Tina Baker: Army drafted in to search farm for woman murdered 18 years ago
Written by News on 10/08/2020
Police have called in the Army to help search farmland for the body of a woman murdered 18 years ago.
Tina Baker, 41, vanished on her way to feed pigs on her farm in Surrey in 2002 and no trace of her was found.
In 2006 her estranged husband Martin Baker, a former SAS soldier, was convicted of her murder and jailed for for a minimum 14 years.
At the time detectives checked pigswill and manure after Baker’s first wife told them he had once threatened to kill her and feed her to pigs.
Surrey Police, the army and specialist forensic teams have begun digging up an area of land near a farm in Bisley, west of Woking, a short drive from the Bakers’ old farm at Chobham, after a tip-off.
Their work is part of Operation Sally, the murder investigation launched into Mrs Baker’s death.
Detective Inspector Chris Rambour said: “The investigative work around Tina Baker’s death has continued since 2006 and we have received information which has resulted in our decision to carry out further investigation at this location in Bisley.
“We will be doing this in conjunction with our local partners, including Surrey Heath Borough Council, and with assistance from the British Army.”
It’s understood the search involves the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation which is helping with specialist digging equipment at the site, a disused farm owned by the MoD.
Martin Baker, now 68, denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and a bid for an appeal in 2008 was rejected by judges who said his conviction was safe.
Old Bailey judge Paul Focke, who jailed him for life with a minimum 14 years, said during sentencing that Baker had lain in wait for his wife as she went to feed pigs, then killed her and “promptly disposed of her body and car”.
The couple had met through a lonely hearts advertisement, married and two years later bought the farm in Chobham.
Mrs Baker, a poultry enthusiast, kept rare breeds of Japanese chickens, together with pigs, goats and horses.
Within a year they had split up, but he persuaded his wife to go back to him before she left again, had an affair and asked for a divorce.
Baker did not report her missing until two weeks after she left him.
(c) Sky News 2020: Tina Baker: Army drafted in to search farm for woman murdered 18 years ago
