BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[baker]](/editions/1998/08/26/baker_180x132.jpg)
Lawrence Baker gets a hug from his wife, Betty, and a pat from his lawyer, Perry K. Ellis.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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WILMINGTON -- Lawrence Baker on Tuesday avoided becoming the third member of his family to be convicted of crimes related to the 1996 disappearance of Carrie Culberson.
After 9 1/2 hours of deliberation, a Clinton County jury of seven women and five men found Mr. Baker not guilty of two counts of obstructing justice and one count of tampering with evidence.
Mr. Baker sat stoically next to his attorney, Paris K. Ellis, as the jury's verdicts were read. Seconds after the judge adjourned court, Mr. Baker's wife, Betty, rushed toward her husband with open arms and they embraced.
"I feel very happy," Mr. Baker said.
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Debbie Culberson weeps after hearing the verdict.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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Ms. Culberson's mother, Debbie Culberson, covered her face and sobbed when she heard the verdicts.
"I think he was involved (in the cover-up) 100 percent," Mrs. Culberson said. "As (Prosecutor William Peelle) said, the boys didn't do anything without Daddy. I think he should pay for his role in this."
Mr. Baker's son, Vincent Doan, is serving a life prison term for kidnapping and murdering Ms. Culberson, 22, of Blanchester. She was his former girlfriend.
Tracey Baker, another of Mr. Baker's sons, is serving an eight-year sentence for helping cover up the crime.
Authorities believe Ms. Culberson was murdered in August 1996. The 22-year-old's body has not been found.
Prosecutors accused Mr. Baker of creating an alibi for Mr. Doan and telling Lori Baker, Tracey Baker's ex-wife, to lie to the police. They also said he told Mrs. Baker to get rid of a T-shirt splattered with Ms. Culberson's blood and a scrub brush used by Mr. Doan to clean Ms. Culberson's blood from himself and the T-shirt.
In his testimony during the trial, Mr. Baker steadfastly denied having anything to do with a coverup.
Lori Baker was a key witness at this trial, just like the previous two.
Mr. Peelle and Assistant Prosecutor Richard Moyer, though disappointed, said they accepted the verdict.
"I think the jury was saying that we failed to present sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt," Mr. Peelle said.
The jury may have doubted the testimony of Mrs. Baker, he said. The jurors left the courthouse before they could be questioned. Mr. Ellis said he didn't want to say much because the convictions of Mr. Doan and Tracey Baker are under appeal.
"The system works," he said.
The conclusion of the six-day trial ends the criminal proceedings connected with Ms. Culberson's disappearance, a case with bizarre twists that riveted the Tristate's attention.
Mr. Moyer said there are no plans to prosecute anyone else in the Culberson case.
But for Mrs. Culberson, disturbed that her daughter's body still hasn't been found, the case is far from closed.
"I have gotten some amount of justice," she said, referring to the convictions of Mr. Doan and Tracey Baker. "I'm really happy with the prosecutors' job. But they know I need one thing. And that is to find Carrie."
Chief pleads no contest in Culberson case
![[baker]](/editions/1998/08/26/baker_550x403.jpg)
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