Zahra Baker Case: Stepmom Role-Played 'Chainsaw Massacre'

Warrants: Mom claims dad cut up, disposed of body. Phone GPS prompts questions.

ByABC News
January 5, 2011, 10:16 AM

Jan. 5, 2011 — -- Recently released warrants reveal contradictions by the stepmother of Zahra Baker, the North Carolina girl who was murdered and dismembered, and indicate police have investigated the parents' online role playing of a "chainsaw massacre" game.

The 10-year-old's stepmother, Elisa Baker, told police the girl died two weeks before she made a 911 call reporting her disappearance, according to more than 200 pages of court documents released Tuesday.

Elisa Baker also told police it was her husband, Adam Baker, who cut the girl up before disposing of her body in several locations in the area around the couple's North Carolina home.

GPS phone tracking records included in the warrants note that while Elisa Baker's cell phone was in the areas where the remains were dumped, Adam Baker's was not.

The publication of the date of the child's death as given by Elisa Baker -- Sept. 24 -- is the first time any date of death has been made public, but it contradicts one witness who told police previously he had seen the girl alive a day later.

The warrants also state that a witness claimed to have had an alarming online conversation with the Bakers around that time.

According to the court documents, the person using the online name "NoeticsSoul" blogged "that she had a conversation with Adam Baker and/or Elisa Baker regarding their involvement with chainsaw massacre role-playing... The date of September 22nd was given regarding their virtual family 'doing a murder with chainsaws....'"

The warrants do not reveal how the girl died.

One person involved in the online virtual family fantasies was identified as Aaron Young. Police discovered that Elisa Baker was married to Young at the time she got married to Adam Baker, but that she had told Adam Baker that Young was her brother.

Elisa Baker and Young were later divorced, but the warrants state they kept in "frequent" contact and police requested permission to track phone records from Young's cellular provider.

Zahra, who lost her left leg and most of her hearing in a childhood battle with cancer, was reported missing on Oct. 9 after police responded to a small fire in the Baker's yard. At the scene, police discovered a ransom note demanding $1 million.

Elisa Baker later admitted to writing the note herself and was arrested on obstruction of justice. After an exhaustive search, Zahra's prosthetic leg, a bone fragment and her remains were all discovered in separate locations. No one has been charged with the girl's murder.

Elisa Baker remains in prison on obstruction of justice and several unrelated charges. In addition to her primary attorney Scott Reilly, a homicide attorney has been "provisionally appointed" to the case in October.

Adam Baker was previously held on unrelated charges, but was released on bond.

Police declined to comment on the released documents, but told ABC News, "The investigation is ongoing." Lisa Dubs, the homicide attorney assigned to defend Elisa Baker, did not immediately return request for comment.