Posted 10:58 pm Friday, February 08, 2013
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Gilmer man charged in stabbings
BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS
Special Correspondent
Special Correspondent
A Gilmer man charged with killing a woman and stabbing two other people remained jailed under bonds totaling $1.35 million Thursday after a rural disturbance call late Wednesday afternoon led to his arrest, Upshur County authorities said.
Eddie Douglas Baker, 26, admitted in a videotaped statement to fatally stabbing 45-year-old Tana Fuller Warren, of Gilmer, and putting her in the back of his camper in the 7200 block of Ginger Road northeast of Gilmer, according to information from the offices of Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Lyle Potter and District Attorney Billy Byrd.
The woman is believed to have been slain on or about Wednesday, Byrd said. He said he was “not in a position” yet to release the identities of the man and woman stabbed multiple times and was unsure of their condition at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview.
Baker is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in those cases.
The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office responded to the disturbance call on Ginger Road about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, and deputies learned two people were stabbed, Sheriff Anthony Betterton said in a statement. The sheriff’s office also learned the suspect poured gasoline on a travel trailer and threatened to set it on fire, Betterton said.
“Upon deputies’ arrival, two victims were located, who were both transported to an area hospital,” and officers also “located the suspect, who fled on foot,” Betterton said. The suspect, whose name was not mentioned in the sheriff’s news release, was subsequently found and arrested on the two assault charges, Betterton said.
“It was later reported to the Sheriff Office that a woman who lives with the suspect was missing and (had) not been heard from or seen since Tuesday,” the sheriff said. Deputies took a missing person report from a relative before returning to the missing woman’s home to try to find her, he said.
Eddie Douglas Baker, 26, admitted in a videotaped statement to fatally stabbing 45-year-old Tana Fuller Warren, of Gilmer, and putting her in the back of his camper in the 7200 block of Ginger Road northeast of Gilmer, according to information from the offices of Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Lyle Potter and District Attorney Billy Byrd.
The woman is believed to have been slain on or about Wednesday, Byrd said. He said he was “not in a position” yet to release the identities of the man and woman stabbed multiple times and was unsure of their condition at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview.
Baker is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in those cases.
The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office responded to the disturbance call on Ginger Road about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, and deputies learned two people were stabbed, Sheriff Anthony Betterton said in a statement. The sheriff’s office also learned the suspect poured gasoline on a travel trailer and threatened to set it on fire, Betterton said.
“Upon deputies’ arrival, two victims were located, who were both transported to an area hospital,” and officers also “located the suspect, who fled on foot,” Betterton said. The suspect, whose name was not mentioned in the sheriff’s news release, was subsequently found and arrested on the two assault charges, Betterton said.
“It was later reported to the Sheriff Office that a woman who lives with the suspect was missing and (had) not been heard from or seen since Tuesday,” the sheriff said. Deputies took a missing person report from a relative before returning to the missing woman’s home to try to find her, he said.
“Upon their arrival deputies found evidence that led (them) … to believe the woman may possibly be injured inside the residence,” Betterton said. They found her dead inside, he said.
Potter said he pronounced Ms. Warren dead at the scene at 6 a.m. Thursday and ordered an autopsy at Southeast Texas Forensic Center.
Affidavits dated Wednesday quoted Deputy M. Gilow, one of the officers dispatched to the scene, as saying the disturbance call was that Baker had poured gasoline onto the unidentified reporting party’s trailer “and was about to set it on fire.”
“While en route to the location, we were advised that a stabbing had also taken place with Baker as the actor,” Gilow said in the document. “Upon my arrival, I observed two involved parties/victims running up Ginger Road screaming, ‘Eddie is still at the house.’”
Gilow said two units went to check on the man at the location while he tried to render aid to the victims. Shortly after deputies arrived at the stabbing scene, Baker ran from them but was later apprehended, Gilow said.
Potter said he pronounced Ms. Warren dead at the scene at 6 a.m. Thursday and ordered an autopsy at Southeast Texas Forensic Center.
Affidavits dated Wednesday quoted Deputy M. Gilow, one of the officers dispatched to the scene, as saying the disturbance call was that Baker had poured gasoline onto the unidentified reporting party’s trailer “and was about to set it on fire.”
“While en route to the location, we were advised that a stabbing had also taken place with Baker as the actor,” Gilow said in the document. “Upon my arrival, I observed two involved parties/victims running up Ginger Road screaming, ‘Eddie is still at the house.’”
Gilow said two units went to check on the man at the location while he tried to render aid to the victims. Shortly after deputies arrived at the stabbing scene, Baker ran from them but was later apprehended, Gilow said.
The victims said Baker purposely stabbed them, “causing severe laceration and puncture wounds on both victims,” and that they were attacked without “warning after a small argument,” Gilow reported.
In another affidavit, Sheriff’s Investigator Chris McCauley said that during an active investigation on Thursday, he interviewed Baker about the discovery of the body of Ms. Warren, “who had been reported as a missing person.”
Baker “confessed in his video statement that he had killed Warren by stabbing her and placed her in the back of his residence. Due to this information, Baker was charged with murder,” McCauley said.
Potter said he set bonds of $250,000 each on the assault charges Thursday morning before setting an $850,000 bond for the murder charge that afternoon.
Byrd said authorities are still investigating whether Ms. Warren lived with Baker, “the nature of their relationship, and how long they’ve known each other.”
He said he had no details on the search leading to Baker’s arrest, nor which sheriff’s deputy or deputies arrested him, but, “I don’t believe it was a very long manhunt.” Potter said he believed Gilow arrested the suspect at his home Wednesday.
In another affidavit, Sheriff’s Investigator Chris McCauley said that during an active investigation on Thursday, he interviewed Baker about the discovery of the body of Ms. Warren, “who had been reported as a missing person.”
Baker “confessed in his video statement that he had killed Warren by stabbing her and placed her in the back of his residence. Due to this information, Baker was charged with murder,” McCauley said.
Potter said he set bonds of $250,000 each on the assault charges Thursday morning before setting an $850,000 bond for the murder charge that afternoon.
Byrd said authorities are still investigating whether Ms. Warren lived with Baker, “the nature of their relationship, and how long they’ve known each other.”
He said he had no details on the search leading to Baker’s arrest, nor which sheriff’s deputy or deputies arrested him, but, “I don’t believe it was a very long manhunt.” Potter said he believed Gilow arrested the suspect at his home Wednesday.
