Zahra Clare Baker #8 11/15/10 - 11/27/10

[Tibrogargan]

Still on the interview with AB I was amazed to read he said he wished to return to Australia and take Zahra with him, as she has friends and family here.

She also has a MOTHER here in Australia, who has equal rights to Zahra at the present time and may well have sole rights when AB is finally charged and jailed.  He removed Zahra from Australia either illegally or with forged documents, either carrying heavy penalties, so if he plans to contest custody with Emily and knowing she will also have the backing of our Prime Minister and Consular officials it will be a case of : Good luck with that.

 

[Nightowl]

Welcome to all the new monkeys.  Such a tragic case to bring you to our cage.

Luvmyboys thank you for those pics.  Those and the ones taken by CBB gave us such a feeling of actually being there and even in pics that house just reeks of evil.  I hope the owner eventually demolishes it and uses the land as a memorial to Zahra.

I watched part of that interview and read the transcript carefully and it makes me sick.  We have no idea what Adam was like before he chose to step into the evil step mother's web but in all the videos of him since Zahra's reported disappearance he has appeared to be totally separated from reality.  We could see he was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier but in this latest effort he is in a catatonic state as starwynn posted.   The interviewer led him in all the questions and his answers were nowhere near what anyone would consider a positive response.  Also with his mother sitting there rubbing his back I could not decide if she was consoling him, controlling what he may say or just "burping" him.

I hope to read he has been jailed after tomorrow's hearing.

Tibro, I also hope to read that he will be jailed tomorrow but I am now having some doubts creep in whether this will ever happen.  I have been thinking about ED's comments after she spoke to the LE where she says she might have to rethink if AB is guilty or not.  This must have been due to something they said to her at the time, whether it was that they don't believe he is guilty or they don't have enough evidence to convict him I don't know.  I also felt it a bit off putting the way he referred to the officer in charge as "Tom", like they were mates, this could be a tactic that the officer has used to gain AB's confidence and get him to talk but it just leaves me with a lot of doubts. 

I wish they would hurry up and find all the evidence they need to charge these two or whoever EB was in cahoots with because it is driving me crazy.  I know that is unfair on all the hard working LE who have been absolutely brilliant in their search for Zahra but I am impatient and want to see the people responsible pay for what they did. 

I don't know what to make of AB's almost catatonic interview, apart from the fact that it had the same amount of emotion that his 911 call, which I found totally unbelievable.  I really hope that he does not get the priviledge of taking Zahra's remains back to Aus, I hope that ED is the one who lays her to rest.

[theboyzmom]

Starwynn Adam still retains his Australian citizenship as did Zahra. According to the media the LE are holding passports for both Adam and EB in this sorry saga. I have read he came here on a visitor's visa and also read he held a work visa so not sure which is valid at this point.  I am sure a visitor's visa would have expired by now and I think both of them just kept well under the radar and kept moving residence until this finally caught up with them.

He would be liable to be deported but now with criminal charges against him he would have to face those and any resulting jail time before being held in detention pending deportation.  Hoping the jail time is a very lengthy one when LE have finished with him.

I have been very confused by this entire immigration issue. I have a friend that was accused of a crime - he has been her on a work visa for 20 years, married, kids, business - the whole tamale. When he was accused, he was immediately locked up in a federal facility for the last almost 3 years even though they have his passport.  Why is it that AB is not in the same boat? Seems like there would be enough to lock him up on at least the endangering the welfare of a child charge????

[Monkey King]

Extra security, figures.
Where's Charles Bronson when you need him.

I think we should send Curly to NC with a sock and a roll of quarters, they"ll get the truth out of those two, fo' sho'!

[cookie]

Morning Monkeys..
hopefully Adam will be arrested today!

[seahorse]

 
 

 Thank-You, Brandi! 

[luvmyboys]

What time are ab and eb to be in court

[Kimmy53]

I know all here want to see AB locked up and I feel it is coming, however, I believe HPD and the other agencies are working their best to have as much evidence as possible when they do charge him.  You can rest assured LE is doing all they can do to secure justice for Zahra.

I feel that all LE are working diligently to be sure the charges will stick.  I venture to say that these men and women working on this case have taken Zahra's demise very personally and they will suceed.

I'd love to see AB doing the perp walk - but I can be patient.  I want Justice for Zahra worse.

[KCJackie]

Hickory family befriended Zahra's Australian mom

Credit: ROBERT C. REED/RECORD

  Lisa Ridgway  discusses the idea of placing "Tree of Hope" tags on some the stuffed toys from Zahra Baker memorial tree. Emily Dietrich, birth  mother of Zahra Baker, stayed with the Ridgways while she was in Hickory and asked them to donate the stuffed animals to "Cops for Tots."

By Richard Gould
Published: November 18, 2010
Updated: November 18, 2010 - 9:30 AM

Some of the teddy bears, dolls and toys at the Zahra Baker shrine have been removed — at the request of Zahra’s biological mother, Emily Dietrich.
The shrine began when Zahra was reported missing Oct. 9. It grew exponentially following Friday’s police announcement that Zahra’s remains have been found and the 10-year-old girl is dead.

Dietrich came to Hickory and spent a lot of time at the shrine before she left Sunday. As she prepared to return to Australia, she asked the Hickory couple she’d stayed with to donate some of the toys to the Hickory Police Department’s Cops for Tots Christmas program.

“We took 125 toys to the police department (Tuesday) but there are so many toys left at the tree, you can’t tell that we took any,” said Lisa Ridgway. Each of the toys has a tag designed by Ridgway’s friend. The tags depict a tree, a dove in flight and the initials ZB.

Ridgway and her husband, David, met Dietrich last Thursday morning after her first visit to Zahra’s shrine at the Bakers’ former house at 21 21st Ave., NW. She and the Australian TV reporter who’d accompanied her to Hickory stopped their car in front of the Ridgways’ house.

David Ridgway said Dietrich told him that she’d gotten overwhelmed with grief and sadness and asked the reporter to drive her away from the site to collect her bearings. They turned down a side street, and Dietrich asked him to stop in front of a house that struck her as peaceful.

The Ridgways spoke to Dietrich for awhile. They exchanged contact information and invited her into their home, but she declined their offer.

“God led her to my house — that’s all I can say about it,” Lisa said. She said she feels God led Dietrich to her home so she and her husband could provide her with a safe haven away from the media and the crowds at the Baker house.

Saturday morning Dietrich and the Australian reporters told the Ridgways that they’d been staying at Hickory’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, but the media had discovered them there and were hounding them even as they tried to get a meal.

“She seemed very relieved to have a female companion,” Lisa said. “We loved on her quite a bit.”

The Ridgways invited Dietrich to spend the night in their daughter’s room.
“She’s away at college, and we’ve got this big old house,” said Lisa.
During their visit, they got to know Dietrich.

“She’s not well-to-do by any means,” said David, recalling his conversations with her. “She would never have been able to make the trip here without the news crew paying for it.”

His wife agreed. “Emily said she knows what it’s like to do without,” she said. “We
didn’t ask her a lot of questions. We let her tell us whatever she wanted to bring up.”
Dietrich told the Ridgways that she was 19 when Zahra was born. She told them about giving her over to Adam during her bout with postpartum depression.

“She told us that she felt good about giving Zahra to Adam (when the child was 8 months old) because she trusted that his mother would be good to Zahra,” Ridgway said. She added that the trust faded as Dietrich spent years searching for Zahra and trying to be reunited with her after Adam Baker left with her without letting Dietrich know where they were.

Lisa Ridgway said Dietrich told her, “‘I did not have the financial means to find my child.’ It broke her heart that she was not able to find Zahra.”

Dietrich spent much of her time in Hickory at her daughter’s shrine.
“She felt closer to her there — that’s the bottom line,” Lisa said. “She would go there trying to feel some kind of connection, then get overwhelmed and come back.”
The Australian public had sent Dietrich scathing and angry e-mails, and she was afraid her reception in America would be similar, but it wasn’t, said Ridgway.

“She was hugged by a lot of people. She was perfectly happy to talk to people,” Lisa said. “She said all she got here was support.”

The Ridgways said they gave Dietrich a suitcase to take mementos from the shrine back to Australia, and they’ve pledged to send her notes and letters they collect from the shrine.

“She wanted to take everything. Everything meant so much to her,” Lisa Ridgway said.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/nov/18/4/hickory-family-befriended-zahras-australian-mother-ar-548052/

[Monkey King]

I think it's wonderful Emily was able to meet some local people and find some peace away from the insanity while she was here.

[Monkey King]

According to radberky @twitter, cases against AB and EB continued until Jan 27 in Caldwell County.

[no rose colored glasses]

And out of this tragedy, some kids that wouldn't have gotten much or anything at Christmas will get a stuffed animal 

[Monkey King]

According to radberky @twitter:

Brittany Bentley says AB made the threat agaisnt her and she was in court ready to testify.

In another twitter, radberky says Brittany Bentley is also the person who claimed to have seen Zahra with a blackeye.

[luvmyboys]

hey you guys i have some more pics....some are the same and some are what i posted yesterday...i didn't know how to only dl the 17 i didnt upload yesterday......http://s208.photobucket.com/albums/bb150/hopek_2007/zahra%20bday%20and%20memorial/

[no rose colored glasses]

hey you guys i have some more pics....some are the same and some are what i posted yesterday...i didn't know how to only dl the 17 i didnt upload yesterday......http://s208.photobucket.com/albums/bb150/hopek_2007/zahra%20bday%20and%20memorial/

Thank-you 

[luvmyboys]

In 1 of the pics I just put up. There is a pic of a pic of someone with zahra. Does anyone know who that is?

[Scatty]

Good evening everyone !

I had errands today, so was out and about.(My knee is reminding tonight).

I don't know if anyone has read here, but I enjoy this blog about statement analysis. The 1st post today is about Adam and his infamous presser last night.

It is worth a read IMO.

http://seamusoriley.blogspot.com/

Thanks Princess. That was a good read.

[Northern Rose]

Judge delays Bakers' court cases


LENOIR Neither the father nor stepmother of Zahra Baker was in court Thursday morning for scheduled appearances on misdemeanor charges unrelated to the death of the young girl.

Adam Baker, Zahra's father, and Elisa Baker, the girl's stepmother, were represented instead by attorneys.

District Court Judge Gregory Hayes continued their cases until January on bad check and other charges.

Elisa Baker is in jail, accused of obstructing justice in the investigation into Zahra's disappearance. Hickory police have said the girl is dead, after finding a bone that was linked by DNA to the young girl.

Adam Baker is free on bail, but he faces charges of writing worthless checks, failure to return rented property, and assault with a deadly weapon.

His attorney, Mark Killian, told reporters after the hearing Thursday morning that Adam Baker "is doing as well as could be expected."

When asked if he will make Baker available to reporters, Killian responded, "He wants time to grieve and absorb all that's happened."

Killian would not comment on questions regarding the immigration status of Adam Baker, who moved to the United States from Australia after marrying Elisa Baker about two years ago. He also declined comment on reports that Elisa Baker might be facing bigamy charges, because court documents show she was still married to another man when she married Adam.

The possibility that the Bakers might appear together in court attracted a large crowd of media members -- and a lone couple, standing outside the Caldwell County courthouse. The couple held signs, asking the judge to keep Elisa Baker in jail.

Zahra Baker was reported missing by Adam Baker on Oct. 9.

Police in several counties conducted numerous searches for the girl, finally locating her prosthetic leg and the bone fragment in separate locations. Other remains, which police said appeared to be those of a child, were found at yet another site in Caldwell County.

Hickory police say they are convinced Zahra, who lost part of a leg to cancer while living with her father in her native Australia, is dead.

No charges have been filed in connection with her death.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/11/18/1847195/bakers-dont-appear-in-court-for.html

[Northern Rose]

Court appearances delayed for Zahra Baker's parents


CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. -- Court appearances scheduled for Adam and Elisa Baker Thursday were continued until January.

Neither of the Bakers appeared at the Caldwell County courthouse, where a few protesters had gathered, waiting to greet the father and stepmother of Zahra Baker.

One protester held a sign that read, "Adam is a murderer."

The Bakers were scheduled to appear on misdemeanor charges. None of the charges relate to the disappearance or death of Zahra.

Elisa Baker is currently in jail, accused of obstructing justice in the investigation of Zahra's disappearance.

Adam Baker is free on bail, facing charges of writing worthless checks, assault with a deadly weapon and failure to return rented property.

Zahra was reported missing on Oct. 9. Police say they found her remains in two separate sites near Hickory. No one has been charged in her death.

Meanwhile, new charges could be filed against Elisa Baker because court documents show she was still married to another man when she married Adam Baker. Her divorce wasn't final until nearly a year after her marriage to Baker.

Bigamy is a felony in North Carolina. The district attorney said investigators are aware of the timeline, but would not say if additional charges would be filed.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/zahra-baker/Zahra-Bakers-parents-scheduled-to-appear-in-court-108927914.html?gallery=y&c=y&img=1#gallery-image

[crazybabyborg]

I know all here want to see AB locked up and I feel it is coming, however, I believe HPD and the other agencies are working their best to have as much evidence as possible when they do charge him.  You can rest assured LE is doing all they can do to secure justice for Zahra.

I feel that all LE are working diligently to be sure the charges will stick.  I venture to say that these men and women working on this case have taken Zahra's demise very personally and they will suceed.

I'd love to see AB doing the perp walk - but I can be patient.  I want Justice for Zahra worse.

I think you're exactly right, Kimmy!!