Allan BAKER

Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Thrill killing - Rape - Torture
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: November 3/7, 1973
Date of arrest: November 13, 1973
Date of birth: ????
Victims profile: Ian James Lamb, 43 / Virginia Morse, 35
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Narrabri/Collanerebri, New South Wales, Australia
Status: Sentenced to life imprisonment plus 55 years

Allan Baker and Kevin Crump are notorious Australian rapists and murderers who are currently serving life sentences in jail.

Crimes

On 3 November 1973, Kevin Crump and Allan Baker used a .308 rifle to murder Ian James Lamb, 43, who was sleeping in his car next to the road to save accommodation costs while he was in the area to look for seasonal work. The murder appeared to be a thrill killing as the pair did not know Lamb.

Three days later they camped near the home of Brian and Virginia Morse in Collarenebri, where one of them had previously worked for as a migrant farm labourer. After watching the house for two days, they abducted 35 year old Virginia Morse when her husband and their three children left the property. The men drove via back roads towards Queensland, stopping at hotels and garages along the way, and buying beer and petrol with the $30 they had stolen from the Morse homestead. They drove mainly at night to avoid detection. During the journey, Morse sobbed and pleaded for her life. The men stopped south of the Queensland border, tied Virginia Morse to a tree and took turns raping her repeatedly. They then threw her back in the car and continued on their journey.

When they stopped by the Weir River near Moonie they again tied Virginia Morse to a tree. They raped and tortured her repeatedly before one of the men shot her between the eyes in an execution style killing. They rolled her body into the river, burnt her clothes then drove back to their campsite.

Arrest and trial

On November 13, ten days after Lamb's murder, the pair headed towards the Hunter Region, intending to commit a burglary. However after their stolen vehicle was spotted near Maitland, the pair took flight from the scene.

A police vehicle responding to the attempted burglary intercepted their vehicle en route and a high speed chase ensued. The police car was rammed off the road, and the chase taken up by a second police unit. A police officer in this vehicle was seriously injured when the fugitives shot him in the face. The car chase culminated at a police roadblock at Woodville, where the pair took to foot, shooting at police as they fled into the bush. An intensive ground and air search of the area followed, and the two men were eventually arrested in a nearby river three hours later.

After their capture, Crump tried to evade responsibility for Morse's murder in his police statement. "I was forced to kill Mrs. Morse by Baker, because he wanted me to be in as deep as him. He said he was going to kill me if I didn't. I admit that I was prepared to kidnap Mrs. Morse and even to sleep with her, but once again, as with Mr. Lamb, I did not want to be a part of her death...It was a choice of either me or Mrs. Morse." Even though there was compelling evidence that Crump had murdered Virginia Morse, he was not charged with this crime, as she had been murdered in Queensland, outside the jurisdiction of the Government of New South Wales. However he was charged with the murder of Ian James Lamb and with rape and conspiracy to murder Virginia Morse.

At their trial, Crump and Baker pleaded not guilty to the four charges of murdering Ian James Lamb, conspiracy to murder Virginia Morse, maliciously wounding a police officer with intent to prevent lawful apprehension and shooting at police with intent to prevent lawful apprehension. It took the jury one hour and forty-five minutes to convict Baker and Crump on all charges. Baker showed no emotion at the verdict, while Crump appeared to stare at the floor and shudder.

Mr. Justice Taylor then sentenced both men to life imprisonment plus 55 years. The judge said: "You have outraged all accepted standards of the behaviour of men. The description of 'men' ill becomes you. You would be more aptly described as animals, and obscene animals at that. I believe that you should spend the rest of your lives in jail and there you should die. If ever there was a case where life imprisonment should mean what it says— imprisonment for the whole of your lives— this is it."[this quote needs a citation] Details of the torture Virginia Morse endured at the hands of Baker and Crump was suppressed during the trial as the information was deemed too graphic and disturbing for the public.

High Court appeals

In 1997 the NSW government passed legislation that was set to ensure that both Baker and Crump would remain incarcerated for the rest of their lives. Allan Baker challenged this legislation in the High Court of Australia. In Oct 2004, Baker lost his challenge, the high court ruling the legitimacy of the NSW Parliament's sentencing laws with respect to life imprisonment. Kevin Crump had his sentence set at a minimum of 30 years back in 1997 but has had three parole applications rejected.

In May 2012 the High Court ruled that Crump had no grounds to appeal the law keeping him in jail until he is physically incapacitated or close to death.

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