Zahra Clare Baker #10 1/5/11 - 9/17/11

[Northern Rose]

Work begins on Zahra memorial  (with video)

CALDWELL COUNTY,NC  (WBTV) – Ground was broken Thursday for a permanent memorial to Zahra Baker, the ten year old girl who was reported missing from Hickory in October, then found dismembered in Caldwell County.

A makeshift memorial has been at the spot on Christie Road in Caldwell County ever since the victim's prosthetic leg and a bone were found nearby.

"This concrete memorial will be something for people to visit for a long time, " said landowner Jake Icenhour.

"It will be here as long as I'm alive, I can assure you of that."

Icenhour and several others were building forms for the concrete that will be poured at the site in the next week or two.

Christie Road was the site of several searches last fall as Hickory Police looked for evidence in the case.

A logging crew at the site found a briefcase Tuesday morning with what may be a bloodstained blanket inside.

Icenhour opened the briefcase and then called authorities. "It appeared to be a moldy, blood stained blanket or cloth or some type of clothing," he said.

Bob Hudson heads up the logging company at the site and said his people are on the lookout for anything else.

"If we see something we will call authorities," he said.

The briefcase will be sent to the State Bureau of Investigations lab in Raleigh for analysis.

Police are not sure if the briefcase or its contents are connected to the Zahra Baker case but say they will follow up all possible leads that they get.

No one has been charged in Zahra Baker's death.

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13880695

[Northern Rose]

Bigamy court date for Elisa Baker continued

NEWTON, N.C. (AP) -- An arraignment hearing for Elisa Baker on bigamy charges has been continued until March.

Baker, the stepmother of Zahra Baker, who died under mysterious circumstances, was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of being married to more than one man at the same time.

A district court judge in Newton continued the case until March 7.

The 42-year-old Baker is currently jailed on charges of obstructing the investigation into her stepdaughter's disappearance last fall.

Zahra Baker was reported missing in October. Police later found some of her remains, including the prosthetic leg she used after an amputation resulting from bone cancer.

Also on Friday, Zahra's father, Adam Baker, was scheduled for an appearance in a separate Newton courtroom on charges of writing bad checks. That hearing was continued to April 29.

No one has been charged in Zahra's death.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Bigamy-court-date-planned-for-Elisa-Baker-114357619.html

[Northern Rose]

Man says he feared Zahra was abused

HICKORY, N.C. – The ex-husband of Zahra Baker’s stepmother says he suspected the 10-year-old was being abused and reported it to Social Services last February.

Aaron Young was married to Elisa Baker before she married Adam Baker, Zahra’s father.

"I didn't see physical abuse firsthand,” Young said. “I seen some bruises on her and she would basically say the same thing Elisa said. She'd fall, she tripped and fell into the sink one time. I guess people just believed it because Zahra was telling the same thing that Elisa was and Zahra loved Elisa like her own mother.”

Young says he was married to Elisa Baker for ten years. Prosecutors say she was still married to Young when she married Adam Baker. Elisa Baker was indicted on bigamy charges earlier this week.

Zahra Baker was reported missing on Oct, 9, 2010. Her remains and a prosthetic leg she used after battling cancer were found scattered among several locations in Caldwell County.

Elisa Baker is currently in jail, charged with writing a fake ransom note when Zahra was first reported missing.

According to search warrants, Elisa Baker told police that Zahra died on Sept. 24 and that Adam Baker dismembered her body and hid parts of it throughout Caldwell County.

A search of phone records indicates Elisa Baker's cell phone was used in the areas where body parts were found but the phone records for Adam Baker indicate he was not present.

No one has been charged in connection with Zahra Baker’s death.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/01/20/1995556/man-says-he-feared-zahra-was-abused.html

[Fanny Mae]

Bigamy court date for Elisa Baker continued

NEWTON, N.C. (AP) -- An arraignment hearing for Elisa Baker on bigamy charges has been continued until March.

Baker, the stepmother of Zahra Baker, who died under mysterious circumstances, was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of being married to more than one man at the same time.

A district court judge in Newton continued the case until March 7.

The 42-year-old Baker is currently jailed on charges of obstructing the investigation into her stepdaughter's disappearance last fall.

Zahra Baker was reported missing in October. Police later found some of her remains, including the prosthetic leg she used after an amputation resulting from bone cancer.

Also on Friday, Zahra's father, Adam Baker, was scheduled for an appearance in a separate Newton courtroom on charges of writing bad checks. That hearing was continued to April 29.

No one has been charged in Zahra's death.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Bigamy-court-date-planned-for-Elisa-Baker-114357619.html

Why do these hearing always get continued and postponed? Not that it matters, Elisa is still in jail. But Adam's has been postponed too! And he can just slither around free!

[Northern Rose]

Elisa Baker arraigned on bigamy charges

HICKORY --
Elisa Baker was arraigned Friday on one count of felony bigamy charges. Court officials served the indictment to her in jail late Friday morning.

Baker, 42, is accused of still being married to her previous husband, Aaron Young, when she married Adam Baker in December 2008. She was indicted on one count of bigamy on Tuesday.

According to court documents, Young got a divorce from Elisa on Aug. 21, 2009 — several months after her wedding in Australia to Adam. In the divorce filing, Young used Elisa’s new last name of Baker in the filing. Young initially filed for divorce from Elisa on June 28, 2009. They filed for divorce because they had not lived together as man and wife since May 29, 2008, according to documents.

Elisa was given an additional $10,000 secured bond for the bigamy charge Friday, bringing her total bond amount to $107,700.

Elisa Baker is the stepmother of Zahra Baker, the 10-year-old Australian child who was first reported missing in October. Police determined she’d been killed and dismembered. Investigators have found a lot of evidence in the case, but no one has been charged yet in Zahra’s death. Elisa has been indicted on one count of obstruction of justice for writing a false ransom note to throw police off the case.

Young’s name has come up in the search warrants. Police wanted information from his cell phone pertaining to calls, texts and GPS locations from Sept. 1 through Oct. 11, hoping it would help with their investigation. They also got information from his IMVU social networking account, because a source told them that he, and either Elisa or Adam blogged with someone else in this virtual world about “doing a murder with chainsaws.”

On Friday, Zahra’s father, Adam Baker, was scheduled to appear in court on four counts of worthless check charges. The checks were used at area grocery stores and were written for a combined total of $244.10.

Neither Baker, nor his attorney Mark Killian, appeared at the courthouse. Killian had requested a continuance.

Baker’s new court date is April 29. Elisa’s next court date is March 7.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2011/jan/21/elisa-baker-arraigned-bigamy-charges-ar-714077/

[Northern Rose]

Web of marriages could impact testimony in Baker case  (with video)

CHARLOTTE – Elisa Baker is expected to be arraigned on bigamy charges Friday in Catawba County. Court documents show she married Adam Baker, the father of Zahra Baker, before being legally divorced from Aaron Young but the legitimacy of that marriage is also in question.

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.

If her marriage to Young is deemed null and void, it is possible her marriage to Baker would then be legal, and spousal privilege says Adam Baker would not have to testify against her in court.

“The witness spouse is competent to testify against their defendant spouse if they choose but they can't be compelled to do so if they don't want to, which is consistent with idea of the idea of preserving the harmony of the marriage,” said professor Sheryl Buske, of the Charlotte School of Law.

If their marriage is not legal, Adam and Elisa Baker could be forced to testify against one another.

Buske says there are exceptions to spousal privilege, for instance, when a child is injured.

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

[Fanny Mae]

Web of marriages could impact testimony in Baker case  (with video)

CHARLOTTE – Elisa Baker is expected to be arraigned on bigamy charges Friday in Catawba County. Court documents show she married Adam Baker, the father of Zahra Baker, before being legally divorced from Aaron Young but the legitimacy of that marriage is also in question.

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.

If her marriage to Young is deemed null and void, it is possible her marriage to Baker would then be legal, and spousal privilege says Adam Baker would not have to testify against her in court.

“The witness spouse is competent to testify against their defendant spouse if they choose but they can't be compelled to do so if they don't want to, which is consistent with idea of the idea of preserving the harmony of the marriage,” said professor Sheryl Buske, of the Charlotte School of Law.

If their marriage is not legal, Adam and Elisa Baker could be forced to testify against one another.

Buske says there are exceptions to spousal privilege, for instance, when a child is injured.

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

Would that be For instance,when a child is murdered and dismembered?

[Northern Rose]

Elisa Baker hit with 2 more charges; bond now above $100k

NEWTON, NC (WBTV) - The stepmother of a dead Hickory girl is now facing even more charges as she sits in the Catawba County Jail.

Elisa Baker, who lead authorities to the dismembered body of 10-year-old Zahra Baker, was hit with another worthless check charge this week. Also, on Friday, she was served with a bigamy indictment while she was in her jail cell Friday morning.

Elisa Baker, 42, is in the Catawba County Jail on several worthless check charges and on a charge for obstruction of justice, for allegedly writing a fake ransom note when Zahra went missing in early October, police have said.

She was scheduled to appear in court on Friday, but instead had the bigamy charge served to her while she was in jail and $10,000 more added to her bond.

The latest worthless check charge – from Catawba County – is now also added to the other 6 "simple worthless check" charges against Baker.

This was an active week in the Zahra Baker case: Eliza Baker was already indicted this week for bigamy after police said she was not divorced from a man before being married to Zahra's father, Adam Baker is the summer of 2008. (Read the story about the bigamy indictment)

Also, a briefcase was found in woods near where parts of Zahra's body was found, which contains a blanket that might have blood on it. (Read the story about the briefcase)

This week's worthless check charge has a $500 bond, which now brings the total bond for Elisa Baker in the Catawba County Jail to $107,700.


MORE...

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13884076

[Northern Rose]

Web of marriages could impact testimony in Baker case  (with video)

CHARLOTTE – Elisa Baker is expected to be arraigned on bigamy charges Friday in Catawba County. Court documents show she married Adam Baker, the father of Zahra Baker, before being legally divorced from Aaron Young but the legitimacy of that marriage is also in question.

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.

If her marriage to Young is deemed null and void, it is possible her marriage to Baker would then be legal, and spousal privilege says Adam Baker would not have to testify against her in court.

“The witness spouse is competent to testify against their defendant spouse if they choose but they can't be compelled to do so if they don't want to, which is consistent with idea of the idea of preserving the harmony of the marriage,” said professor Sheryl Buske, of the Charlotte School of Law.

If their marriage is not legal, Adam and Elisa Baker could be forced to testify against one another.

Buske says there are exceptions to spousal privilege, for instance, when a child is injured.

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

Would that be For instance,when a child is murdered and dismembered?

We can only hope.

[Northern Rose]

Blanket found this week possibly related to Zahra case

http://hickory.wbtv.com/content/blanket-found-week-possibly-related-zahra-case

[Brandi]

Web of marriages could impact testimony in Baker case  (with video)

CHARLOTTE – Elisa Baker is expected to be arraigned on bigamy charges Friday in Catawba County. Court documents show she married Adam Baker, the father of Zahra Baker, before being legally divorced from Aaron Young but the legitimacy of that marriage is also in question.

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.

If her marriage to Young is deemed null and void, it is possible her marriage to Baker would then be legal, and spousal privilege says Adam Baker would not have to testify against her in court.

“The witness spouse is competent to testify against their defendant spouse if they choose but they can't be compelled to do so if they don't want to, which is consistent with idea of the idea of preserving the harmony of the marriage,” said professor Sheryl Buske, of the Charlotte School of Law.

If their marriage is not legal, Adam and Elisa Baker could be forced to testify against one another.

Buske says there are exceptions to spousal privilege, for instance, when a child is injured.

http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

Would that be For instance,when a child is murdered and dismembered?

Yeah, it would not have mattered whether Elisa and Adam were legally married anyway. Since a child is involved.

That's how I understand it.

[Kat_Gram]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

[Brandi]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

...serial bigamist.

 

[Fanny Mae]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

They should have a husband-in-law reunion and compare notes.  I'll bet there isn't a whole brain if you put all seven of them together.

[Brandi]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

...serial bigamist.

 

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

So who was she married to in 1998? And it sounds like she was not married to AYoung legally if she was still married to someone else in 1998 when they "married."

What a tangled web.

Just like all of her lies.

 

[Northern Rose]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

...serial bigamist.

 

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

So who was she married to in 1998? And it sounds like she was not married to AYoung legally if she was still married to someone else in 1998 when they "married."

What a tangled web.

Just like all of her lies.

 

In one of the previous threads I did a marriage and divorce by date post with all the marriages we could find.  I don't have time to search for it but there were several instances where she had multiple husbands dooped. 

[Lake Erie Princess]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

...serial bigamist.

 

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages. Young says he and Elisa Baker were married when she married Adam Baker but said he recently learned she was married to someone else when she married him in 1998.
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/635645/web-of-marriages-could-impact-testimony-in-baker-case

So who was she married to in 1998? And it sounds like she was not married to AYoung legally if she was still married to someone else in 1998 when they "married."

What a tangled web.

Just like all of her lies.

 

This is all so unbelieveable !
A bigamist ??
What's next ?
Will we learn that she is a "closet" serial murderer ?

I cannot even think of an appropriate punishment for her.

[Puzzler]

News 14 Carolina learned that four of Elisa Baker's seven marriages overlapped and only those the took place while she was legally divorced are legitimate marriages.
...
More husbands-in-laws. lol

My gosh!

[starwynn]

I think I'm just more shocked that seven people would actually MARRY that horrible creature!!!!

[starwynn]

Little Zahra, with your big heart, I am still waiting for the justice that should be yours.  You are not forgotten!