Edward Gerald Baker.....Murder or Disappearance?

[Huskerz85]

Edward Gerald Baker was a charasmatic businessman who, like many, hit it big during the early-mid 80's oil boom in Texas (somewhat akin to the J.R. Ewing character from Dallas)......he founded Vanguard International down in Houston, TX from which he sold what the UM segment described as 'tax shelters' (which, due to current laws are now illegal).

However, the rush of wealth reportedly went to Baker's head and he fell into the trap of self-indulgence.....often 'borrowing' money from many of the investors which bought into his 'tax shelters' and by the mid 80's when the boom turned into a bust...Vanguard was near bankruptcy.....Baker's investors were clamoring for some return on their investments and Baker was in a very tight spot.

Some believe that Baker somehow got in touch with Mafia/organized crime figures in Florida and managed to get a sizeable bailout from them.......

Before anyone could really find out, Baker's flashy Jaguar was found burned to a crisp in a field outside Houston. Inside, was reportedly the body of Edward Baker.........or was it?

There was also speculation that Baker did not have any contact with the mob and instead came up with an ingenious plan to stage his own death with another body before fleeing to the Caribbean.

One intriguing clue that remains is a Chevrolet Flairside Pickup with chrome rails and mag wheels that was seen speeding away from the seen of the fire........could it possibly have been Baker and an accomplice, or could it have been the killers of Ed Baker?

[DarkDante]

I've always felt that most evidence in this case points to Baker committing suicide with the help of an accomplice who set his car on fire after Baker himself pulled the trigger on himself.

[Huskerz85]

I'm leaning towards that too.......for two reasons

in the segment, the part about 'death threats' seems a little on the phony side.....what logical reason would the mafia have for killing Baker out of the blue? the only one I can think of is that they got spooked by Baker's P.I. and thought he would be a liability a needed to be silenced.......but that seems too far fetched.

the letter he sent to his attny, Ward Busey, said something to the effect of "if you are reading this......I am dead" which strongly supports the 'cover-up'/disappearence theory.

however, if one still clings to the mafia hit idea.......Baker could've been in legit. fear for his life and figured that with the Mafia closing in, he was going to be dead in a matter of days so why not mail the letter to his attny and leave it at that?

[UMfan77]

Shortly before his disappearance, didn't he tell his ex-wife that he feared for his life? Also, he had been receiving treatening phone calls. Did he make it all up to throw everyone off?

[FanfromES]

I watched this episode last night, and i dont really think he commited suicide. There was no need for him to burn himself and his car. Usually fire is used to hide the true nature of a crime, but if you commit suicide...what would you want to hide burning yourself?

IMO he was killed by the mafia... or maybe hes enjoying life somewhere.. i remember they mention his widow was living in Europe (i guess thats why she wasnt interviewed). Maybe hes with her now.

[Corky Kneivel]

Originally Posted by FanfromES

...Usually fire is used to hide the true nature of a crime, but if you commit suicide...what would you want to hide burning yourself?...

Because you want your wife to be able to collect on insurance policies that won't pay out if the death is ruled a suicide. I don't think its that hard to conceive of him doing that.

Hell, that guy in North Dakota chose to crush his own skull with his forklift in a staged accident so his insurance would pay out to his wife and kids.

[FanfromES]

Originally Posted by Corky Kneivel

Because you want your wife to be able to collect on insurance policies that won't pay out if the death is ruled a suicide. I don't think its that hard to conceive of him doing that.

Hell, that guy in North Dakota chose to crush his own skull with his forklift in a staged accident so his insurance would pay out to his wife and kids.

Then, if you want your suicide to look like a murder, why would you left your gun at your feet? if he had an accomplice he shouldve asked him to retrieve the gun after he was dead.

But well never know. I hope Mr. Baker is laughing at us reading this post somewhere in Europe.

[mmarsh]

Originally Posted by Huskerz85

Edward Gerald Baker was a charasmatic businessman who, like many, hit it big during the early-mid 80's oil boom in Texas (somewhat akin to the J.R. Ewing character from Dallas)......he founded Vanguard International down in Houston, TX from which he sold what the UM segment described as 'tax shelters' (which, due to current laws are now illegal).

However, the rush of wealth reportedly went to Baker's head and he fell into the trap of self-indulgence.....often 'borrowing' money from many of the investors which bought into his 'tax shelters' and by the mid 80's when the boom turned into a bust...Vanguard was near bankruptcy.....Baker's investors were clamoring for some return on their investments and Baker was in a very tight spot.

Some believe that Baker somehow got in touch with Mafia/organized crime figures in Florida and managed to get a sizeable bailout from them.......

Before anyone could really find out, Baker's flashy Jaguar was found burned to a crisp in a field outside Houston. Inside, was reportedly the body of Edward Baker.........or was it?

There was also speculation that Baker did not have any contact with the mob and instead came up with an ingenious plan to stage his own death with another body before fleeing to the Caribbean.

One intriguing clue that remains is a Chevrolet Flairside Pickup with chrome rails and mag wheels that was seen speeding away from the seen of the fire........could it possibly have been Baker and an accomplice, or could it have been the killers of Ed Baker?

I know this topic is very old... but I just came across this and thought that I would reply... In the episode... they mentioned the bizare twist... another body found in close prox. to Ed Baker... unidentified male...
6 weeks later he was identified... and police chalked it up to a drug deal gone bad... Toxicology reports on male... indicate NO alcohol or drugs in victims system...What are the chances... that 2 bodies found so close... have no direct link? Also, the unidentified male was an oilfield worker!

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by mmarsh

I know this topic is very old... but I just came across this and thought that I would reply... In the episode... they mentioned the bizare twist... another body found in close prox. to Ed Baker... unidentified male...
6 weeks later he was identified... and police chalked it up to a drug deal gone bad... Toxicology reports on male... indicate NO alcohol or drugs in victims system...What are the chances... that 2 bodies found so close... have no direct link? Also, the unidentified male was an oilfield worker!

That's a strange coincidence, and I wonder why UM didn't bring up the fact that he was an oilfield worker in the segment. I think he killed himself. They kept bringing up the fact that no one would set themselves on fire and be coherent enough to shoot themselves. It's not like he'd be engulfed in flames immediately. If you think about it, if he poured gas around the car and inside and lit the backseat/back area with a match, it would only take seconds for him to hold the gun up to his head and shoot himself. I think he killed himself and made it look like a murder so his wife could collect on his insurance.

[owenrock]

I think perhaps hes alive and well living somewhere under an assumed identity.....orrrrrr maybe he was in trouble with the mafia and hes in the witness protection program.....either way he was Bernie Madoff before it was cool

[Hambone2421]

The case of Ed Baker truly is one where you could make a case for every scenario involved in the segment.

Let's start with suicide. He called his insurance carriers a week or so prior to his death and specifically asked them if the policies would pay out in the event of suicide, which they told him they would not. He was embezzling money from new clients and figured that he would pay back those clients with the next set of clients, but, clients were no longer coming in. He was out of money and was likely going to face charges. He also mailed a letter to his attorney stating that he was dead. How would he know that he was going to be dead unless he was planning to kill himself.

Next is Murder. He was found shot inside a car that was burned so badly that it deteriorated to the point where his remains only weighed 40 - 50lbs or so. He was also stating that in the weeks preceding his death, he was receiving threatening and harassing phone calls from unknown parties, threatening to kill him.

Lastly is that he faked his own death. I find this one very unlikely. The remains were proven to be Ed's, although the segment does state there was some hesitation in making that call. Probably due to the fact that his body was burned so badly. If this were to be true, then whose body was in the car ad why would forensics identify it as Ed's?


My Conclusion. I believe Ed Baker killed himself and made it look like a murder so his wife and kids could collect on the insurance policies and be taken care of. I believe he went to see his ex wife for two reason. One, so that he could tell her he was receiving threatening phone calls, when in fact he was not (probably done to throw people off) and two, to say goodbye. Yes, they were divorced but they had just divorced a few years prior after a ten year marriage. He seemed to still be close to her. The letter to his attorney, Ward Busey, is a giveaway IMO.

Also, I found this obit in the Houston Chronicle (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hou...?pid=163885651) for a man named John Busey. In the obit, it states he was preceded in death by his brother, Ward Busey. I'm fairly sure this is the same Ward Busey as I have a hard time believing there were two Ward Busey's running around Houston. Plus, the UM website states that Busey died in 2000.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by Hambone2421

My Conclusion. I believe Ed Baker killed himself and made it look like a murder so his wife and kids could collect on the insurance policies and be taken care of. I believe he went to see his ex wife for two reason. One, so that he could tell her he was receiving threatening phone calls, when in fact he was not (probably done to throw people off) and two, to say goodbye.

Bingo.

This also gives more credence to the "foul play" angle, since his ex-wife would be a witness. There may have been people threatening him, but I ultimately think the walls were closing in on Baker to the point where he just offed himself.

[Hambone2421]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Bingo.

This also gives more credence to the "foul play" angle, since his ex-wife would be a witness. There may have been people threatening him, but I ultimately think the walls were closing in on Baker to the point where he just offed himself.

I think the random dead body located in the same area, is the reason for most of the conspiracy theories surrounding this case. Take that out and you have a simple case of suicide.

Also, I don't believe it would be very hard to light the fire and then shoot himself. The fire would not immediately be all over him, especially if he set it in the backseat or the passengers seat.

[MegtheEgg86]

I've always thought this was an interesting case, and the segment is easily one of my top 10 favorites.

Many of us here are familiar with the Murderers Among Us book by Michaud/Aynesworth. There is a chapter dedicated to Ed Baker's story, and although I've misplaced the book since, I seem to remember there was speculation that Sandy--Baker's fourth and current wife at the time of his death--may have had some degree of involvement. I don't remember many details save for someone reporting her carrying a great deal of cash very shortly after her Ed's death (IIRC, the implication seemed to be that this cash could have been a payment for a hitman--something about it being in a paper bag sitting on the floorboard of her car and the person reporting this alleging she was behaving evasively about it). I don't know if there's much merit to any of that, but I do find it interesting, especially since none of this was ever mentioned in the segment.

[MegtheEgg86]

Just some posts at the unsolved.com site I thought were interesting as well:

Submitted by DG (not verified) on Sun, 09/28/2014 - 10:26

I was a freelance artist at the time and I went to the Vanguard building to talk to Ed Baker's daughter about doing some artwork for them. I also met his son, who's handshake was wet and clammy and he said he wasn't feeling well, but seemed very nervous about something. The daughter toured me through the building which was lavishly decorated and designed by her mother, Baker's first wife. We went into his office but he was gone. The fireplace was going and his daughter was surprised that he left abruptly. She showed me his office and private bathroom with black tile, gold fixtures, and other extravagant designs I had never seen in a bathroom. I had parked my '62 Oldsmobile next to a black Jaguar, which I didn't realize was Baker's car that would later be found burned with a body inside. I was to get back with Miss Baker the following week and start doing artwork, but she didn't call me. I waited a couple more days and decided to call her. She said there was a death in the family and asked if I'd heard on the news about the burned-out Jag with a burned body inside it. I said I had, and she told me it was her dad. She had also mentioned at our first meeting that her dad did some gambling in Vegas and would always win around $30,000 playing the roulette, with some strategy of placing bets on the 00 and 000. She said in our final conversation that he had talked with his ex wife about being afraid that the Mafia was after him, and was sickened with fear. I often wondered if Baker had told his son anything that day I met him when his handshake was cold and clammy as he seemed more nervous than sick. It was also then that Baker left his office in such a rush. I had a creepy feeling for a couple of weeks, as if I was being watched or my phone was tapped. The daughter mentioned a ring on the finger of the victim, that it was her dad's, but she said it could have been placed there as it wasn't destryoyed. I think she just had hopes he was still alive somewhere and I couldn't blame her. She was a very sweet girl and I hated that she suffered such a loss.

Submitted by Rhonda (not verified) on Tue, 08/04/2015 - 16:26

I was dating his lawyer and Ward told me he thought it was suicide so the insurance could still be collected by his kids' mama for their kids. He said the body was burned so badly, he thinks Ed actually drank gasoline as well as covered himself and the car with it. I believe Ward said it was a shotgun he propped up from the floorboard and he thinks Ed pulled the trigger as he lit the lighter. I remember him telling me that if someone was on fire, their natural instinct would be to run....they wouldn't be able to sit there and burn. That sounded reasonable to me.

Submitted by TCW (not verified) on Sat, 01/23/2016 - 07:30

I worked there at the time of his death. His son, Blake, was a drug addict and that is why his behavior was sketchy. There was definitely accelerant used and that's why the body was so badly charred. His platinum wedding ring and gun were barely misshapen which means they were thrown into the fire after the initial burn, as determined by the Houston Police Dept. There is no way you can drink gasoline and then light a fire and shoot yourself. The gas would burn your lungs and suffocate you almost immediately. Although the medical examiner determined (using a small piece of his jawbone) that this was indeed Ed, there are many in the investigation that don't believe it, including one of the homicide investigators who happened to be my neighbor at the time, the district attorney and the FBI. They continued the investigation after the decision by the M.E. One year after his death Texas Monthly Magazine featured and article about Ed and even used a picture of someone who looked similar to him in their cover with the headline "Is Edward Baker alive and well and living in Antigua?"

ETA: I love Texas Monthly because it has featured some absolutely outstanding articles on many true crime stories I've been interested in (Terri Hoffman's Conscious Development group comes to mind). I'd love to get a hold of that article, but I haven't been able to yet dig it up.