Man charged with murdering grandmother, trying to kill witness
A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder in the 2009 slaying of his 82-year-old grandmother and then trying to hire someone to kill a witness in the case.
Michael Wesley Baker, 32, was arrested Thursday in Santa Clara County and charged with murder and three counts of solicitation to commit murder, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
Baker is being held on $1-million bail.
Prosecutors say Baker killed Sara Mowrey at her home in Laguna Niguel on Jan. 13, 2009, then tried to get rid of her body by throwing it into a trash dumpster at an apartment building.
A witness observed Baker’s suspicious actions and approached him, but did not immediately contact authorities, prosecutors said.
Family members later contacted authorities to report Mowrey’s disappearance, officials said.
The woman’s body was never found.
While in custody four years later on an unrelated criminal case, Baker solicited several people -- including an undercover Orange County sheriff’s deputy -- to murder the witness, authorities said.
Baker has prior records for drug possession and domestic violence, prosecutors said.
E-mail: anh.do@latimes.com
Twitter: @newsterrier
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