Samuel Baker murder trial begins

Apr. 29—The murder trial for Samuel Lee Baker got underway Monday with jury selection and opening arguments from both sides, plus a handful of witnesses giving testimony.

Baker, 25, is accused of the murder of Robert Claunch, who was killed March 18, 2021 at the residence of Baker's father, Ronald Baker.

Opening arguments in the trial began around 2 p.m., with Commonwealth's Attorney David Dalton acting as prosecutor and James Cox as the lead attorney on behalf of the defendant.

During opening arguments, Dalton told the jury they would hear facts that neither side could contradict: That Claunch was shot three times and died at the scene, that Claunch and Ronald Baker were doing drugs on the night that Claunch died, and that the incident happened within Ronald Baker's home.

Dalton stated — and testimony from Ronald Baker later bore out — that Ronald Baker told 911 dispatch that on that night, Ronald Baker's son Samuel Baker had turned up at the house. Ronald Baker had told Samuel Baker to leave, then went to his bedroom, leaving Claunch and Samuel Baker in the kitchen area.

Ronald Baker testified that he then heard three gunshots, and returned to find Claunch lying on the floor. He then stated that he heard his son leave in a vehicle, but didn't know which direction he was going or what vehicle he was driving.

Dalton's opening statements detailed that the jury would hear that a farmer in Casey County saw Sam Baker coming out of the farmer's barn with items that didn't belong to him. That farmer called 911 — unaware that Baker was a person of interest in a potential Pulaski case — and Casey County law enforcement chased a fleeing Samuel Baker until Baker was arrested near a creek bed.

Dalton then said that Pulaski officials went to the Casey County scene, found a gun with Samuel Baker's DNA on it, and compared the gun's shell casings to those found at the scene of Claunch's death, showing that they matched.

Cox, however, explained that the defense would prove that not only was Samuel Baker not at the scene of Claunch's shooting, but that the investigation conducted by PCDC was inadequate, saying, "inaction speaks louder than words."

Cox stated the investigators did not collect crucial evidence from the scene, including drug paraphernalia that proved Claunch and Ronald Baker were doing meth on the night of the shooting.

He also argued that during Ronald Baker's call to 911, he refused the dispatcher's request to perform CPR on Claunch, saying that Ronald Baker did nothing to try to save him.

Cox also stated that there was nothing on Samuel Baker's clothing to indicate he had participated in a murder, while Ronald Baker did have blood on his clothes.

While Ronald Baker was on the witness stand, the jury heard an audio recording of his call to 911, in which the dispatcher did ask him to begin CPR. Ronald Baker told the dispatcher that he didn't know how to do that.

He was also recorded as being in an emotional state, crying and not answering many of the dispatcher's questions.

During that call, Ronald Baker told the dispatcher that his son had committed the shooting.

When Dalton asked Ronald Baker if he had shot Claunch, Ronald Baker denied it, saying that they had been friends since high school.

Under cross examination, Ronald Baker was asked by Cox whether he had been taking drugs that night, and why he didn't tell police who responded that night that there were drugs involved.

Cox said that the only things Ronald Baker could have told the dispatcher in that moment was that either he killed his friend or someone else did it.

Ronald Baker insisted that he was not mistaken on what happened that night, and that his son was the one who shot.

Samuel Baker, who is also charged with first-degree Burglary in this case, was also accused of slipping out of an ankle monitor in November of last year while on home incarceration awaiting his murder trial.

He and Adriana Brown, 28, were arrested on several charges the day after that alleged escape, having been picked up in El Dorado, Kan., in a vehicle that was said to have been stolen in Illinios.

Both Dalton and Cox alluded to that reported escape attempt in their opening arguments, with Cox asking the jury if someone who had been accused of a murder they didn't commit would be afraid of facing trial.

The trial is scheduled to last three to four days. It is expected to resume Tuesday morning in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com