Court Docs: Zahra Baker Was Dismembered, Stepmom Said
Nov. 15, 2010— -- North Carolina 10-year-old Zahra Baker was dismembered after her death and her remains were scattered in several locations, the girl's stepmother told investigators, according to court documents filed today.
Lawyers for Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, filed the documents as part of a bond reduction request as evidence Baker had been aiding the search for the disabled girl's remains, according to ABC affiliate WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C. The attorneys also claim Baker led searchers to Zahra's prosthetic leg. Elisa Baker is in jail, being held on charges she allegedly wrote a fake ransom note after 10-year-old Zahra disappeared.
The leg, a bone fragment and the girl's remains were discovered in all different locations.
In jailhouse letters, Elisa Baker said her husband, Adam, did something "horrifying" to Zahra after she was dead. Adam Baker's attorney told ABC News today those claims were nothing more than a "desperate" attempt at distraction.
Two weeks before police announced they had discovered Zahra Baker's remains, Elisa Baker indicated in a jailhouse letter that the child was dead, but expressed no remorse or guilt -- only self-pity and vague accusations against her husband.
"I was trying to save us both, but why should I? He is letting everyone destroy me," Elisa Baker wrote, referring to Adam Baker.
In an earlier letter Baker wrote, "We really didn't kill her, but what he [Adam Baker] did after the fact is kinda horrifying."
In the latest letter, obtained exclusively by ABC News, Baker said she "ain't the monster people are saying."
She also said she was frustrated by her lawyer's refusal to allow her to do TV interview requests. "I want a chance to be heard damn it. This is my life and everyone is playing with and I have no control over what is said or done," she wrote.
She sarcastically commented on the negative media attention she's received. "Maybe I should just change my name to Evil, what do you think? LOL."
In the letter, written to crime memorabilia dealer Eric Gein, Baker says she will be living alone when she gets out of prison. In three rambling pages, she never mentions Zahra or any concern for her stepdaughter, who was still a missing person when the letter was written on Oct. 29. She also doesn't cite any remorse for the girl's disappearance.
Gein, who runs the website SerialKillersInk.net, told ABC News he contacted Elisa Baker by letter weeks ago under an assumed name. The most recent letter is the third he received in return.
ABC News has learned that Lisa Dubs, a capital punishment attorney, has been "provisionally appointed for any potential homicide charge" in Baker's defense, according to Baker's primary attorney Scott Reilly.
"Unfortunately, this man, who apparently goes by the false persona of 'Damien' used fraud and deceit with the sole intention of profiting from the disappearance of Zahra Baker," Dubs said in a statement to ABC News. "Ms. Baker unfortunately believed this man's representations that he only wanted to offer friendship and support during her incarceration. Much of the information in these letters is in response to specific questions posed by this man.
"The release of these letters is regrettable and only serves to sensationalize an already complicated situation," she added.
