and talk to me. I just want to talk about what happened that night. Absolutely. That way we can clear all this up, because I'm sure you know what I'm getting at, as far as Linda and all I'm saying.
It was a very odd, odd week. But not behavior that would have raised red flags, if that makes sense. It was one of those deals that I knew she was depressed.
The conversation continues, with Matt sharing his own view on what he believes might have happened.
I left about 11 or so. I wasn't gone maybe 40 minutes.
You left the house and went down to the gas station? I wasn't even gone long at all. Okay.
And that was the strange thing about it is I question where she would have taken the medicine. Personally, this is my opinion, I don't think the medicine is what killed her. I think she threw up into her mouth but was knocked out enough and choked on it. So, no, I don't know if that's just me trying to put stuff together to make it, you know.
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