Amy Baker showed David where to burn Marcus' body

Maysville charges Amy Baker
Eigelbach, Kevin. Kentucky Post, April 21, 2007, pg. A1.

The star witness in the murder cases against Marcus Fiesel's foster parents now faces a felony charge of her own in connection with the little boy's death.

Amy Baker, the live-in girlfriend of Liz and David Carroll Jr., turned herself in Friday afternoon at the office of Clermont County, Ohio, Prosecutor Woody Breyer after learning that officials in Maysville had issued a warrant for her arrest on a charge of tampering with evidence.She remained in custody Friday evening at the Clermont County Jail, with her bail set at $50,000 cash, pending an extradition hearing.

Breyer blasted the action by Kentucky officials, saying it was a betrayal of the deal he made with Baker to give her immunity from prosecution if she testified against the Carrolls.

Authorities claim that on Aug. 7, Baker drove David Carroll's SUV over the William Harsha Bridge while he threw some of the boy's remains into the Ohio River. The span connects Maysville with Aberdeen, Ohio.

That's the basis for the "tampering with physical evidence" charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Maysville police have also obtained a warrant for the arrest of David Carroll on the same charge, but had not served that as of Friday.

"We were in no hurry to get him served," Maysville Detective Ken Fuller said. "We know he ain't going nowhere."

David Carroll is serving a sentence of 16 years to life at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville.

Through a plea deal with prosecutors, he received a lesser sentence than his wife. She is serving a 54-year sentence in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio, after a jury convicted her of murder and other charges.

Prosecutors in Hamilton and Clermont counties gave Baker immunity in exchange for her testimony, a deal that sparked anger throughout the region and helped drive the case against her in Kentucky, Fuller has said.

She told jurors during Liz Carroll's trial that she showed David Carroll a spot in Brown County where he could burn Marcus' body, then accompanied him there.

The 25-year-old Batavia, Ohio, woman also said she drove the Carrolls' white GMC Envoy across the bridge into Maysville, while David Carroll threw out what remained of Marcus' body after the burning.

The river is part of Kentucky, under the jurisdiction of Mason County.

Mason County Attorney John F. Estill asked Maysville police to investigate after the legal proceedings in Ohio were over, Fuller said.

Estill told The Ledger Independent newspaper in Maysville that he had promised Clermont County prosecutors not to interfere with the murder investigation. Since both Carrolls have been convicted, however, the "issue is moot," he said.

He could not be reached for elaboration Friday afternoon.

Breyer said the prosecution of Baker was driven by talk radio and questioned why Baker was being held on a high bond.

"She's not a danger to flee," he said.

Marcus, 3, who was autistic, died after the Carrolls and Baker left their home in Clermont County's Union Township on Aug. 4 for a family reunion in Williamstown.

Baker testified that Liz Carroll held Marcus while her husband wrapped him in a blanket, bound with duct tape, with his head and bare feet sticking out, and placed him in a playpen inside their walk-in closet.

Baker testified that Liz Carroll didn't want to take the boy to the reunion for fear that someone would ask about a bruise on his neck, which he suffered after David Carroll left the boy in his car seat all night.

When the Carrolls and Baker returned home from the reunion two days later, Marcus was dead.
Nine days later, Liz Carroll told police that she had taken him to Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, Ohio, and found him missing after she had passed out because of a health problem.

Police and hundreds of volunteers searched the park and surrounding area for days.

A week later, she called a news conference and asked people to keep looking.