About this episode

This episode explores the 23-year-old cold case of Tara Louise Baker's murder and the forensic advancements that led to the identification of her killer.

For over 2 decades, the murder of 23 year old law student Tara Louise Baker haunted investigators, devastated her family, and left the community of Athens, Georgia searching for answers. On the morning of 19 January 2001, firefighters responding to a house fire made a horrifying discovery inside Tara's bedroom. What initially appeared to be a tragic fire quickly became a brutal homicide investigation involving strangulation, a fatal stab wound, sexual assault, and an apparent attempt to destroy the evidence. Despite witness sightings, countless interviews, and years of investigation, the case went cold... until advances in DNA technology and a renewed cold case investigation uncovered a breakthrough no one saw coming. In this episode of REDRUM True Crime, we examine the evidence, the missteps, the decades-long fight for justice, and the forensic breakthrough that finally identified Tara's killer. Sign up for the free REDRUM newsletter, full of all things true crime, as well as a run down of all the latest REDRUM cases. This will only ever come to you once a month... I'm no fan of spam. ⁠⁠⁠ (⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W79H87S)⁠⁠⁠ ⁠…

People in this episode

Host: redrumpodcast

Topics covered

• murder investigation
• cold case
• DNA technology
• forensic breakthrough
• justice
• true crime

Keywords

• Tara Louise Baker
• cold case
• murder
• DNA technology
• forensic evidence
• justice
• true crime

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Athens, Georgia

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