Andrew Baker points finger at new suspect over alleged body in bathtub murder of Sarah Gatt
The trial of Andrew Baker, charged with the alleged murder of Sarah Gatt, has taken a twist with the accused’s defence linking her ex-lesbian lover to the grisly scene.
Police & Courts
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A man accused of murdering his ex and leaving her body to rot in a bathtub while collecting her Centrelink payments has pointed the finger at an alternative suspect.
Andrew Baker, 55, who is on trial in the Supreme Court for the murder of Sarah Gatt, 39, at her Kensington home in April 2017, argues it also cannot be ruled out that the mother died from a drug overdose.
His barrister John Saunders raised the two other “reasonable hypothesis” as to how Ms Gatt died, telling the jury there were “glaring holes” in the prosecution case.
He told them they could not convict Mr Baker beyond reasonable doubt on the “bland” circumstantial evidence.
“There is no proof that Andrew Baker caused Sarah Gatt’s death – none at all,” Mr Saunders said.
He said the evidence didn’t even establish if her death was unlawful, with an autopsy unable to determine her cause of death due to the advanced stage of decomposition.
Ms Gatt’s body was not found until January 2018 – some eight months after her death.
Forensic pathologist Joanna Glengarry had told the trial she could not rule out Ms Gatt, a known drug user, had died from an overdose after finding traces of methyl-amphetamine, diazepam and other drugs in her hair and blood recovered from her spleen.
“If a very experienced pathologist cannot exclude as a reasonable hypothesis that Sarah Gatt died as a result of a drug overdose, neither can you,” Mr Saunders told the jury in his closing address.
Mr Saunders said Myki, phone and bank records for Mr Baker do not place him near the crime scene during the April 19-23 window police allege Ms Gatt was killed.
While the blood staining on the walls resembled a “war zone”, he said there was no DNA or fingerprints of the accused man in the bathroom.
But he said there is evidence that puts Ms Gatt’s lover Leona Rei-Paku at the Lambeth St home, including her DNA on a Sportsgirl bag, containing Ms Gatt’s blood, in the bathroom.
Ms Rei Paku’s fingerprint was also found on a packet of gloves in the stairwell.
“I’m not saying that Leona Rei-Paku murdered Sarah Gatt,” Mr Saunders said.
“Maybe there was some accident. Maybe she assaulted her. She’s got a bit of a history of violence towards Sarah Gatt.
“Maybe she just died and she put her in the bath and then she tried to clean up.”
Prosecutor John Dickie alleges Mr Baker killed Ms Gatt in a jealous rage after finding out she had left him for Ms Rei-Paku.
In the months that followed, Mr Dickie said Mr Baker falsely told friends he was back dating Ms Gatt and that she was in a psychiatric hospital.
He sent text messages to himself from Ms Gatt’s phone to convince people she was still alive, Mr Dickie said.
But Mr Saunders said these messages were to hide the fact Mr Baker was collecting her disability support pension, which he used to get his next heroin hit, not a murder.
The jury began deliberations on Monday afternoon, with Justice Jane Dixon telling them they needed to return a unanimous verdict.
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