Prosecutor: Man Either Burglar Or Stalker Woman Says Suspect Twice Trespassed At Her Home

Either Timothy Baker prowled the same north Spokane home twice or he’s stalking the woman who lives there, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.

Baker, 40, is charged with attempted residential burglary, which carries a standard sentencing range of 24 to 48 months in prison.

He was arrested two days after Christmas 1995, when Denise Morgan told police she saw Baker with a stepladder outside her bedroom window.

Morgan knew it was Baker because he prowled her house 2-1/2 years earlier, the single mother said Monday. He looked the same and drove the same truck - a maroon, older-model Chevrolet with no hubcaps, she said.

“I was scared to death when I saw him again,” Morgan said.

She said she fell to the floor, called 911 from a cordless telephone and told the operator she believed the man was Baker.

“I didn’t know if he was going to come in,” Morgan said. “I didn’t know what he was going to do.”

Possibly spooked by her barking dogs, Baker left just before police showed up, Morgan said. One officer drove her to Baker’s house, where she identified his truck and confirmed he was the man she saw in her front yard.

A 4-foot stepladder was found in the back of his pickup, police said.

If jurors can’t convict Baker of attempted burglary, however, deputy prosecutor Ed Hay is giving them another chance to put Baker behind bars: stalking.

“Mr. Baker was convicted of trespassing on Ms. Morgan’s residence in July of 1993,” Hay said in his opening statement Monday. “On Dec. 27, 1995, he prowled Denise Morgan’s residence again, (also) with a stepladder.”

That kind of repeated contact proves Baker was trying to frighten her, Hay said.

Defense attorney Scott Mason said there is no evidence that Baker tried to break into Morgan’s house or any proof that he intended to scare her.

“There is no evidence of any attempt to open the window, break the window or enter her home,” Mason said. “It is a very simple case … Mr. Baker is not guilty of either crime.”

Records show Baker has 14 convictions, including two for attempted burglary and one for burglary. If convicted of stalking, he faces up to a year in jail.

, DataTimes