Snapped: Women Who Murder - Kimberly Baldwin

Episode Date: January 9, 2022

Indiana investigators learn just how manipulative and deadly a person’s envy can be, when a devoted father is found violently murdered in his own home.Season 27, Episode 02Originally aired:... March 03, 2020Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WsLCJWqmIebSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. When a young father is brutally murdered, a community grasps for answers. Nobody ever thought that this was that kind of place. Those places you see on TV.
Starting point is 00:00:32 I was just kind of unbelievable. Was I a hard worker or loved as children? All the kids seemed to get along really well together. They thought everything would be fine, but it wasn't at all. As the investigation begins, bold accusations spring to the surface. There was rumors that he was molesting his two children.
Starting point is 00:00:59 The person who had done this wanted to make sure that he was indeed dead. I mean, there's a lot of emotion going on here. When police begin to pick up the pieces, a motive as old as time begins to emerge. She was very jealous of what we had. She had to be horribly envious. It was bitter. It was things being thrown at each other.
Starting point is 00:01:25 Accusations. He said the look on his face was priceless. He was scared enough. February 16, 2002. Val Parazo, Indiana. It's 5.30 p.m. when Kathy Whitmer gets an alarming call about her boyfriend, Frank Parker. Frank Parker had dropped his children off. It a place called Family House. And when Frank didn't show up to pick up the kids,
Starting point is 00:02:07 you know, that was when the first call was made. I was in emergency contact for Frank for the Family House, so they immediately called me when he hadn't shown up asked if I had seen him. And I had said at that time, something wasn't right, because there is no way he would not have come and got his children. At Kathy's urging, police are dispatched to Frank's home.
Starting point is 00:02:30 The police department went to the house, couldn't get in for a well-being check. They intern called me and said, his car was in the driveway. They've looked in the windows, but you can't see anything. And I said, let me go see. So I flew down the highway to Frank's house, went to the front door, and I turned the handle on. I was surprised because they said all the doors were locked.
Starting point is 00:02:57 And I opened up the door. I said, Frank, Frank, and he was just laying there. Just laying there. She saw Frank Parker dead. Baltimore native Frank Parker didn't have an easy childhood. His dad was very dysfunctional on an alcoholic, very abusive. I do know that there were issues with the alcohol beatings, windows being busted, things being turned over.
Starting point is 00:03:31 Determined to escape that cycle of abuse and violence in his 20s, Frank and his brother left home. He had moved to Florida when he was in his early 20s to get a job, and his brother moved to Florida with him. Frank and his brother had issues growing up with the alcohol. That's how they coped. That's how many people coped. My understanding is by the time he got to Florida, he was no longer drinking.
Starting point is 00:04:02 He got clean and he wanted to go down there and live a clean, sober life. Frank's brother was going to these AA meetings in Florida. I think things were going really good for Frank when he was down there. He was working, trying to keep his brother in line. Frank wasn't in AA, but his brother was. And Frank had dropped his brother off, and that's when he met Kim.
Starting point is 00:04:28 Kim Baldwin and Frank Parker had an instant attraction. They got to talking, and that's how they started in a relationship. As it turns out, Frank and Kim had equally tough upbringings. Kim lived in Lake Station, which is just east of Gary, Indiana, with her mother and father. Kim Lee Baldwin was only child, and she had issues with her parents.
Starting point is 00:04:56 They were never home. After work, they would go someplace, and Kim would be left to her own devices, and they just didn't care about Kim at that time. Then, at age 16, Kim got a chance to start a family of her own. She found out she was pregnant. Kim turned 17 in December, and Tony was born in March. Though Kim loved being a mom and starting her own family,
Starting point is 00:05:29 she couldn't shake the demons of her past. Kim was married to my oldest son. They had Tony, and they divorced when Tony was about a year and a half old. She drank quite a bit from the time she was 14 The divorce when Tony was about a year and a half old, she drank quite a bit from the time she was 14 or 15. And that, of course, led into drugs later on, and that was a normal lifestyle for Kim.
Starting point is 00:06:02 Because of her substance abuse issues, Kim eventually lost custody of her young son and moved to Florida. There, she tried to start over. I met her in a place that we worked together. I was probably about 30. She was 18 or 19. She's already been married. She already had a child. She was a fun person.
Starting point is 00:06:27 Who does young people? Doing her thing. In 1989, Kim got another chance to have the family she'd always wanted. They got together and she had another child by Rick and they named him Michael. And I was like, we don't need a child. She said we're gonna make us bond and be together.
Starting point is 00:06:50 So, she went on ahead and had the child. And then probably within six months or a year, we split up. Still only 25, Kim worked as a hostess at a hotel resort, but continued to struggle with addiction. She had drug issues. I always had drug issues, but sometimes you couldn't tell it. But she was always seemed like a good, responsible mother.
Starting point is 00:07:20 Eventually, she went to rehab and went to some treatment. Her mother and father were encouraging her to get some help, and she did. When Kim met Frank Parker in 1990, she thought she'd finally found her rock. They got along very well. They did get married, and then shortly after,
Starting point is 00:07:46 she became pregnant and had Graham. Three years later, they welcomed a second child into their blended family, a daughter named Katie. Frank loved all of the children in their family, including Tony and Michael,
Starting point is 00:08:02 and of course his two children, Graham and Katie. I think Kim wanted to have her own family because she wanted to create something that she never had, and really just turn her life around and be happy with a family. Then, in 1995, Frank and Kimberly saw an opportunity they couldn't pass up.
Starting point is 00:08:31 Kimberly Baldwin's father worked in the steel mills at that time in Indiana and told Frank Parker that he could get him a job. For Kimberly, the move proved to be an opportunity to reconnect with her parents and oldest son, Tony, who by now was 13 years old. They would pick Tony up, and they would go some place, like to McDonald's or to a park or something like that. And all the kids seemed to get along really well together.
Starting point is 00:09:09 After five years together, the move was also an opportunity for Kim and Frank to breathe new life into their marriage. I believe, Frank and Kim had some rough times in Florida, And that was most likely because his job was not paying enough. And one reason why they moved to Northwest Indiana, where he could get a better, better paying job. And they thought everything would be fine. But it wasn't at all. My understanding is the relationship in Florida
Starting point is 00:09:46 was a rocky one. There were issues along the way, and he kept trying and trying. Frank was a fixer. He tried to fix everything. And unfortunately, some people aren't able to be fixed. Too much dysfunction, too much arguing back and forth, too much mistrust, too much placing the blame on one another
Starting point is 00:10:07 to where it just wasn't in a good position for them to be together. Kim finally took the kids and moved out in preparation for getting a divorce. In 1999, Frank and Kim's divorce was finalized, and Kim was awarded custody of the couple's two youngest children. I don't think Frank minded one bit if he had to pay a lawyer as long as he would be able to eventually get custody of his children. He didn't care about the money, whatever it took.
Starting point is 00:10:48 Frank was gonna do it to get his children Frank fought in court for three solid years to get custody of his children, because Frank did not think they were being properly cared for by their mother. Frank's persistence finally paid off when he was awarded custody of Graham and Katie in November of 2001. Kim lost her children to Frank, the tables turned and she had supervised visitation. Frank also began to move on from his ex.
Starting point is 00:11:28 I first met Frank Parker, not too long after I left my now ex-susband. It was karaoke night and one of the ladies that was there said, hey, I know someone you need to meet. And that's how I met him. And then we went on a date and it just kind of progressed from there. But after nearly two years together, Frank's promising future is cut short, when Kathy finds his lifeless body in his home on February 16, 2002. It was just so unfathomable.
Starting point is 00:12:05 I had no idea what had happened. When detectives arrive on the scene, it's clear to them that Frank's death is no accident. Well, I first walked into the living room. There was a deceased male on the floor laying face down. And there was blood. It was a violent crime scene. We could tell that there was a foul play involved.
Starting point is 00:12:28 Coming up, detectives tracked down a witness. I heard like a giant boom. It was violent, and I mean, it was extreme. And investigators close in on a potential suspect. He owes everybody money. He was very violent. Why is he being a little cagey about not telling us information?
Starting point is 00:12:50 So we wanted to investigate him more. On the evening of February 16, 2002, Detective Lieutenant Michael Brickner is beginning an investigation into the murder of 40-year-old mill worker, Frank Parker. He had been shot, and we believe because there were punctuons in his back and there was also a landscaping block that was laying next to his body as well. It looked like that had been used in some way during the course of the crime as well. He had been shot with a shotgun.
Starting point is 00:13:38 We did find a shotgun shell and wadding near the body. There was blood all over the wall. There was reflection in the TV. It was a mess. It was a bloody gory mess. It was violent, and I mean, it was extreme, as to whoever did this or what happened. There was a lot of emotion going on here.
Starting point is 00:14:03 With no indication the home had been burglarized or ransacked to police, the crime looks personal. That was something that was very obvious as well. The person who had done this wanted to make sure that Mr. Parker was indeed dead. With the scene secure and evidence preserved, police turned their attention to the growing crowd outside. We heard there had been a homicide in Valprese, though, and that was shocking, obviously,
Starting point is 00:14:32 because we only averaged three homicides a year in the entire county. They'd blocked off the street. Nothing was coming through, and we got a knock on the door, and in office, there was talking to us, trying to get our attention. They blocked off the street. Nothing was coming through, and we got a knock on the door. And in office, there was talking to us. I'm trying to get our statements as far as, you know,
Starting point is 00:14:52 what we saw, what did you hear. Though she's just nine years old, Frank's young neighbor, Hannah Hayes, is able to assist police. Frank's house and my grandma's house are really only separated by two back gates, so they're very close and proximity. I was watching TV and I heard like a giant boom.
Starting point is 00:15:17 It was loud. That's something that I never, ever forget is how loud it was. Hannah and her grandmother say they heard the noise around 1.30 pm, but didn't see anything unusual. We couldn't really offer a lot of information. I just thought something blew up, you know, firework or something like that.
Starting point is 00:15:42 After interviewing neighbors, investigators turned their attention to Frank's girlfriend, Kathy. They always go to the closest first. And that was me. And they took me down the police station. We just had to confirm that she was not involved, and we did that by checking out our alibis. The police asked me for an alibi, and it was very clear that I could prove that my children and I were at home.
Starting point is 00:16:08 We eliminated Kathy Whitmer's any type of suspect. But as Detective Brickner wraps up his conversation with Kathy Whitmer, there's another development. I was advised that the victim's ex-wife was waiting at the police department. I met Kim Baldwin and her mother, Jeanette Baldwin. And I spoke with them informally. I separated the two and I then interviewed Kimberly Baldwin. According to Kim, she and Frank had divorced three years earlier.
Starting point is 00:16:43 But a child custody battle had kept them at odds. She was a family member, Lee Baldwin. According to Kim, she and Frank had divorced three years earlier, but a child custody battle had kept them at odds ever since. She's talked about her four children. She had two children with Frank. They were a boy and a girl, eight and five years old. And she also had two older children with different fathers. She had an 18-year-old son, Anthony, and a 12-year-old son, Michael.
Starting point is 00:17:10 She told me that her ex-husband Frank had won a custody hearing just recently. There was a wrong decision by the courts and that she was trying to get the children back. Kim was devastated. She was so angry when Frank got total custody of their children. I believe that Kim was very jealous of what we had. We had two kids, two girls, same age, two boys, the same age.
Starting point is 00:17:47 We were able to have a normal functioning, going on vacation, family, just having fun. Kim was making statements about how upset she was that, you know, Frank had custody of the kids. She was very open about how she despised him. Apparently, Kim isn't alone. I did speak with her mother. Her mother was claiming that Frank Parker was not a good guy. She says that he owes everybody money,
Starting point is 00:18:18 that he was very violent. Kim says her ex-husband's temperament caused a rift between Frank and her oldest son, Tony. We're told that Tony did not like Frank due to the way that Frank treated his mother. When police ask about Tony's whereabouts, Kim says Tony had arrived at her home the day before the murder from neighboring DeMott, but she didn't like his traveling companions. He was there with a couple of his friends, and Kim made them all leave.
Starting point is 00:18:51 Why was he here during this time, he's being looked as a possible homicide suspect? As for Kim, the story of her custody fight sounds troubling, but her alibi is rock solid. Kim had an alibi being at the family house visitation, where Kim was visiting her children and employee of family house monitors the visitation. On the last things I asked Kim was if she would be willing
Starting point is 00:19:21 to take a computerized forced stress analysis test. And she said that she's had a rough day, which I understood, and that she was too tired, and she just wanted to go home. Had some sympathy for Kim. But knowing that Kim's son, Tony, was in the area at the time of the murder, is another story for police.
Starting point is 00:19:47 They brought him to the police station and they questioned him for about two hours. When Tony came in, we were questioning him about where he was. Tell us about your timeline. Were you bleeding up to the time we believe that Frank Parker was murdered? He advised us that on the morning of the murder, he had friends come in from Tennessee,
Starting point is 00:20:10 and when we asked him about those friends, we had no information. We had first names only, no phone numbers, just that they were from Tennessee. He wasn't very forthcoming about what he was doing with his friends or why they were in town, even who they were. So that raised a little suspicion.
Starting point is 00:20:30 We were thinking, OK, why is he being a little cagey about not telling us the information? So we wanted to investigate him more. Coming up, troubling allegations emerge. She's telling me, oh my God, I hate to tell you this, but Frank is molesting your child. Being an outfit parent, basically having a filthy home, leaving the children filthy, not feeding them.
Starting point is 00:20:59 My ex-husband called me, very irate, as he should be. I had to talk him down. Hey listener, it is Jason Bateman. We've been fortunate to attract so many a list guests to our smartness podcast, but we've never put together a lineup quite like this. I'm talking about Will Ferrell Conan, no Brian Kevin Hart, Mark Cuban, Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon, and more available four weeks early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. If you've seen our docu-series smartness on the road, you know we had an incredible time on our tour
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Starting point is 00:22:28 Do it. Do it. Do Barger's body was found inside his Valparaiso Indiana home. Investigators have learned that Frank's steps on Tony Hickson had taken his mother's side during a bitter custody dispute. There had been some animosity between them, and Tony was around at his moms around the time that this happened, so he was a really good person to start with. Now, detectives are pushing Tony for answers. At that point, he was denying any involvement or any knowledge of the murder. He was telling us exactly what went on during that time frame.
Starting point is 00:23:01 The Velf-Burys Police Department was able to obtain a search warrant for Tony's vehicle, and that vehicle was searched. We also asked Tony if he would take a computerized voice stress test, and he agreed to do so.
Starting point is 00:23:17 The voice stress analysis test is a tool that we used to assist us in investigations. There were two main questions on that test. And one of the questions was, did you shoot Frank Parker? And he answered no. The second question on that test was, were you involved in the murder of Frank Parker?
Starting point is 00:23:39 And again, the answer was no. The tests showed no deception in those questions. So after the test and after the vehicle was searched, Tony was free to leave the police department. With no evidence to support Tony's involvement, police clear him as a suspect and widen their search to those Frank was close to. We questioned everybody that had any type of connection
Starting point is 00:24:06 to Frank that might provide us with some information. For police, that means circling back to Frank's girlfriend, Kathy Whitmer. This time, they learn more about the couple's relationship and its recent complications. We were together together, but we weren't together completely. I mean, we weren't seeing anybody out at that point or anything like that. We were in two separate households.
Starting point is 00:24:33 Frank Parker and Kathy Whitmer had broke up. The reason for that break-up was Frank was going through the custody battle. And that custody battle was taking its toll on Frank and Kathy's relationship. There was a bitter custody battle for years for these children, and it was things being thrown at each other. There were things that were appalling that were being said. Kathy says even after Frank prevailed in court in November of 2001,
Starting point is 00:25:05 their relationship was never the same. He built up anger issues. He did, and it was a lot dealing with Kim, that he had to get under control, but we still loved each other. Though Kathy's relationship with Frank was still touch and go at the time of his death, their connection does open the door to other possible suspects. Kathy had been married.
Starting point is 00:25:32 We needed to talk to her ex-husband, George, and see if he had something to do with this. Maybe it was jealousy, because Frank was now dating Kathy. I don't know if George liked Frank Parker or not. George definitely could have had a beef with him. Leaving no stone unturned, detectives bring George in for questioning. Though George's adamant he had nothing to do with Frank's murder,
Starting point is 00:25:58 George doesn't sugarcoat his dislike of Frank, and his reason why sends chills down investigator spines. Kim and George had spoke a couple times, and George had mentioned that Kim would say that Frank was molesting her kids, and George did not like the fact that his kids were also in that house with Frank. Kim had been accusing Frank of molesting her kids. his kids were also in that house with Frank.
Starting point is 00:26:31 Kim had been accusing Frank of molesting their daughter and being an unfit parent, basically having a filthy home, leaving the children filthy, not feeding them. My ex-husband called me very irate as he should be. I had to talk him down, explain to him that this was not the situation. He still wasn't happy about it. Is it possible George took matters into his own hands? George had an alibi in his alibi with his time card at his place of an appointment. They were able to verify that George was actually at work at the time of Frank's murder,
Starting point is 00:27:12 and therefore rule him out as a suspect. Having crossed several people off their potential suspect list, police know they need to take a closer look at the woman at the center of this domestic storm. I did go over to Kim Baldwin's house and she was leaving and I explained to her that I was wanting her to come to the police department to give me an official statement. She was on her way to see an attorney. And I asked, why are you doing that? She goes, well, I just think it's, um, needed.
Starting point is 00:27:51 While Kim meets with her attorney, detectives reach out to Rick Spargo, Kim's ex from Florida and the father of one of her children. I get a phone call from a detective that you have to come up and get your child. At that time, he was 12 years old. I'm like holy crap.
Starting point is 00:28:10 So I drove to Indiana, and I talked to the detective, and he told me what happened. It was just un-canon believable. I thought Frank Parker was a nice guy. I was kind of hard to hear. I seemed like a nice person, and it's a hard worker, and I love this children. Rick finds it hard to believe that Frank Parker
Starting point is 00:28:31 was sexually assaulting anyone. But admits it's not the first time he's heard the allegation. She's howling me. Oh, my God, I hate to tell you this, but Frank is molesting your child. I'm like, I'm going to come over there and do him in. But then, over a period of time, I mean, him started getting along, and we'd talk on the phone. I couldn't believe that he was doing that. I think she was, you know, making that up.
Starting point is 00:28:55 But why would Kim level such malicious accusations of Frank? I think he's a real man. I think he's a real man. I think he's you know, making that up. But why would Kim level such malicious accusations of Frank? According to Rick, Kim has a history of playing dirty with her exes. She was the greatest person, and then the next minute she screamed down my throat. She's lying. She was not a nice person.
Starting point is 00:29:25 She would, I do want to make people feel sorry for her, I believe. And so she would tell them what a horrible person that I was. That I'd meet the people on me like, I don't know what she told you, but I'm not that way. Coming up, detectives question if this violent crime was driven by love or envy. He had a home. He had a great job.
Starting point is 00:29:50 He had a new girlfriend. He was making his life into the life that she wanted. She was just very bitter. And a new suspect emerges. He was an ex-con who had done prison time. In the days after the murder of 40-year-old Frank Parker, Indiana police have crossed several individuals off their suspect list. But one person that remains on their way to the prison, was a person who was arrested by the police. In the days after the murder of 40-year-old Frank Parker,
Starting point is 00:30:20 Indiana police have crossed several individuals off their suspect list. But one person that remains on their radar is Frank's ex-wife, Kim Baldwin. She was making comments, you know, he was abusing their kids, and this was a common theme that we were hearing from, you know, various people in that circle with Kim Baldwin. But as investigators soon learned from court records, Kim's accusations against her ex-husband likely contributed to the court's decision to award custody to Frank Parker.
Starting point is 00:31:00 She never reported any such things to the police. When we go back and ask the children, have there ever been episodes of violence in your home? Have you ever seen your dad hit your mom? All of those came back, no, no, no. The Guardian and Lydam was appointed through the court system. Trying to figure out where the best placement for these children were. They felt that they were the best interest of being with Frank.
Starting point is 00:31:24 They felt that they were the best interest of being with Frank. While an Indiana court had found there was no basis to support Kim's claims, investigators learned from members of a support group Kim joined in 2001 that the ruling hadn't stopped her from pleading her case. Kim joined a domestic violence survivor's group and convinced them that Frank had been an abusive husband, that Frank was abusive to the children, physically and sexually. At that point, Kim was trying to get custody of her children back.
Starting point is 00:31:56 We were being told by people that were associated with Kim, a lot of it through this support group, that Kim had been bragging and making statements as she was going to have Frank killed. Then, on February 18, 2002, two days after Frank's death, one woman from Kim's support group contacts police. Debbie Allenball came to the Vopper as a police department, and she told us that she
Starting point is 00:32:26 believes that a subject by the name of Paul was involved in the murder of Frank Parker. According to Debbie, Findley Paul Thompson is a 45 year old ex-con and a friend of Kim Baldwin. Paul Thompson was basically a career petty criminal. He had done several years for a residential burglary and had been released from prison. Paul started going to church with Debbie. That's how he met these women.
Starting point is 00:32:59 Paul was sort of the available guy if they needed a refrigerator move. If they needed some type of a favor that a big hulking man could do for them. Kim met Paul. They hit it off and started having conversation. Focused on this horrible, horrible monster that she had been married to, Frank Parker.
Starting point is 00:33:22 Paul was told by Kim that Frank was a child molester. Paul, who comes from the prison world, did not and does not like child molesters. Debbie knew that Kimberly Baldwin had asked Paul to kill Frank Parker. We did a background on Paul. We spoke with his probation officer. In fact, Paul had just missed a meeting with this probation officer. So that was a red flag for us.
Starting point is 00:33:51 On February 19, 2002, police interview Paul at the Val Pereso Police Department. Paul denied any involvement with us. Paul's alibi was that he was staying at a friend's house in South Haven in New York. the Valparaiso Police Department. Paul denied any involvement with us. Paul's alibi was that he was staying at a friend's house in South Haven, Indiana, which is about five miles from Valparaiso. He had arrived at that house at around 3 o'clock, but he didn't have an alibi before he got to the house.
Starting point is 00:34:20 And that concerned us. Paul had asked us if he was arrested or being detained and we told him no, and we allowed him to leave. On February 23rd, Debbie Allenbach contacts the Valpereso Police Department once again, with startling news. She told us that Paul had just confessed to her in that he was willing to come to the Valparaiso Police Department to speak about the death of Frank Parker. Paul Thompson came in, and he was there to confess
Starting point is 00:34:56 under two conditions that we not proceed with the death penalty. And the second condition was he knew that he would be eating jail in prison food for the rest of his life. And so he requested a Kentucky Fried Chicken three-piece dinner, to which I replied regular or extra crispy. After investigators agreed to his demands, Paul tells his story.
Starting point is 00:35:24 He told us, you know, the plan, Kimballwin had hired him to kill Frank Parker. He was promised $10,000 from Kim. Paul Thompson confided in her that he had been abused as a child, and Kimballton was able to use that information to manipulate him, to get him to ultimately do her bidding. Next, Paul lays out what really happened the day of the murder.
Starting point is 00:35:55 Kim picked Paul up where he was staying. Her and Paul drove back to her apartment. She had a shotgun. And Paul took the shotgun upstairs of the apartment and sat on the floor and had a hacksaw and cut part of the barrel off to so it could be concealed. He came downstairs and she drove him to Frank's neighborhood. He had snuck into the back door of Frank Parker's house
Starting point is 00:36:26 as he was taking his children to the visitation. Once in the house, he waited for Frank Parker to arrive. And when Frank did arrive, Paul pointed the shotgun at him and told him to get down on the ground. He said to look on Frank's face was priceless so that he, you know, was scared enough. When Frank got on the ground, he had looked up at Paul. And Paul said that upset him, that made a man.
Starting point is 00:36:59 And he shot a round into the ground next to Frank Parker. Don't look at me. I told you not to look at me. Say you fired a second shot at which struck them in the back of the head with a shotgun. At that point, all really to us that Frank started making snorting sound. And he went to the kitchen,
Starting point is 00:37:25 and he found the screwdriver. He went back and stabbed Frank Parker six times in the back. He kept saying that he wouldn't die, and he just kept making these sounds. Walked out the back door and grabbed a landscaping block and went back in the living room and took the block and hit frankenhead with the block. And that's when he stopped making any type of noise.
Starting point is 00:37:56 He then left the house. He put a shotgun in a some kind of a drainage tile. He told us where the shotgun was. We were able to recover the weapon that was used in the murder. Paul was arrested after his confession, and he was taken to the Porta County jail. Coming up, prosecutors lay bare an age-old motive and expose a sin every one of us can relate to.
Starting point is 00:38:27 Kim had to be extremely envious of the life that Frank had finally gotten. Frank Parker's got a nice house, a good job, and Kim Baldwin doesn't have anything besides their children. And when he's going to take her children away. MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC has just confessed to the murder of Frank Parker. Now, detectives set their sights on the person
Starting point is 00:39:07 they believe masterminded at all. Paul Thompson confessed and implicated Kim Baldwin. With all the other witnesses and Paul's confession and all the evidence, we didn't need that confession from Kim. We got an arrest warrant for Kim Baldwin. Got a search warrant as well for her apartment, and went to her residence, and took her in the custody. We did search her house.
Starting point is 00:39:39 There was a hacksaw blade, and there were shavings from a metal shotgun barrel. MUSIC News of Kim's arrest quickly spreads. When I found out that Kim was finally arrested, I was static. And then you cry. On December 14, 2004, Kim's trial gets underway.
Starting point is 00:40:09 This was going to be a murder for higher trial. Paul said that there was money that was going to be exchanged, that Kim had offered to pay him to do this. Paul Thompson had pled guilty, but he was not to be sentenced until after he testified in her trial. Prosecutors believe that at the time of Frank's death, Kim was consumed by jealousy. Kim Baldwin had sort of an exaggerated belief in her ability as a mother. She wasn't a good mother when she had custody of the children.
Starting point is 00:40:45 I think some of Kim's anger toward Frank was the fact that he was making his life into the life that she wanted. Frank Parker's got a nice house, a good job, and Kim Baldwin doesn't have anything besides her children. And he's gonna take her children away. She just couldn't handle it. She was gonna make sure that she would get her kids back one way or the other. Prosecutors believe that envy led to hate and hate to murder.
Starting point is 00:41:18 One of the reasons that she had held such animus towards Frank and ultimately manipulated things so that he was killed is just the losing of the children she perceived as a personal failure. And if I can't have them, he can't have them. Kim snapped because her world wasn't going to be her perfect world that she had imagined in her head. It also was going to affect her financially,
Starting point is 00:41:50 because if Frank got custody of Graham and Katie, Kim would no longer be getting child support. When it's the defense's turn, they don't shy away from the fact that Kim was in a bitter dispute with her husband, but placed the blame solely in one man's hands. Kim's position is that there was absolutely no conspiracy whatsoever, that she did not want Frank killed.
Starting point is 00:42:15 That Paul did it kind of on his own foolishness. On December 30, 2004, nearly two years after Frank Parker's murder, a jury retires to deliberate Kim's fate. The jury came back very quickly for a murder case. Kim was found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. I had to go pick up my daughter from daycare. I missed it.
Starting point is 00:42:47 I came back for them to tell me. I was owed that verdict. I was owed to look at her face, to see what she, her reaction was, to see what she had done, and she had consequences for her behavior. And I missed it. There was a sigh of relief when we heard the verdict. The saddest part was that it wasn't going to help Frank,
Starting point is 00:43:15 but at least Kim would not be available to hurt anybody else. Kim's ultimate sentence was the same as Paul's 85 years. She was sentenced to 55 years from murder and sentenced to 30 years on the conviction for conspiracy to commit murder. I believe she got what she deserved, but again, she's able to eat, walk, and talk. Frank can't do any of those. Now behind bars, Kim has a lifetime
Starting point is 00:43:48 to think about what her envious rage truly cost. I think Kim got everything she deserved, but that doesn't help Frank. And her children's lives were just in an upheaval. They were just devastated. And to this day, all four of those children still cannot in any way get over what happened to Frank. Kim Baldwin is serving her time at Rockville Correctional Facility.
Starting point is 00:44:27 She is eligible for parole in 2040. Paul Thompson died in prison in 2017. Kim and Frank's two children were raised by members of Frank's family. For more information on SNAPED, go to oxygen.com.

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