Just a heads up for anyone interested that Investigation Discovery will be airing a new episode of "Motives & Murder: Cracking the Case" on the murder of Brook Baker. She was the journalism student who was murdered in her bed in Vincennes, IN. It airs tonight at 8 pm central time.

I watched that. Does anyone know if Brook's mother is still alive? I thought it odd that there was no interview footage with her..

I watched that. Does anyone know if Brook's mother is still alive? I thought it odd that there was no interview footage with her..

Please pardon the belated answer, but no, Brook's mother Janet is no longer alive. She died on December 9, 2004. :(

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13338202

Please pardon the belated answer, but no, Brook's mother Janet is no longer alive. She died on December 9, 2004. :(

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13338202

No worries. It's sad, but not super surprising. As I stated on another thread, her mom looked like she had been put through the wringer. Quite literally.

Terrible news about her mother dying. I wonder if this was natural causes or something self inflicted? She seemed absolutely distraught and at her wits end during the segment. Poor lady.

She seemed absolutely distraught and at her wits end during the segment. Poor lady.

She also seemed bitter, which is understandable. I don't see how anyone could go through an ordeal like that without any bitterness. Sadly, some people literally don't survive the death of child. Therefore, I can see how the tragedy had taken its toll on Janet Baker. :(

this was on ID today. Some things I noticed


1. Brook's dad was never interviewed. Interestingly, I don't think he was interviewed for the UM segment as well. I wonder why



2. Brook apparently made up the whole story about the fraternity rape. That was pretty surprising.



3. The actress playing Brook looked like Shawnee Smith


4. Brook was raped in addition to being murdered. Wonder why UM didn't mention it

1. Brook's dad was never interviewed. Interestingly, I don't think he was interviewed for the UM segment as well. I wonder why

I don't recall him being interview on UM, either. Maybe he wasn't prepared to go on national television? I don't know. And since there's too little information on the matter, I won't make any judgment on it.


4. Brook was raped in addition to being murdered. Wonder why UM didn't mention it

Either it was an oversight on the show's part or purposely withheld from the press while the case was unsolved. Although it isn't unusual for it to be publicly known early on that a murder victim had been raped, I wouldn't be surprised if the police had withheld that info from the public while the case was being investigated. As you know, police withhold certain info in the hope that a suspect will slip up by indicating a knowledge of it.

She made up the rape?!

She made up the rape?!

I don't think she made up the story of her rape at the time she was murdered. However, it's been implied that she made up a story with regard to the fraternity rapes she had been reporting on.

...and if UM had covered the fact that she had been raped at the time she was killed, I would have heavily leaned toward the fraternity being behind it. That whole thing is just too ironic.

She made up the rape?!



the show wasn't 100% clear but apparently Brook made up the whole idea of a rape happening at a fraternity and wasn't even writing any article. Basically, as a way to boast to her friends. Police investigated the fraternity and found out that it was consensual sex that was later regretted, not rape.

That's a shock that she faked the fraternity rape story. Wonder what possessed Brook to do that? I also found Brook's autopsy report and she was stabbed repeatedly in both lungs and basically bled/suffocated to death. Her mother Janet died in 2004 and her autopsy said she died of a ruptured brain aneurysm that hemorrhaged. Terrible, but mother and daughter have been reunited in a better place.

Brook's father is named Maurice. I am not sure why neither show interviewed him, unless his daughter's murder was just too much of a shock for him to speak about it.

the show Six Degrees of Murder did an episode on this as well

The Six degrees of Murder episode goes even deeper into Brook and her life than UM or Motives and Murder