Aaron John Baker pleads guilty to stalking, making threats to kill, assault with weapon

A Corio man who threatened to dismember a woman and dispose of her body from his “little boat”, has been warned by a magistrate not to “bury his head in the sand”.

Geelong Law Courts. Picture: Alan Barber

A Corio man threatened to dismember a woman and dispose of her body from his “little boat”.

Aaron John Baker, 35, appeared in the Geelong Magistrate Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to thirteen charges including multiple counts of stalking, using a carriage service to harass, making a threat to kill, and single counts of assault with a weapon and failing to answer bail.

According to documents released by the court, on January 7 this year, Baker threatened a female with a loaded crossbow when she went to his Corio home

The woman was “petrified” and fled in her car, according to the police summary.

Across February 21 and 22, Baker bombarded the woman with phone calls and “a barrage” of text messages “of a rambling, but offensive and harassing nature”.

Baker called the woman vulgar, derogatory and misogynistic terms and made repeated threats to kill her.

In one message, Baker said he would “dismember your body and I will burn you and drop u off my little boat …”

Baker also threatened to kill another woman and both were fearful he would carry out the threats, court documents state.
Texts were still coming through when police arrived at the woman’s home to investigate.

When interviewed, Baker denied sending the messages, instead saying “someone called Phil” might have sent them.

Baker also pleaded guilty to an incident from September 2023, when he sent 556 text messages to a woman in a three-day span.

The messages, which were over the return of fishing rods, according to court documents, were also threatening and derogatory.

In separate messages, Baker threatened to kill the woman “with a hammer” and “attak yu (sic) car with base ball bat”.

When the woman went to return the rods, Baker smashed one of her car windows.

She drove off “terrified and covered in shattered glass”.

Baker denied damaging the woman’s car, but told police: “I’m mentally ill, I can’t stop myself from getting angry”.

Baker’s lawyer, Louis Robertson, told the court Baker had an extremely limited criminal history.

He said Baker had suffered “significant anxiety issues” since he was a teenager and smoked cannabis “every night”.

The court heard Baker accepted the only other option, given the seriousness of the offending, was jail.

“Mr Baker knows the options are stark … but he wants to have a go at a CCO (community corrections order),” Mr Robertson said, noting Corrections Victoria had some reservations.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie said she would place Baker on a CCO, and told Baker she would “just pray and hope that you comply with it”.

She warned Baker not to “bury (his) head in the sand” about the order and hope it went away.

“I think you need support and assistance in the community and I’m desperately trying to encourage you to engage in that support,” Ms McGarvie told Baker.

Baker was convicted and placed on an 18-month CCO.

Originally published as Aaron John Baker pleads guilty to stalking, making threats to kill, assault with weapon