WACO, Texas (ABP) -- The mother-in-law of a former Baptist preacher convicted of murder said she and her husband forgive him for killing their daughter because "love trumps evil" in their Christian faith.

Kari Baker's 2006 death was originally ruled a suicide, but her parents convinced police to reopen the case when they became suspicious of Matt Baker's story.

"You have to spend many years in prison," Linda Dulin, mother of murder victim Kari Baker, said in a victim's impact statement shortly after Matt Baker's 65-year prison sentence was handed down Jan. 21. "What you did was horrific, and I believe you are capable of much more evil."

For the sake of her two granddaughters, however, Dulin said she and her husband would forgive Baker.

"In order to heal, in order to point the way for our own granddaughters and in order to show God how grateful we are, then we have to step out and forgive," she said. "We do. We forgive, because that is the only way, Matt.... Love trumps evil."

A 19th State District Court jury of seven women and five men deliberated about two hours before handing down a sentence at the end of an eight-day trial in Waco, Texas. On Jan. 20 the jury found Baker, a graduate of George W. Truett Theological Seminary who worked as a pastor at several Baptist churches in central Texas, guilty of murder in the death of his wife, Kari, in April 2006.

Authorities originally ruled the death a suicide by sleeping pills, but Kari Baker's parents convinced police to reopen the investigation. Her body was exhumed for an autopsy and the cause of death was changed to undetermined.

A woman claiming to be Baker's former mistress testified during the trial that the preacher wanted his wife out of the way because he thought she was overweight and a bad mother, but he could not divorce her because it would destroy his ministry. The witness, Vanessa Bulls, said Baker talked about ways to kill his wife and make it look like a suicide before the death, and then afterward told her how he did it.

Matt Baker

Baker, who proclaimed his innocence in several high-profile media interviews before the trial, did not take the stand in his own defense.

During the sentencing phase, three women testified that Baker had made inappropriate sexual advances toward them over the years. One claimed that he attempted to sexually assault her while both worked as student athletic trainers at Baylor University during the 1991-1992 football season.

After graduating from Baylor, Baker went on to attend Truett Seminary, a theological-education partner of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship that opened at Baylor in 1994.

At the time of his wife's death Baker was a bivocational pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church, a 75-member congregation in Lorena, Texas, while working as a chaplain at a psychiatric treatment center for youth.

At the time of his arrest in September 2007, he had moved back to his hometown of Kerrville, Texas, where he worked as a substitute public-school teacher and in a part-time job as Baptist General Convention of Texas-funded student minister at Schreiner University.

Baker, 38, grew up as the son of house parents at a group foster home for Buckner Baptist Benevolences. His mother, Barbara Baker, testified during the penalty phase that he was her second biological child but they had 49 foster children, and growing up he typically lived in a family of 10.

Baker grew up attending Trinity Baptist Church in Kerrville, Texas. Several people who knew him as a youth testified that he was a compassionate Christian actively involved in mission trips. One said he did not believe Baker was guilty of killing his wife.

In her victim's impact statement -- a proceeding after sentencing where a family member or friend gets to speak directly to the offender -- Dulin, who worships at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, said she believes she will see her daughter in heaven.

Dulin said her daughter and the couple's two daughters weren't Baker's only victims.

"The people in your churches, who want to believe that the person leading them truly is a man of God," Dulin said, "your family, your family, Matt, your friends, the people who believed in you -- but thank goodness this journey doesn't end here."

Asked by Judge Ralph Strother if there was any legal reason why his sentence should not be carried out, Baker said he believes he is innocent and that the jury made a mistake.

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This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. Information for this report was obtained from live streaming of the trial on KCEN-TV and live blogging by the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Previous ABP stories:

Former Baptist pastor sentenced in wife's murder

Former Baptist preacher found guilty of murder

Ex-mistress testifies in former Baptist pastor's murder trial

Trial under way for former Baptist preacher charged with murder

Bond reduced for former Baptist pastor charged with wife's murder

Former Baptist pastor indicted on murder charge

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