Tara Baker: Cold Case Verdict – Is The Right Man Guilty?

Tara Baker died in 2001, and the true crime case seemed impossible. The University of Georgia law student was murdered, and her room set on fire to destroy evidence. Well, the cold case finally got a suspect, and now a verdict arrived. Read on for more details.

An Uphill Battle

Naturally, as decades passed, her family hoped for justice. Certainly, it seemed that investigators faced an uphill battle connecting all the dots. In fact, a suspect seemed almost impossible to identify. But eventually, prosecutors believed they found their man: Edric Faust.

On Tuesday, Court TV shared the footage from the trial of Edric Faust. If you don’t know, suspicion fell on him during forensic evidence work. Thanks to new technology, it seems that old DNA collected from Tara’s room helped to conclude the case.

The Guilty Verdict

It took the jury 11 hours and 32 minutes of deliberation, and after two days, they felt ready to present the verdict. Edric Faust was found “guilty on all counts.”

Notably, there were a lot of serious true crime charges that he answered for. They include malice murder, felony murder, burglary, rape, and arson.

Well, it took a while to confirm that the jury unanimously agreed on the guilty verdict, but eventually it all came out and that nailed the fate of Edric Faust.

A Controversial Case?

It seems amazing that cold cases from so long ago end up with verdicts these days. Perhaps the killer of Tara Baker thought he’d escaped justice. However, not everyone thinks the prosecution effectively proved his guilt.

Criminal defense attorney Marie Pereira said during the discussion, “I don’t think they got it right.” Why? Well, she talked about “confirmation bias” throughout the investigation.

Plus, she felt that possibly, another person could have done the crime. Tara’s ex-boyfriend, Chris Melton, had the “means, motive, and opportunity.” In fact, at one stage, he was under investigation. However, he came up with an alibi.

When Is The Sentencing?

Faust remains in custody, but returns for sentencing this Thursday. While it’s a win for the prosecution, his lawyer, Ahmad Cruz, filed an “objection to the form of the verdict” straight away.

He argued that way too much debate went on about the reliability of old DNA evidence. Meanwhile, Marie Pereira noted that “when the DNA doesn’t fit, it creates a reasonable doubt that should rise to an acquittal.”

Then, the fact that the jury requested a re-watch of Edric Faust’s interview with investigators suggested that possibly, there might have initially been some dissent among the jurors.

Viewers React

The Court TV discussion got a lot of reactions from true crime viewers. Many of them felt happy about the justice being served.

One viewer commented, “25 years is a long time for justice, but I’m glad Tara’s family finally has some peace.”

Conversely, another one wrote, “The ex-boyfriend’s story had so many holes… I’m not 100% convinced they got the right man.”

Then, a third commenter spoke about the forensic aspect, penning, “DNA doesn’t lie, but the way it’s handled can. This was a tough one to watch.”

What are your thoughts on the jury’s decision? Was justice really served for Tara Baker? Let us know in the comments below, and come back here often for all our true crime news and updates.

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