Search warrants unsealed as Tara Baker murder trial nears
- Classic City News
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Joe Johnson
A Superior Court judge last month ordered the unsealing of search warrants in the Tara Baker murder case as the trial date nears for her accused killer.
The 23-year-old University of Georgia law student was murdered in her east Athens apartment in January 2001 and the crime went unsolved for two decades, when in February of last year Athens resident Edrick Faust was identified as the suspect by matching his DNA to genetic evidence collected from Baker at her autopsy..
Faust’s DNA had been entered into the FBI’s national database upon his entry into the Georgia prison system in May 2001 after being convicted of crimes unrelated to Baker’s murder.
One of the unsealed search warrants was to allow the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to surreptitiously obtain Faust’s DNA to confirm the database match. They didn’t want to ask or compel him to give a sample because if he found out he was a suspect he might flee, intimidate potential witnesses or otherwise jeopardize the murder investigation, a GBI agent stated in an affidavit.
Agents began keeping Faust under surveillance as they watched lfor the opportunity to get the DNA sample that never presented itself.
“Traditional covert surveillance on Faust has been unsuccessful due to his erratic driving, counter surveillance methods, and Faust maintaining multiple vehicles and residences,” an agent stated in her affidavit.
The second unsealed search warrant was for obtaining DNA from Faust at the county jail, alter he had been taken into custody in May 2024.
Three months later an Athens-Clarke County grand jury returned a 12-count indictment charging Faust with malice and felony murder, rape, aggravated sodomy, arson, and related crimes.
The indictment alleges that Faust broke into Baker’s home in the Deer Park neighborhood and killed her by stabbing her in the neck and strangling her with an electrical cord. He also allegedly raped and sodomized Baker and set fire to her apartment in an attempt to conceal his crimes.
Faust has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his trial is scheduled to begin on January 26th.