JEROME L. BAKER

WITNESS FOUND HANGED IN CELL

By The Associated Press
Mon September 13, 2004

GUYMON -- A witness in the trial of a woman accused of killing her husband was found hanged in his jail cell, authorities said.

A nurse found Jerome L. Baker, 25, of Liberal, Kan., in his cell at the Butler County Jail in El Dorado, Kan., at 7:35 p.m. Saturday, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Daryl Ingermanson said. Baker was facing federal drug charges.

He was to testify against Jackie Spaulding, 65, of Liberal, who is facing murder and conspiracy charges in the killing of her husband, Roger Spaulding, who was found shot in the head on June 15 in his work shed northeast of Tyrone.

Texas County District Attorney Mike Boring said Baker was not a key witness and his death should have a minimal effect on the case against Jackie Spaulding.

Baker was pronounced dead at 8:34 p.m., and an autopsy concluded hanging was the cause of death.

The possibility of any outside foul play is unrealistic because Baker was in solitary confinement for 30 days for fighting, according to Ingermanson.

"No, he was in segregation, lockdown, and he was there by himself," Ingermanson said. "The chances of somebody else doing it is very, very, very remote. It'd have to be something way out of the ordinary, and there's video even of the (cell) pods. It's not apparent that any other inmate did this."

On July 29, a federal grand jury in Wichita, Kan., indicted Baker on three counts of possession with intent to sell crack cocaine and two counts of possession with intent to sell marijuana.

According to a court affidavit, Jackie Spaulding wrote a letter to Boring on June 24, the same day as her arrest, and admitted her involvement and also cited her son Calvin Hudson's involvement in her husband's death.

"I am very sorry about my part in the death of my husband. I know that God will punish me in my own way," Spaulding wrote in the letter.

The affidavit also quoted Baker as saying Mike Spaulding, Jackie Spaulding's grandson, had approached him and two other individuals and said, "Jackie wanted 'them to do something bad to Roger' and that 'it will pay good.'"

Baker said he discovered Jackie Spaulding wanted Roger Spaulding killed, and he backed out of any involvement.

The affidavit also said Jackie Spaulding said her husband intended to buy a motor home, sell all of his property and move away, leaving her with no support. Her motel, The Shady Inn, was not producing adequate income for her to live on.

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