The face of evil: confronting the killer of 10-year-old Zahra Baker | 60 Minutes Australia

when we learned of the brutal death and dismemberment of zara baker a little australian girl living in america it was almost incomprehensible zara with the bright eyes and big smile had survived cancer and had overcome much more than should be asked of any ten-year-old then this courageous little girl traveled across the world with her father adam believing they were both embarking on a new adventure in america instead zara's life would end horribly so what sort of person would kill an innocent and vulnerable child in such a heinous way well tonight you will meet that person elisa baker zara's stepmother breaks her silence talking to us from inside prison [Music] this is north carolina's prison for women home to some of america's most violent criminals including elisa baker the stepmother who pleaded guilty to murdering and dismembering ten-year-old australian girl zara baker of the 1200 inmates here alyssa baker is the most hated so much so for her own protection she spends her days in isolation we've come here because alisa baker has agreed to talk to answer the questions she avoided when she pleaded guilty to zara's murder getting in to see her is no easy feat this is a maximum security prison where nothing is taken for granted and even though america's most despised child killer arrives unshackled a guard is always by her side what kind of person dismembers a disabled child a sick person does it take an evil person yes it's an evil act yes ma'am alyssa baker will sit in a prison cell at least until she's 70. after entering a plea bargain which would see her avoid death room [Music] how do you sleep at night knowing that a little girl a little disabled girl was cut into pieces and thrown away some nights are hard but i miss her do you really yes ma'am this horrific story began six years ago when elisa met australian adam baker on the internet [Music] he was a single father and zara's dad i thought i had met prince charming adam was your prince charming yeah what drew you to him what did you like about him what i thought was his honesty about everything and the fact that he was a single dad and that he loved his daughter enough to raise her himself and not let his family or her family raise zara [Music] zara baker was a gutsy little girl from the age of six she'd battled and beaten cancer but surgeons had to remove part of her lungs and amputate her left leg and chemotherapy robbed her of hearing as adam told me two years ago after so much heartache he believed his online romance would be their new beginning what were you hoping for what did you think your life was going to be like happy family a lot of love more children brothers and sisters with zara but didn't turn out that way when adam baker married elisa he became her seventh husband it was the first of many poor decisions that would open the door to a world of lies and deceit did you ever stop to think that it might be right to tell him you were already married yes why didn't you tell him me and my husband had went through several bad years and it was my understanding when i went to australia that he filed for divorce so it was my my belief that i was divorced why did you introduce your husband as your brother that's the way he left it because he wanted to be in zara's life and he knew that adam wouldn't let him be in zara's life if he knew that he was my husband none of that makes sense i know it doesn't i know it doesn't alisa baker grew up the middle child of three girls those who knew her said she was always cunning and manipulative and a compulsive liar in a recent letter from prison lisa wrote i always knew something wasn't right with me how did you view yourself before coming to prison what sort of person do you believe you were a good person um pretty much would give you the shirt off my back um never met a stranger still don't even in here elisa baker already had three children and when she and adam married and moved to her hometown of hickory in north carolina she became mother to zara sound better than without them [Music] tell me about your relationship with zara we headed off right from the bat what did you like about zara she had spunk about her she never gave up i always had a smile on her face always did you have a close bond very close she called me mom and i treated her like she was my own child i'm saying she got no different treatment than my other kids did actually my other kids got jealous of her they said i treated her better but members of her family and neighbors thought otherwise and reported elisa to authorities the department of social services investigated four reports of abuse against zara why were so many people worried about her why would a school teacher give her her own personal cell number and say to her if you ever need me call me that right there was out of protocol i even said something to the principal about that mean adam went because that was against the rules they should not have ever done that why did you sign a piece of paper here [Music] that admitted that you have a history and a pattern of physical verbal and psychological abuse of zara i never signed that paper you did that's your signature it's no case somebody's had me sign something i shouldn't assign because that's not so that's not your signature along with your attorney that's not your signature that's my plea bargain right yes but you signed that you accept that you had a history and a pattern of physical verbal and psychological abuse of zara that was him with my plea bargain so you saw it you said yes ma'am yeah there are many inconsistencies in elisa baker's story but the most significant involve zara's death [Music] tell me about the day that zara died coming up please that's not good enough the questions alisa baker hasn't faced that's the truth isn't it no ma'am till now you thought that got you off the hook that's next on 60 minutes it was a crime as brutal as it was unimaginable ten-year-old australian girl sarah baker was murdered and dismembered by her american stepmother to avoid death row elisa baker entered a plea bargain which means she's never had to answer questions about her most horrific crime that is until now on the day zara died september 24 2010 elisa baker claims she left her stepdaughter alone in their hickory home to go shopping returning in the afternoon [Music] by this time it was like three three somewhere around in there and um she was laying on her bed and i said zara are you okay and i walked over to the bed and i said zara she still didn't move i put my hand on her and i could tell she wasn't breathing and my first thought was cpr and so i immediately started cpr i worked on her for probably about 30 minutes and couldn't get her back begging the whole time for god not to take her you know right then i should have called 9-1-1 but i got scared oh what i didn't know what to do i've never been faced with anything like that i've never if you'd done cpr you'd dial 911. wouldn't you so most people would have yes elisa alleges she called zara's father adam and that it was he who dismembered zara if we're going to believe anything you say why would you ring the police and say i'm not having a part of this that is the most heinous thing to do he was my husband please that's not good enough it's not it's just not good enough you know that i know it's an allegation both police and adam baker have totally rejected that's the biggest lie she's ever told for starters there's no way i could do that to my child for her to sit there and say that i dismembered my child there's no way on earth that i could do that inside the bedroom a spray of zara's blood was found on the ceiling her body parts were scattered in bushland alisa alleges adam discarded his daughter's remains that she was forced to be with him of course the evidence doesn't show that what you're saying is the truth does it it it does to to a point but there's a little bit not even to a point the phone records show that on the day the body was disposed of the day that you told police it was disposed of there was something like nine calls and many of those calls were to adam why would you call him if he's right beside you he was he was calling my phone i wasn't calling his because he kept losing my phone no you were calling him i wasn't calling him phone records show that he was 20 miles away he wasn't with you was he yes ma'am i don't think so that's the truth isn't it no ma'am phone records confirm adam was at work not in the area where zara's body was disposed of but that alisa's cell phone was did you murder zara no ma'am why do you deny this when the evidence is overwhelmingly that you didn't i'll continue to stand by my story you'll continue to lie no i'll stand by my story uh scott riley your lawyer said that the evidence was overwhelmingly against you i think he said that the evidence was such that it would take a jury something like five minutes to convict you something like that well if your own lawyer says that what does it say about you that nobody was listening to what i was saying they were going by circumstantial evidence they weren't going by anything i was saying [Music] 25 days after zara was reported missing elisa baker in a deal to avoid a death sentence led police to the little girl's remains [Music] how did you feel when her body parts were found how did you feel about that relieved why because she was going to be all put back into one and when her skull was found i was relieved as well because it showed no abuse you thought that got you off the hook no of the bones recovered medical officers were able to see zara's little body had been sworn apart the autopsy report says zara's death was the result of undetermined homicidal violence [Music] you're innocent fight it why didn't you heard the evidence against me boom that means from what i could see you are as guilty as sin you are a guilty woman and you will not take responsibility for your actions there again that's your opinion it's the opinion of the state it's an opinion of the lawmakers it is the opinion of your own family some of my family for the people of hickory the brutal murder of a vulnerable disabled little girl was hard to accept determined shall not be forgotten they've named a park in zara's honor adam baker has returned with his daughter's remains to australia while the wife he never really had considers her fate you have to accept that the evidence is against you yes ma'am i know that why then am i not looking at one of the most reviled evil women in america probably in your eyes you think you are no remorse i have remorse what is it i wish things would have been different well you have a long time to consider it yes ma'am i do hello i'm liz hayes thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the nine now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes 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Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

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Rating: 4.6997914 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, zahra baker, zara baker, 10 year old zahra baker, australian girl killed in america, elisa baker, elisa baker prison interview, women who kill, murder of zahra baker, pleaded guilty, guilty, guilty of murder, dismembered, zahras killer, who killed zahra baker, true crime, australian true crime, true crime podcast, Adam Baker, wagga wagga, north carolina, australian killed in america

Id: n5LVmsFNMaY

Length: 20min 3sec (1203 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 17 2020