Man Gets 27 Years in Slaying Over Meal

A domestic violence case that escalated to murder after an argument over whether Tater Tots and macaroni and cheese constituted a healthful dinner has ended in 27 years imprisonment for an ex-soldier at Ft. Ord.

David Monroe Baumann, 30, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware after pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of his 34-year-old wife, Jacqueline. She was pronounced dead by paramedics on Aug. 29, 2000, after Baumann called 911, claiming that she had been electrocuted by a radio that had toppled into the bathtub.

Investigators quickly determined that the woman had been massively bruised and strangled, and that the couple had an abusive marriage. According to an arrest warrant, Jacqueline Baumann had filed for divorce in 1998 after moving out and filing a temporary restraining order against her husband. The couple, however, soon reconciled.

David Baumann had received probation and counseling in 1995 in Minnesota after being convicted of misdemeanor battery for giving a girlfriend there a black eye.

Defense lawyer Richard Rosen said that the wife had confided to friends that Baumann beat her. “Abuse,” said Rosen, “was something he’d struggled with all his life. He had a very violent and abusive father. It’s not something he raised as an excuse, but it’s a fact that his sisters confirmed. The father beat him and all the other kids in the family.”

On the night of the murder, Baumann later told police, he was being processed out of the Army because of an automobile accident injury that had required back surgery. The couple, however, were still living in Army housing at the now-inactive base when an argument erupted in their kitchen.

“The fight began in an extremely mundane manner,” said Rosen. “They were arguing over what to have for dinner. She was serving macaroni and cheese and Tater Tots and he wanted something more healthful. And it grew into an argument over everything in their lives.

“They fought off and on through the evening, and finally, shortly before midnight, he strangled her in the bathroom as she was getting ready to take a bath. In court, he told the judge that he had just lost his temper, and that Jackie in no way had deserved this.”

Baumann--who must also pay $17,000 restitution to his wife’s family--is required to serve at least 85% of his sentence.