Blood in the Pulpit: The Killer Minister

By: Davidson, Linda

Blood in the Pulpit: The Killer Minister

A charismatic pastor. A staged "suicide." A mother who refused to let the truth stay buried.

When kindergarten teacher and young mother Kari Baker is found dead in her Texas parsonage, her husband-popular Baptist minister Matt Baker-tells police it was suicide. The scene is neat. A short note sits on the nightstand. The town grieves. Case closed.

But Kari's mother, Linda Dulin, can't accept the story. The details don't fit: a body too carefully arranged, a bottle with the wrong fingerprints, grief that looks more like performance. Three years later, a cold case warms to life-uncovering the pastor's secret affair, late-night searches for sedatives, a forged note, and a chilling confession from the one person who knew his plans.

Told with investigative clarity and deep compassion, Blood in the Pulpit traces the case from the parsonage to the courtroom-where a community's faith collides with fact and a jury decides whether a preacher's pulpit masked a murderer.

Inside you'll find:

A step-by-step unraveling of a staged death: toxicology, document analysis, and the forensic clues that cracked the case.

The emotional engine of justice: a mother's relentless pursuit and a witness's conscience breaking open the truth.

The trial that unmasked charisma as control-and put a killer minister behind bars.

Hard-earned lessons for families, investigators, and faith communities about power, accountability, and belief.

Centered on the victim and grounded in public records, Blood in the Pulpit is a haunting true-crime narrative about love betrayed, institutions tested, and the stubborn light of truth that refuses to go out.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FXWDJ6S8
• ISBN13: 9798271678707
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 106 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"