Crime Documentary - The Manson tunnel murder
Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
CHATSWORTH — It was a murder investigation that began in 1990 when a pair of hikers discovered Ron Baker's mangled corpse lying near the mouth of a railroad tunnel at a Chatsworth park.
Baker, a 21-year-old astrophysics major at UCLA, had been stabbed 18 times. His throat was slashed so badly his head had nearly been severed from his slightly built body.
Los Angeles police detectives initially thought the body was that of a transient who had been hit by a train. After identifying him, police briefly explored the possibility that Baker had been killed in a kidnap plot.
Baker's parents had received a pair of anonymous phone calls--one before and one after his body was found--in which a caller demanded $100,000 in ransom for his return. Police quickly discounted the calls as a ruse by the killer to throw them off the track.
Later, detectives would investigate whether the student's exploration of the occult had somehow gotten him killed.
He was found June 22, 1990, at Chatsworth Park South wearing a string necklace with a pentagram pendant--the day after the summer solstice, regarded as a holy day by followers of the occult.
Described by friends and family as a deeply serious young man who was searching for spiritual fulfillment, Baker had been involved in the student ministry on the UCLA campus and the Methodist church he had attended since he was a boy growing up in Woodland Hills.
Police Department detectives would later come to believe that Baker was killed by one of his roommates during a kidnap attempt designed to extort money from his parents, according to court records.
A Los Angeles County grand jury indicted Nathaniel Blalock on the eve of the three-year anniversary of Baker's slaying on a single count of murder with the special allegation of lying in wait.
Blalock confessed to Police Department detectives during a prison interview in February that he used a knife to stab Baker at least twice, according to court records. Authorities also matched blood taken from under Baker's fingernails after his death to Blalock's relatively rare AB blood type--possessed by only 4% of the population.
The two young men had shared a two-bedroom Van Nuys apartment with a third roommate, Duncan Martinez. Police Department detectives said they had begun investigating both Blalock and Martinez within days of the stabbing. According to court records, the two told another friend they had last seen Baker the night before he was found dead when they dropped him off at a bus stop at Van Nuys and Victory boulevards.
Yet the investigation was put on hold when Martinez disappeared just a little over a month after Baker had been killed. Later, Blalock was convicted of armed robbery and ordered to serve time in the State Prison.
CHATSWORTH — It was a murder investigation that began in 1990 when a pair of hikers discovered Ron Baker's mangled corpse lying near the mouth of a railroad tunnel at a Chatsworth park.
Baker, a 21-year-old astrophysics major at UCLA, had been stabbed 18 times. His throat was slashed so badly his head had nearly been severed from his slightly built body.
Los Angeles police detectives initially thought the body was that of a transient who had been hit by a train. After identifying him, police briefly explored the possibility that Baker had been killed in a kidnap plot.
Baker's parents had received a pair of anonymous phone calls--one before and one after his body was found--in which a caller demanded $100,000 in ransom for his return. Police quickly discounted the calls as a ruse by the killer to throw them off the track.
Later, detectives would investigate whether the student's exploration of the occult had somehow gotten him killed.
He was found June 22, 1990, at Chatsworth Park South wearing a string necklace with a pentagram pendant--the day after the summer solstice, regarded as a holy day by followers of the occult.
Described by friends and family as a deeply serious young man who was searching for spiritual fulfillment, Baker had been involved in the student ministry on the UCLA campus and the Methodist church he had attended since he was a boy growing up in Woodland Hills.
Police Department detectives would later come to believe that Baker was killed by one of his roommates during a kidnap attempt designed to extort money from his parents, according to court records.
A Los Angeles County grand jury indicted Nathaniel Blalock on the eve of the three-year anniversary of Baker's slaying on a single count of murder with the special allegation of lying in wait.
Blalock confessed to Police Department detectives during a prison interview in February that he used a knife to stab Baker at least twice, according to court records. Authorities also matched blood taken from under Baker's fingernails after his death to Blalock's relatively rare AB blood type--possessed by only 4% of the population.
The two young men had shared a two-bedroom Van Nuys apartment with a third roommate, Duncan Martinez. Police Department detectives said they had begun investigating both Blalock and Martinez within days of the stabbing. According to court records, the two told another friend they had last seen Baker the night before he was found dead when they dropped him off at a bus stop at Van Nuys and Victory boulevards.
Yet the investigation was put on hold when Martinez disappeared just a little over a month after Baker had been killed. Later, Blalock was convicted of armed robbery and ordered to serve time in the State Prison.
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