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Stanley Allison
BAKER Jr.
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robbery
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
September 28,
1994
Date of arrest:
Same day
Date of birth:
December 30,
1966
Victim profile: Wayne
John Walters, 44 (adult video store clerk)
Method of murder:
Shooting (shotgun)
Location: Brazos County, Texas, USA
Status:
Executed
by lethal injection in Texas on May 30, 2002
Summary:
On Sept. 28, 1994, Stanley Allison Baker, Jr., killed Wayne Walters
during the course of a robbery in which he obtained $40 to $50 and
Walters' car.
Walters was the clerk in the adult video store that Baker robbed.
Baker took Walters' car keys without resistance and then shot him
three times with a shotgun; the third shot to the back of the head
was fired as Walters lay face down on the floor.
Upon his arrest a couple hours after the shooting, Baker had the
murder weapon, was driving the victim's truck and had about $50
taken from the store.
Baker told officers that he went to the video
store with intent to rob it and kill anyone inside.
Police also found a notebook in which Baker wrote that his goals for
the year was "30+ victims dead. 30+ armed robberies. Steal a lot of
cars."
Citations:
Baker v. State, 956 S.W.2d 19 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997) (Direct
Appeal)
Final Meal:
Two 16 oz. ribeyes, one lb. turkey breast (sliced thin), twelve
strips of bacon, two large hamburgers with mayo, onion, and lettuce,
two large baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, cheese, and
chives, four slices of cheese or one-half pound of grated cheddar
cheese, chef salad with blue cheese dressing, two ears of corn on
the cob, one pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and four vanilla
Cokes or Mr. Pibb.
Final Words:
"Well, I don't have anything to say, so let's go." When warden Neill
Hodges asked Baker if he was sure he had no last statement, he said,
"I am just sorry about what I did to Mr. Peters," calling his victim
by the wrong name. "That's all." As the drugs began taking effect,
he said, "My arm feels cold ... got some pain in my left arm. I
guess that's the poison."
Texas Attorney General
Media Advisory
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Stanley Allison Baker, Jr. Scheduled to be Executed.
AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn
offers the following information on Stanley Allison Baker, Jr., who
is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 30, 2002.
On July 26, 1995, Stanley Allison Baker, Jr. was sentenced to death
for the capital murder of Wayne Walters during a robbery, which
occurred in Brazos County, Texas, on Sept. 28, 1994.
A summary of
the evidence presented at trial follows:
FACTS OF THE CRIME
On Sept. 28, 1994, Stanley Allison Baker, Jr.,
killed Wayne Walters during the course of a robbery in which he
obtained $40 to $50 and Walters' car.
Walters was the clerk in the adult video store
that Baker robbed. Baker took Walters' car keys without resistance
and then shot him three times with a shotgun; the third shot to the
back of the head was fired as Walters lay face down on the floor.
During the robbery, Baker split his lip and broke
a tooth when the shotgun recoiled and hit him in the face. He left
blood, a tooth fragment, footprints and other physical evidence at
the crime scene. Baker fled the scene in Walters' pickup truck,
returned home and loaded the stolen vehicle with his belongings.
When police took Baker into custody, he was
driving Walters' truck. Inside the truck police found the murder
weapon, ammunition, a brass knuckled stiletto, a bulletproof vest, a
garrote, and a variety of survival gear.
Police also found a notebook in which Baker had
penned his goals for the year. Baker's goals included "30+ victims
dead. 30+ armed robberies. Steal a lot of cars."
Following his arrest, Baker told DPS troopers
that he went to the video store with intent to rob it and kill
anyone inside.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Oct. 27, 1994 - Stanley Allison Baker, Jr., was
indicted in the 85th Judicial District Court of Brazos County,
Texas, for the capital offense of the intentional murder of Wayne
Walters while in the course of committing and attempting to commit
robbery.
July 21, 1995 - The case against Baker was heard
by a jury, which found him guilty of capital murder.
July 26, 1995 - Following a separate punishment
hearing, the jury answered special issue number one affirmatively
and special issue number two negatively. In accordance with Texas
law, the trial court sentenced Baker to death.
May 21, 1997 - Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
affirms conviction and sentence on direct appeal.
Sept. 10, 1997 - The Court of Criminal Appeals
denied the motion for rehearing.
April 1, 1998 - Baker filed an application for
state writ of habeas corpus.
Aug. 14, 1998 - The trial court conducted a
hearing on the application.
Sept. 29, 1998 - The trial court entered findings
and conclusions recommending that relief be denied.
Jan. 27, 1999 - The Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals denied state habeas relief.
March 17, 1999 - Baker filed an application for a
federal writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
Aug. 18, 1999 - Baker amended his federal writ
application.
March 13, 2000 - The district court granted the
Director's motion for summary judgment. April12, 2000 - Baker filed
a request for a certificate of appealability and his notice of
appeal.
April 27, 2000 - The district court denied
Baker's request for COA.
June 18, 2001 - Baker filed a request for a
certificate of appealability in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Oct. 19, 2001 - The Fifth Circuit denied COA.
Jan. 22, 2002 - Baker filed a petition for writ
of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.
March 25, 2002 - The Court denied certiorari.
CRIMINAL HISTORY
At the time of the offense, Baker had no reported
prior criminal arrests or convictions.
However, the jury was reminded that amongst
Baker's belongings police found numerous weapons and documentary
evidence detailing his animosity toward gays, blacks, President Bill
Clinton, etc., together with his plans to go on a murder spree akin
to notorious serial killers Charles Whitman, Steve Judy, Richard
Speck, Juan Gonzales, Wayne Nance, Michael Wayne Johnson, Teofilo
Filo Medina, Patrick Sherrill, Jerry McFadden, etc.
The jury was also provided with evidence that
Baker had been observed on several prior occasions carrying knives
and rope and that he had expressed his intent to use them on his
enemies.
ProDeathPenalty.com
Stanley Allison Baker was convicted of murdering
Wayne Walters, an employee at the Adult Video Store in College
Station, for his truck and all of the money in the store's cash
register on Sept. 28, 1994. Police seized Baker's notebook, which
noted his goals for the year included "30 victims dead, 30 armed
robberies, and steal a lot of cars."
Texas Execution Information
Center
Txexecutions.org
Stanley Allison Baker Jr., 35, was executed by
lethal injection on 30 May in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and
murder of a store clerk.
In September 1994. Baker, then 27, entered an
adult video store wearing green fatigues and carrying a 12-gauge
shotgun.
He ordered the clerk, Wayne John Walters, 44, to give him
the keys to his pickup. After Walters did so without resistance,
Baker shot him three times. The third shot to the back of the head
was fired as Walters lay face down on the floor. Baker then cleared
the cash register of about $40 in cash and fled the store in Walters'
pickup truck.
During the robbery, the shotgun recoiled, hitting
Baker in the face. He left blood, a tooth fragment, footprints, and
other physical evidence at the crime scene.
Baker drove home and loaded his belongings into
the stolen truck, then drove out of town. A Department of Public
Safety trooper spotted the truck, driven by Baker, about two hours
after the shooting, 70 miles from the scene.
When he was arrested,
Baker had blood on his shirt and a cut lip. Police also found the
murder weapon, other weapons, ammunition, and survival gear in the
pickup. Furthermore, they found a notebook in which Baker had
written his goals for the year, which included "30+ victims dead.
30+ armed robberies. Steal a lot of cars." He confessed to the
murder and robbery.
Baker had recently quit work as a stock clerk at
a Winn-Dixie supermarket. In a search of Baker's home, police found
an obscenity-filled resignation letter. Prosecutors claimed that
Baker had planned to kill the store manager and others at the
Winn-Dixie after the video store robbery, but he changed his plans
because of his chipped tooth and bloody shirt.
Baker's other
writings documented his hatred of blacks, gays, and President
Clinton, and his plans to go on a killing spree similar to the one
by Charles Whitman, who shot 16 people from the University of Texas
clock tower in 1966.
A jury convicted Baker of capital murder in July
1995 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
upheld the conviction and sentence in May 1997. All of his
subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.
I was really depressed all the time," Baker said
in an interview on death row. "I just wanted it to end. It's weird
the way it happened. It's like I went insane ... I'm just glad it's
about over. I'm looking forward to the last meal, but not the part
that comes after," he laughed.
Baker's last meal request was for two 16-ounce
rib eye steaks, a pound of thinly sliced turkey breast, 12 strips of
bacon, two large hamburgers with mayonnaise, onion and lettuce; two
large baked potatoes, four slices of cheese or a half-pound of
grated cheddar cheese, a chef salad with bleu cheese dressing, two
ears of corn on the cob, one pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream,
and four vanilla Cokes or Mr. Pibbs. Whether or not this request was
granted in full was not made public.
"Well, I don't have anything to say, so let's go,"
Baker said at his execution. When warden Neill Hodges asked Baker if
he was sure he had no last statement, he said, "I am just sorry
about what I did to Mr. Peters," calling his victim by the wrong
name. "That's all." As the drugs began taking effect, he said, "My
arm feels cold ... got some pain in my left arm. I guess that's the
poison." Next, he coughed, gasped, and slightly wheezed. He was
pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.
Killer of Video Store Clerk Executed
Houston Chronicle
May 30, 2002
HUNTSVILLE -- Convicted killer Stanley Baker was
executed this evening for fatally shooting a video store clerk eight
years ago in College Station. "I don't have anything to say," Baker
said when the warden asked if he had a last statement. "I'm just
sorry about what I did to Mr. Peters and that's all," he said,
misidentifying his victim. Baker had no witnesses and no witnesses
from the victim's family attended.
As the drugs began taking effect, he remarked, "My
arm feels cold... got some pain in my left arm, I guess that's the
poison." Baker coughed, gasped and slightly wheezed. He was
pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., nine minutes after the lethal does
began.
Baker had the murder weapon, was driving the
victim's truck and had about $50 taken from the store when he was
arrested a couple of hours after shooting Wayne John Walters, 44.
Police also had blood evidence and a piece of a tooth that tied
Baker to the crime. "When I was firing the shotgun, I broke my tooth
and I left some DNA evidence behind," he chuckled as he pointed to a
chipped front tooth during a recent interview on death row.
Baker was the second condemned Texas prisoner put
to death this week, the fifth this month and 15th this year.
He was arrested by a state trooper in Bastrop,
about 70 miles west of College Station. When he surrendered, he had
a cut lip from the recoil of the shotgun and a bloody shirt. "I
really was depressed all the time," he said. "I just wanted it to
end. It's weird the way it happened. It's like I went insane."
Dressed in green fatigues, Baker walked into the adult video store
Sept. 28, 1994, carrying a 12-gauge shotgun. Walters surrendered his
keys without resistance but Baker opened fire. The third shot hit
Walters in the back of the head as the clerk was laying on the
floor.
Authorities believed Baker had bigger plans. His
notebook found in the stolen truck listed his goals for the year as
"30 victims dead, 30 armed robberies, and steal a lot of cars." Bill
Turner, the Brazos County district attorney who prosecuted Baker,
said he believed the cut lip and bloody shirt changed Baker's
immediate plans to walk armed into a Winn-Dixie supermarket where
Baker recently quit work as a stock clerk after a dispute. Documents
found at Baker's home indicated he wanted to kill the store manager
and others and leave no witnesses behind. "Though I've given four
years to your store, I've long felt my efforts were unappreciated,"
Baker said in an obscenity-filled resignation letter.
When arrested, he had hundreds of rounds of
ammunition, a brass-knuckled stiletto, a bulletproof vest, a garrote
and survival gear. At his home, police found a map of New York City
and a notation from Baker describing it as "the ultimate hunting
ground," Turner said. "I really think we were lucky there was one
person dead," the prosecutor said Wednesday. "I think if he hadn't
chipped his tooth, he would have gone on about his way, gotten to
Winn-Dixie and caused a lot of problems. "Some people kill out of
meanness or they want your money. To me, this guy was more about
killing people to prove he was a bad guy. He wanted the world, at
that time, to know he was a bad guy."
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case
in late March. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a pair of
17-0 votes Tuesday, refused to recommend his sentence be commuted to
life in prison and refused a reprieve request. "I'm just glad it's
about over. I'm looking forward to the last meal, but not the part
that comes after," he laughed. "It's going to happen. I might as
well accept it."
Baker was born in Paris, France, where his Army
father was stationed. He grew up in San Antonio, spent four years in
the Army and moved to College Station. He joined the National Guard
and spent two years taking classes at Blinn College. He said he
wanted to be a history teacher.
Baker, who did not testify at his 1995 trial,
said he was at a loss to explain what set him off. "I ask myself
that, too," he said.
At least five executions are scheduled for June,
putting Texas on a pace for the year to nearly equal the record 40
executions carried out in 2000.
Man Set to Die for 1995 College Station Killing
By Mark Passwaters -
ItemOnline.com
May 30, 2002
A man sentenced to death by a Brazos County jury
for the 1995 killing of an adult video store clerk in College
Station is scheduled to be executed this evening in the death
chamber at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit.
Stanley Allison Baker Jr. was found guilty of the
Sept. 28, 1994, killing of 44-year-old Wayne Walters. Walters was
the only person in the video store -- located at the Intersection of
Texas Avenue and University Drive in College Station, directly
across from the Texas A&M University campus -- when Baker entered
the building.
Baker produced a shotgun and took Walters' car keys
without resistance. Baker then shot Walters three times, including
once to the back of the head as he lay face down on the floor.
Walters was killed instantly.
Baker stole between $40 and $50 from the store's
cash register. During the robbery, Baker split his lip and broke one
of his front teeth when the shotgun recoiled and hit him the face.
After stealing Walters' pickup truck, Baker loaded his belongings
into the vehicle and attempted to flee the area. He was able to
successfully leave Brazos County, but was apprehended in Bastrop by
a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. Baker still had blood
on his shirt from his split lip.
When the DPS officer took Baker into custody, the
murder weapon, ammunition, a brass-knuckled stiletto, a bulletproof
vest, a garrote, and some survival gear were recovered.
Authorities
also discovered a notebook in which Baker had written his goals for
the year. One caption read: "30+ victims dead. 30+ armed robberies.
Steal a lot of cars." Baker told DPS troopers that he had not only
intended to kill to Walters, but anyone else who was in the store
when he entered it.
Baker was indicted on a capital murder charge
Oct. 27, 1994, and the trial starting in July 1995. During the trial,
the prosecution produced evidence which documented Baker's weapons
stash and his writings, which they say exhibited a hatred towards
gays, blacks and former President Bill Clinton.
They also introduced
evidence of Baker's plans to go on a killing spree similar to that
of Charles Whitman, the man who killed 16 while shooting with a high-powered
rifle from atop the University of Texas clock tower in 1966.
Baker was found guilty of the murder charge July
21, 1995, and sentenced to death five days later. Baker has no
appeals pending, and only a last-minute stay of execution from Gov.
Rick Perry can prevent his execution. Barring any stay, Baker will
be put to death sometime after 6 p.m. today.
France Native to Die by Injection
By Coleen Kavanagh -
TheEagle.com
May 30, 2002
A man convicted of robbing and murdering an adult
video store clerk in Brazos County seven years ago is scheduled to
be executed Thursday in Huntsville. Stanley Allison Baker Jr., 35,
has exhausted his appeals and is set to be put to death at 6 p.m. He
was convicted of capital murder in the shooting death of Dolar Video
clerk Wayne John Walters, 44, in September 1994.
Baker, a native of Paris, France, was on his way
to the old Winn-Dixie store in College Station to kill his boss
because store management had moved him to the night shift.
But the
day’s heat caused Baker to randomly detour into the video store,
where he took Walters’ keys, shot him three times and stole his
truck and about $40 from the cash register.
During the robbery, the shotgun recoiled and hit
Baker in the face, splitting his lip and breaking a tooth. Blood,
the tooth fragment and other physical evidence tied him to the crime
scene.
State troopers arrested Baker less than two hours later on
U.S. 290 in Bastrop County, where they found the murder weapon,
ammunition, a brass-knuckled stiletto, a bulletproof vest and a
collection of survival gear.
In a notebook police found, Baker had listed his
goals for that year. They included the following entry: “30+ victims
dead. 30+ armed robberies. Steal a lot of cars.” He confessed to the
crime and told troopers he went into Dolar Video with the intent to
rob it and kill anyone there.
During his trial, his attorneys sought a life
sentence, saying he had never before been violent, was devastated by
his parents’ divorce when he was nine, and suffered from several
mental illnesses.
Baker v. State,
956 S.W.2d 19 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997) (Direct Appeal)
Defendant was convicted in the 85th District
Court, Brazos County, J.D. Langley, J., of capital murder. Defendant
appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Keller, J., held that: (1)
evidence in punishment phase of trial supported jury's finding that
defendant would be future danger to society; (2) even if defendant's
statement to police should have been suppressed, defendant was not
prejudiced by trial court's failure to do so; (3) in issue of first
impression, Tucker/Elstad rule, i.e., that failure to give required
Miranda warnings does not require suppression of evidence
subsequently obtained as result of that statement, also applies to
failure to scrupulously honor invocation of Miranda rights; (4)
violation of Miranda requirements is not violation of "Constitution
or laws of the United States of America," for purposes of Texas'
exclusionary rule; and (5) defendant waived appellate review of his
claim that trial judge erred in not hearing defendant's motion for
new trial within required 75 days. Affirmed.
The evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to
the jury's finding, shows the following: Appellant intended to kill
his former employer.
After walking nearly two miles in pursuit of
his plan, he became hot and decided to steal a truck. He went into
the Adult Video Store in College Station, where Wayne Williams, the
night clerk, was working alone. Appellant took from Williams the
keys to his truck, the currency from the cash register, and the
night's receipts. Appellant then shot Williams three times.
Appellant fled the scene in William's vehicle, returned home and
loaded the stolen vehicle with his gear. The items found in the
vehicle included the murder weapon, ammunition, a brass knuckled
stiletto, a bulletproof vest, a garrote, and a variety of survival
gear.
In a notebook seized by police, appellant had written his
goals for the year, which included, "30+ victims dead. 30+ armed
robberies. Steal a lot of cars." Furthermore, on the day of his
arrest appellant showed no remorse. We hold that the evidence
presented in the instant case is sufficient to support the jury's
finding regarding appellant's future dangerousness.
