Guilty plea entered for gruesome, fatal south Nanaimo stabbing

Crown counsel’s Nick Barber outlined the agreed statement of facts from the evening of June 20, 2022 outside the home near Park Avenue Elementary School.

“Miss Allick had no known previous connection to Mr. Baker,:” Barber said.

Not long after 10 p.m. Baker stabbed Allick six times: four times to her face, once on the shoulder and to the neck, severing an artery. Barber said the neck slash was the fatal wound, citing an autopsy report.

Prior to the perplexing attack, Allick was drinking with a friend for a few hours.

The pair went to a liquor store and convenience store on Bruce Ave. at Eighth St. a few blocks west of the murder scene.

Allick and her friend then parted ways.

It’s unclear why she then parked her car near where she was killed, nor why or how she encountered Baker.

The offender’s grandparents were watching TV when he told them he was going outside for a cigarette.

Baker was planning on going to a friend’s house shortly after.

With his grandfather hard of hearing, Baker’s grandmother heard shrieking and hollering calls coming from a woman near their home.

Baker went inside to declare a girl was covered in blood.

“This chick was attacking me,” he said.

No injuries of any kind were sustained by Baker, while his grandfather immediately called 911.

Early on during the six minute call, Allick was reported to be breathing, however Baker’s grandfather believed she was dead toward the end of the call.

While his grandfather was speaking with an emergency dispatcher trying to get help, Baker was on the phone to arrange for a taxi to pick him up from the nearby school.

A few minutes later Nanaimo RCMP arrived, who found the grandparents standing near Allick, She was lying on her back drenched in blood near their home’s front entrance.

Baker was gone at that point, headed to a central Nanaimo home several kilometers away.

Paramedics arrived on scene shortly after the police got on scene to declare Allick was deceased.

Based on large volumes of blood in the home’s carport, the stabbing is believed to have occurred there before Allick ultimately dropped to the ground and died near the front door.

Baker’s grandfather and a police officer had back-to-back phone conversations with Baker while he was in the taxi, pleading with him to return to the scene.

He did so and was promptly arrested for murder without incident.

Baker handed over the murder weapon to police, a knife concealed inside a hoodie pocket.

He was then transported to the Nanaimo RCMP Detachment.

Baker told police the night of the murder he had an opioid addiction, had “taken a point” about an hour earlier and was starting to get dope sick.

The following day Baker, appearing lethargic and in pain, was interviewed in a sworn statement.

History of mental health/addiction issues
Baker presented concerning signs in the months leading up to the murder regarding erratic and dangerous behaviour, compounded by longstanding substance misuse.

On Dec. 15, Dec. 15, 2021 Baker was arrested by Nanaimo RCMP under the Mental Health Act. He was found walking toward police with a knife in his hand after phoning police.

Roughly six weeks later, Baker failed to attend Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for a psychiatric appointment.

Then in mid-April 2022, Baker had a “psychotic break” where he was located by Nanaimo RCMP while armed with a machete.

Baker told police he had the weapon for his own protection due to a drug debt.

His mother told police her son suffered from significant mental health and addiction issues. She reported marijuana use elevated to cocaine and fentanyl addictions, leading to several stays in treatment programs.

Citing he suffered from schizophrenia, she said for several months prior to the stabbing Baker had become paranoid, delusional and was concerned about trespassers.

“He was telling us about how he had been possessed by the demon at my parents’ house and that’s why he was having such a hard time sleeping there…I’ve known for months that he’s definitely delusional and paranoid at this time.”

This week experts on behalf of the Crown and defence are expected to relay their conclusions regarding Baker’s mental state at the time of the stabbing.

Opposing arguments will help Justice Douglas Thompson determine if Baker was suffering from a mental disorder rending him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act, or knowing it was wrong.

Regardless, Baker will either be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 10 to 25 years, or he’ll serve his sentence in a psychiatric health setting.

Baker, charged a day after the incident, has been in custody ever since being arrested.

The stabbing led to a significant police presence with crime tape surrounding the large impacted property located near Park Avenue Elementary School.

Baker is represented by veteran attorney Stephen Taylor.

Police tape surrounded a property at the end of Eighth St. next to the sports field at Park Avenue Elementary School. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Guilty plea entered for gruesome, fatal south Nanaimo stabbing

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