STAFF REPORT
A 44-year-old man wanted for a 1989 murder out of Bell County was arrested Thursday in Buda, officials say.
Samuel Edward Baker of Bryan was apprehended by the U.S. Marshal’s Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and remains in custody at Hays County Jail without the opportunity for bail, authorities say.
Several leads and DNA evidence linked Baker as a suspect to the murder of a 74-year-old woman in Belton, located near Temple. Tips led authorities to Buda, where Baker was working as a truck driver, Belton Police Sgt. Larry Berg said.
In September 1989, Shellie Latham was found dead in her kitchen with multiple stab wounds. An autopsy revealed that she had been murdered, Berg said. He added that Baker and Latham appeared to have no connection to each other and a motive behind the killing is still unknown.
Baker will eventually be transported to Bell County, where he will be prosecuted, Berg said.
