Snapped: Women Who Murder - Susan Baker

Episode Date: February 11, 2024

Police unearth evidence that leads them to the ruthless killer of a well-known mechanic, who is found floating in a Tennessee river.Season 26 Episode 22Originally aired: January 19, 2020Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bosh Legacy returns now streaming. Man, he's been taken. Oh, God. Nothing can stop a father. You see that? From doing what the law can't. Have we had to do this the right way? You have to. I don't.

Bosh Legacy, watch the new season now streaming exclusively on Freevy. How much do you really know about Black History? Black really, really know. Wanderer's new podcast, Black History For Real, we use Black History's most overlooked figures back until they're right for placing culture in the world at large. Listen to Black History For Real on the Wanderer app or wherever you get your podcasts. When a body is found floating in an idyllic Tennessee river, questions are found.

You start thinking, is it someone who's fishing maybe fell hurt themselves? We had no idea who this was. Is this a tragic accident or a deadly cover-up? He had some blood around his mouth and his nose, and there was blood on the side of his head. A nearby fire suggests someone went to great lengths to cover their tracks.

The car had already been engulfed in flames and consumed by fire. Nothing left of it. What was going through our minds was, are these two crimes related? As the pieces fall into place, a tale of he said, she said, threatens to derail the investigation. I was scared.

You know what I mean? He told me before we called it next time. He was going to come in. He was going to kill me. No one could ever imagine the twisted path that would lead detectives to a killer. This was very intentional, and they wanted to die. They said, if you don't help me, you're next.

MUSIC The Quatchy County 911 February 2, 2011, Sequatchee County, Tennessee. It's just after 8 a.m. in this rural community outside of Chattanooga, as Detective Jody Lockhart settles in for the day. We're sitting around talking. We're trying to get a game plan

what we're going to do for the day, and then we get a call. Sequ what we're going to do for the day. And then we get a call. The clutch can't even win. What's the problem? Well, ma'am, I'm walking the weekends, and I think I've seen a body floating. I'm not for sure.

But I just said I was running. Detective Lockhart immediately rushes to the riverfront, nine miles away from the sheriff's office. At that point, we don't know how he got there or why he was there. You start thinking, is it someone who's fishing maybe fell, hurt themselves? Somebody who maybe got drunk and fell?

The scene itself looked like people would go there and drink their beer cans and to breathe at the scene. Pickett's Bridge is the area that we were called to. It's on the south end of our county. A lot of kids and adults like to party down there just because it's out of the way. It's in a rural spot. When detectives reach the river's edge,

they're met with a disturbing sight. You have to walk down. It's a muddy, slippery trap. We start walking down into there. And you get down to where you start seeing the creches of the water. And at that point in time, you can see the body. The body was not a small guy.

He was a larger male. We go ahead and we back off. We rope the scene off to make sure no one else can get in. We're trying to figure out who the body is, how did he get here. We're just running anything you can think of through your head. You have a body in the water. Is it a suicide? Is it an accident?

Or is it a homicide? Detectives decide they need all hands on deck and call in for help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. I remember receiving a call from Detective Lockhart, who advised that they had discovered a body in the river under Pickett's Bridge. I immediately responded to the area. When I arrived at the scene, they had the end of the road blocked off with the crime scene tape.

Several sheriff's department vehicles were already present on the scene. Officers wade into the cold, wintry water and pulled the body to shore. We go into the water. It's probably about waist-deep water. As I first started walking up, I noticed it's a white male who's wearing blue jeans,

an orange shirt, and had some suspenders on. He was face up. He had one hand of the water and his boots were out of the water. I've seen bodies in water that have been in much worse shape. I think what helped in this instance was the water was cold, and I think that helped preserve the body. When they bring the body to shore, detectives and medical examiners

begin a more thorough inspection. Sometimes the officers in the community, they're familiar with a lot of the local folks. They can identify who they are immediately once we arrive on the scene. But this wasn't the case in this investigation. We had no idea who this gentleman was. He looked like your typical white male that

had been in the river for a good 12 hours. He was the gray color that you normally see. Your body changes. You lose all pigment of your skin when the blood pulls away from you. You get an ashy gray color. He had blood on the side of his head. There was some blood around his mouth or nose,

but we didn't know he'd been struck with an object. There were no other visible wounds to him. The remains are placed in a body bag, and he's transported to national for an autopsy. While they await the results of the autopsy, detectives search the surrounding area, hoping for clues to the victim's identity. We found blood between the treeline and the mud.

We collected the tire impressions, where a car looked like it had parked at where the blood would have been at. Investigators also discovered two sets of footprints and a trail leading to the river's edge. We found what appeared to be like a heel of a boot being drugged all the way down. It was just a solid straight line that would skip every now and then as if you were dragging something heavy all the way there to the water. You know that this guy didn't drag himself and put himself in the water. Drag marks would eliminate a suicide. We also felt it would eliminate an accidental death.

So it did appear fairly quickly that this was the result of foul play of some sort. There's just speculation as to what might have happened. One of the things we talked about was there a fight at the scene, you know, were people out there drinking or doing something and a fight ensued and the victim was killed. You're trying to keep your mind open to any possibility as to what it might be. After processing the scene,

detectives turn to the 911 caller, Larry Eggert. You have times when the 911 caller is actually the perpetrator, so we have to rule out everyone from being a suspect in this case. Eggert tells detectives he was in the area hoping to make a little money. Mr. Eggert was aware that people would go down there and party and usually don't clean up their beer cans. He would collect aluminum cans to take the recycling center and they would pay him. As police continue questioning Egert, he remains cooperative.

That is, until police ask him to show them where he first spotted the body. He didn't want to go back nowhere near the river at all. Of course, we didn't make him. We kept him away. He just described everything he saw, and he was visibly shaken up. You could tell that seeing the body bothered him. To determine if he is involved in the crime, detectives compare Eggert's shoes

to the footprints discovered near the river's edge. We took foot impressions from him at the scene, and he was ruled out as a potential suspect. There was no indication that Mr. Egert was anything other than the fellow who found the body. After we got through working the crime scene, we go back to our office to try to strategize and think about how we can identify who he is.

We won't alert the news media. As detectives discuss their next move, they receive more troubling news. We had a deputy who came down the hall and mentioned that there was an fire scene that he had worked involving a vehicle. We thought that was kind of odd that we had a car burning at the same time.

There was a body in the river. Coming up, out of the ashes comes a crucial clue that will kick this investigation into high gear. The owner of the residence that was closed heard explosions. By the grace of God, he had recovered a handicapped plight group from that scene. Started noticing he looked a lot like the gentleman that we found in the river.

Detectives in Sequochi County, Tennessee are learning the details of a mysterious fire that seems to have occurred just hours before they fished an unknown man out of the river. This occurred on the north end of our county, kind of a remote area where the car was at. Very secluded, not many people around. The owner of the residence that was closed heard explosions. He called the dispatch center, dispatch center officer out there. By the time officers arrived to the scene,

the vehicle was a total loss. The car had already been pretty much engulfed in flames and consumed by fire. Not nothing left of it. Couldn't tell what it was. We had a vehicle that had been torched, and then we have a body in the river on the Satan day. It is not atypical for criminals to burn a car

in an effort to conceal evidence. What was going through our minds was, are these two crimes related? While the car was completely destroyed in the fire, officers were able to salvage one key piece of evidence. By the grace of God, he had recovered a handicap placard from that scene. He found the handicap tag that was partially burnt,

and he brought it back to the office. So we could maybe investigate that crime. We took the handicap tag. We ran the numbers through the DMV. The tag is registered to a 1996 Monte Carlo owned by an area resident. It led us to the name of Clifford Cardin. At that time, we didn't know who Clifford Cardin was

or who our body was. We went ahead and pulled up a driver's license picture of him. Started noticing he looked a lot like the gentleman that we found in the river. From an early age, Clifford M. Cardin Jr. loved two things, family and cars. My father was a mechanic for 30 plus years of his life, and he was into cars. That was a big NASCAR guy. That's what he loved.

He couldn't drag him away if you had to. It was crazy of all of the memorabilia that he had collected of Dalyan Hart and Dalyan Hart Jr. Knives, watches, cards. If it had Dalyan Hart on it, my father had purchased it. Besides cars and racing, Cliff's other passion in life was his family. Even though his first marriage ended in divorce, the doting father still remained actively involved with his children, Chris and Sendora. When they divorced, he just moved right across the street. So coming on from school, he would be there.

If I had a ball game that day, everybody went. That's just the way my childhood was with my dad and my mom. Then in 1988, at age 32, Cliff decided to give love another shot when he met 27-year-old Cindy Tapley. We got married on Valentine's Day, February 14th, 1991. I fell in love with him because he was so kind and so gentle. He was just an awesome person. When my dad and Cindy were together, he took care of her to the best of his ability. He would provide and do what he had to to provide.

I already had two children and he played with my kids. I mean, it was just like whatever was in my house that belonged to me, he accepted it right away. He was just my big teddy bear. Though he'd always enjoyed life, by the time Cliff was 50, issues with his weight had begun to have a detrimental impact on his day-to-day activities.

My dad, he's right at 350, 375 pounds. He needed to lose weight. My father struggled with diabetes. He was a heart patient, neuropathy of the hands and feet. His health issues were really bad. That's where I stepped mom's Cindy. I had stepped in

to help take care of him. But Cliff's health wasn't the only thing in his life going downhill. After nearly two decades of marriage, he and Cindy separated, leaving Cliff to live alone in his trailer. He was not coming home until like 2 to 3 o'clock in the morning.

My son and his wife came with the U-Haul and made two loads, and I moved. I just took what was mine. Dad hated being single. He needed a companion. My father's trailer looked like somebody had taken a 16 by 80 trailer and dropped it right in the middle of a tomato field.

His nearest neighbor was a mile and a half down the road. And daddy was afraid to be alone. So he would drive off the mountain every day to find something to do, to keep himself busy. off the mountain every day to find something to do, to keep himself busy. But on February 3rd, 2011, it seems Cliff had gone out and never returned. Right before Christmas, we started talking again.

We were discussing me coming back home. He said, I want us to work. But I kept trying to call him, and there was no answer. My stepmother could not get in touch with my father. On the phone, she had called and left message after message, and got the feeling something was wrong. So she calls me and wants to know if I had heard from my father.

Sandy, I said, your daddy's not home, and it's not like him to live. Our gizmo, which is our dog, outside. A chill runs down Sandora's spine as she tells her stepmother she has not spoken to her father in days. We usually talk to him about at least three, four times a week, but I had not heard from him.

I hung up with her and started calling around the places where I knew he was at or people he might have been with and could not reach my father. 24 long hours pass with no word from Clef. There was so much going through my head at that point, Tom, of what had happened. It was just such an uneasy feeling because it's not like him not to communicate.

I went through every hospital in the parking lot to see if I could see his little red car because he'd had a heart attack before. So I thought, well, maybe he's at the hospital. Then Cindy gets a call that changes everything. I get a phone call from the TBI. He says, does your husband have any identification marks on his body? And I said, yeah, he's got tattoos on his arm, and I describe the tattoos.

And he goes, we found your husband. I said, is he okay? And he said he was dead. It was like my heart was broke. And then all of a sudden, I got numb, you know? Got a phone call. And I don't even remember who it was that, you know? Got a phone call. And I don't even remember who it was that called me.

I set the phone down. I turned to my wife, Marlene, and said, um, dad's dead. They found him. She said, what are you going to do? I said, I'm going to his house. First, I didn't believe it. But then I had talked to my brother on the phone, and he was on his way to come get me.

We were going to go find out. Coming up, a witness comes forward with key information about a suspect. He had a lady with him. I'd never seen her before. What she'd like? Was she older or younger? Probably 5'8", 5'4", and straight thick black hair.

A little bit shorter than mine. They had some mud on their shoes, and that they were in a fast place to get away from that area. Being an actual royal is never about finding your happy ending, but the worst part is, if they step out of line or fall in love with the wrong person, it changes the course of history. I'm Aresha Skidmore-Williams. And I'm Brooke Sifrin.

We've been telling the stories of the rich and famous on the hit Wonderyy show Even the Rich, and talking about the latest celebrity news on Rich and Daily. We're going all over the world on our new show, Even the Royals. We'll be diving headfirst into the lives of the world's kings, queens, and all the wannabes in their orbit throughout history. Think succession meets the crown meets real life. We're going to pull back the gilded curtain and show how royal status might be bright and shiny, but it comes at the expense of, well, everything else, like your freedom, your privacy,

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It's streaming. You can say anything. Judy Justice, only on FreeV. Free V. Less than 24 hours after his body was pulled from Tennessee's Sequoacie River, police are now trying to figure out what happened to 55-year-old Cliff Cardin. We were still waiting back to hear

from the medical examiners on the autopsy find out what caused the death. To find out more, detectives initiate a search of Cliff's residence. As they begin to work, Cliff's son, Chris, arrives at the home and immediately notices something out of place. Dillon Hart, 118th scale porcelain car.

It was one of dad's prospect possessions as far as his collection goes. And I noticed immediately that it was missing. Other valuable items from Cliff's memorabilia collection are also missing. There was no signs of forced entry, but there had been items removed. You could tell the house was disarrayed.

There was stuff in the floor. Someone had to went through it. it like they were looking for something. To detectives, the condition of the home suggests Cliff was robbed by someone he knew. But as police continue to search the home, they make a sinister discovery. There was a gas propane tank laid against the furnace heater area. In my opinion, that was said to try to burn the house down after someone had it went through

and tried to steal what they needed out of the house. While police still don't know who is responsible for Cliff's death, others are beginning to have their suspicions. Given how people were acting, what had taken place, I immediately thought Cindy's involved in this. She has to be.

Clifford Cardin's estranged wife, Cindy Cardin, did not live at the house with Cliff. They'd been separated for approximately 11 months. Though Chris doesn't have any proof their stepmother is involved in their father's death, police take his concerns seriously. I do remember being asked, do you think your stepmom had something to do with this? They were looking at her.

But of course they said the partner would be the first one they look at. It made me feel like she had something to do with it. That it was her. At this point in time, you know, we hadn't ruled everybody out. That's being a potential suspect in this case. You look at family members, the strange wife, everybody's a suspect. As detectives finish up with Cliff's children,

Cindy arrives on the scene. The police called and told me to come up to the house. So I went to the home, and they were investigating the scene. We interviewed Mr. Cardin's wife, Cindy, and she was very helpful to us. She cooperated with every bit of the investigation we had. She said they've not been together for a while.

She was visibly upset. I was the last one that had verbally talked to him. I was in college to get my bachelor's degree, and I had a problem with a paper that I wanted him to kind of help me understand. I kept trying to call him every 30 minutes. Cindy Cardin told the officers where she was during the applicable timeframe, and they were able to verify that her alibi was in fact valid.

She was never seriously looked at as a suspect. With Cindy cleared, detectives begin looking into other possible leads. The following morning, the very first thing we want to do is we want to call the medical examiner's office in Nashville. The medical examiner, as part of the autopsy, did toxicology and the toxicology on Cliff was all negative. He had nothing in the system.

But the autopsy does reveal a crucial piece of information, the exact cause of Cliff's death. They let us know right off the bat he did have a single gunshot wound to the head. The shot ended up being right around the right side of the ear. The medical examiner felt that the gun was three inches to two to three feet from Mr. Carden's head when it was discharged. And a bullet was recovered from the head of Mr. Cardin.

The toast, it was going to be a small to medium-sized caliber weapon. And they thought it to either be a 9mm or a 38 caliber. With the autopsy complete, police release information about the crime and their victim to area media outlets, hoping to drum up some tips. After that, we started trying to retrace Cliff Cardin's steps up until the point he died. We tried to figure out who he's been with, where he's been at.

Fuzz's bar was the shirt he had on. Detectives work quickly to bring bar owner Sabra Radi in for questioning. Cliff came to my place four or five times a week. So you've never seen him have any kind of disturbances or arguments on anybody at your establishment? No, I know that never. I've heard a lot. According to Sabra, Cliff was in the bar the day before his body was found.

He came in at his usual time, which is 5, 6 o'clock, and he had a lady with him. I'd never seen her before. What she would like? Was she older or younger? Probably 5'3", 5'4", had straight thick black hair. A little bit shorter than mine probably, shoulder length. And she was dressed real nice, from my place.

She would not make eye contact, and she kept going to the bathroom frequently, to where even though I was taking care of other customers, I noticed it. Sabra tells detectives that Cliff and the woman stayed at the bar into the evening before leaving together. They left my place somewhere between 9 and 10. I did not know where they were going.

Could this mystery woman possibly be involved in Cliff's death? As detectives search for the unidentified female, Cliff's murder continues to make headlines. This was a homicide. We don't have a lot of homicides, so there was some tension in the community, and there was media coverage. The media frenzy pays off on February 8th, when resident Randy Griffith calls the police tip line with a possible lead after

seeing the story on local news. Mr. Griffith called in. He didn't know if it was part of the investigation, but thought that we might want to know about it. Randy tells investigators he had run into a friend of his on the night of February 2nd, not far from where Clifford Cardin's burned out car was discovered. He talks to us about how he had picked up Brian Vettis and a female walking. He didn't know who the female was, but he knew Brian.

Randy Griffith said Brian was acting kind of odd, kind of skittish, kind of worried that something was going on. That's not all Randy thought was unusual. Mr. Griffith noticed that they had some mud on their shoes and that they were in a fast place to get away from that area. They asked him to give him a ride to the local hotel. So Mr. Griffith takes him to Mountain Inn Suites,

drops him off there. After a quick run inside, Randy says Brian made one final request. He asks, hey, can you run us to Walmart? We need to buy a few things. He takes Brian and the female to the Walmart. And that's the last time Randy remembers seeing a woman. Coming up, police catch a glimpse of the woman

at the center of this mystery. They're in Mr. Cart's car, and they're carrying in Dale and Art Memorabilia. And a shocking allegation leaves investigators speechless. You said that she got off on this, that Michael Horning, she survived the Sgt. A. Yeah. It's been nearly a week since Cliff Carden's murder. And detectives in Sequochi County, Tennessee,

now have two key suspects. 34-year-old Brian Bettis and an unknown female. The pair was last seen at an area Walmart on the night of Cliff's death. We learned that information from Randy, which gave us suspects. And from there, which gave us suspects. And from there, the detectives got the video from Walmart.

Using their informant's description of the couple, it doesn't take long for detectives to hit paydirt. You can see them on the surveillance video. They buy some clothing. They buy blue jeans and shoes for Brian. Hoping to ID the woman accompanying Brian, detectives head to the hotel where they believe the couple may have stayed on the night of the murder.

Once again, detectives pull surveillance footage from February 2nd, this time from the mountain in in suites, and begin looking for their mystery woman. This is another piece of the puzzle, basically. And, of course, that puzzle comes together when they see the video from the mountain in in suites. Hours before it was burned, detectives spot Cliff's car and the couple on security footage.

They're in Mr. Card's car and they're carrying in Dale Earnhardt memorabilia. They're on video, having a good time smiling. You can see them coming back to the hotel and unloading some of the items that they stole from the house. That's a damning piece of evidence. Though they've already checked out of the hotel, police are hopeful the couple may have left something behind. They had already cleaned the room,

but we found out that Mountain Inn of Suites keeps a lock on their dumpster, so no one else could throw garbage in there. At which point we received the key and consent. We started going through the dumpster. We laid a tarp out. We brought every piece of garbage out of the dumpster. We found what we believed to be the garbage from the room. It doesn't take long for the search to pay off.

We found all of the Walmart receipts and bags and stuff. We found a pill bottle with the last name Cardin on it and had a bloody fingerprint. At that point, we had enough evidence to bring charges. With this new evidence, detectives need to track down Brian immediately. But he finds them first. Brian had turned himself into us.

I think he wanted his version put out first. I knew of Brian. I've dealt with him before on different calls prior to this. And Brian, he didn't look like his normal self. He looked like he had something troubling him. According to Brian, he had never seen Cliff Carden before. She is his girlfriend, 35-year-old Susan Baker. Growing up in Harris County, Texas, Susan Baker thrived.

My mom was a normal kid, went to school, had friends, went to beaches, things like that. She did good in school, I know that, and she was a dancer after school in the flag team. But complications from childhood kidney issues soon led Susan down a dark road. My mom's pathway to addiction started out with pain killers. They were the only thing that relieved that pain. Though Susan struggled with chronic pain and addiction, the birth of her children, Justice and Autumn,

gave her purpose. We were always close. She woke me up for school, make sure I got ready, make sure I was fed. She provided everything I needed. I felt like she was my number one best friend. I just felt like I could talk to her about anything that was going on in my life,

and she would help me through it. Single parenting was tough, but in 2009, Susan found comfort in the arms of 33-year-old Brian Bettis. While Brian's affection may have been good for Susan's soul, it wasn't good for her addiction. She always had a pill addiction, but she was never abusing it too much until she met Brian, and then it got worse. She stopped for a while, then she met him, and they started doing pills together.

But now, seated across from Brian in an interrogation room, detectives want to know how exactly Cliff Cardin fit into this picture. Being in a local bar, hanging out there, is where he met Susan Baker. know how exactly Cliff Cardin fit into this picture. Being in a local bar hanging out there is where he met Susan Baker. We found out she was using Cliff for money and pills, and she was actually in love with Brian.

It started coming around that Cliff Cardin may have been selling some of his medication. She started with him because he didn't get rocks, he didn't get xionics. Brian says the relationship started about a year ago. I had met Susan when they first began dating. She would basically show him attention, and he would give her anything that she wanted.

My father was lonely and did not want to be by himself, so he would settle for whatever. Dad just needed somebody to talk to. That's someone that's never wanted. That's all he ever needed. According to Brian, on the day of the shooting, Susan called him with a plan to rob Cliff. He explained to us that they're going to rob him

of his pills and his money. It was this important time that I was planning to do something to him? I didn't plan to do nothing. I said, I just made the guy. She just called me and asked me, did I want to go make some money real quick? Brian says that later that day,

Susan and Cliff picked him up from an auto parts store and she set the plan in motion. She's always told me that he always kept a gun under his seat. Cliff was driving when Susan is trying to take money from Cliff. And Brian states that Cliff didn't go along with the robbery. He starts, you know, trying to fight back. Susan reaches under the seat, displays a gun, and shoots him. He's like, I get it.

It was a boom that quick. Bettis tells detectives that he had no idea Susan intended to shoot Cliff. And after pulling the trigger, she turned the gun on him next. After she shot him, she looked at me and thought, I'm scared, dude. You know what I mean? Just wanted to make sure he shot the f***ing head

that far from me. She said, if you don't help me, you're next. And Brian Bettis' explanation to law enforcement was that he was scared and had to go along with this because she threatened him. She had to go through the road tire. She could pull out the shoulder weight of the split. She didn't hang around the road.

From there, Baker and Bettis moved the body out from the driver's side and drove to Pickett's Bridge, where Baker and Bettis pulled Mr. Carden out of the car, pulled him into the river, and left him there. Then they drove the car out to Cliff Carden's house, and they steal from his house. Finally, the two shacked up in the mountain in and suites for the night.

Did y'all go back to the motel room and have a plane in the sack? Yeah. She said that it's minor horny. The car's dead. The minor horny, she used to hide inside a head kill man. Yeah. It was disturbing.

Detectives have to consider the possibility that Brian is lying to them. You'll hear that from folks. They'll blame it on the other person. We were just waiting to hear her side of the story. Coming up, Susan Baker has her own story to tell. You shot her. Who shot her? Ryan.

It's the first time I've ever had anyone react to the murder scene to me. It was a hard situation. You don't really believe it at first. Following his interview with Tennessee authorities on February 8, 2011, 34-year-old Brian Bettis is arrested for the murder of 55-year-old Cliff Cardin. However, Bettis maintains that his girlfriend, 35-year-old Susan Baker, is the real person responsible for the murder. During the interview, Brian Bettis advises us that Susan has a friend that she may be at in Chattanooga. On 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock at night, we hooked up with Saudi Daisy officers I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local.

I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local.

I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local.

I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. I'm a local. to come get her. Detectives place Susan under arrest and escort her back to the Soquatchee County Justice Center for questioning. Tell us when you met Claire. I was just over here, girl.

And what kind of relationship did you have? We had a political friend's relationship. He was an older man. He had a huge activity. Susan Baker said Clifford Cardin was the first man to been good to her. Took her to Gatlinburg. Took her to Daytona. According to Susan, Cliff also provided something else for her.

Easy access to pills. What kind of pills? They were, uh, oxycodone and Xamix. Like Brian's account, Susan says on the day of the murder, the plan was simply to rob Cliff, not hurt him. They said, basically,

rob the robber's pills and get his money and be done with it. Men for her, he never did this or that. But one vital detail of her account is significantly different from Brian's. Clip started being a real smartass. He had a red arm and he told me he was going to kill me. And Brian was sitting right there, but he heard him.

Go ahead. Shot him. You shot him? Go shot him. Brian. Susan Baker told the officers that Brian Bettis was the shooter. As detectives recount Brian's statement, Susan does an about face.

I slammed. I did. I slammed. I didn't look at him when I did it. I didn't even know. I didn't even think. And you were not sure. You're not glad to spike or nothing. Because all of that was with you, huh? See, when we say that, we're like,

that doesn't mean we're going everywhere. During the interview, Susan offers to reenact the shooting. She asked me to pull my seat up next to her as if I was driving. You know, you grab your arm and I're a draw. I'm very vulnerable. I just want to guess. I'm like, pfft, mark that.

That's what I'm getting at. I ain't look, I ain't crazy. In the interview, I'm kind of taken back by it. It's the first time I've ever had anyone react to the murder scene to me. In addition to her startling confession, Susan also admits to disposing of Cliff's body, robbing his house, and burning his car.

We charged Baker and Bettis with felony murder because they killed him in the perpetration of a robbery. And they were charged with destruction of personal property for burning the car. My sister was the one that called me and told me. She called and told me, she said, hey, they're and they were charged with destruction of personal property for burning the car. My sister was the one that called me and told me. She called and told me, she said, hey, they got Susan. I said, great.

When I did find out it was my mom, this was a hard situation. You don't really believe it at first. As trial dates for the couple loom, Brian Bettis makes a calculated decision. He pled and received a 35-year sentence. He was just as guilty as Susan because he was part of the crime. Our feeling was that Bettis had no idea she was going to shoot him. And we took that into account and talked to the family and reached this agreement.

Susan Baker elects to take a different route. Her attorneys felt that she should be evaluated just to make sure she was competent and did not meet the insanity standards. A clinical psychologist testified that her continued drug use was affecting her ability to be competent to participate in the process. Years pass and Susan remains under doctor's care while her trial is postponed indefinitely. They kept postponing everything. They kept trying to say that she shouldn't be held accountable for her actions, and it was so frustrating that it got almost unbearable.

The psychologists continued to work with her and then came back at some point and said she was confident to proceed to trial. Finally, in March of 2014, three years after Cliff's murder, the trial begins. Through an abundance of evidence, prosecutors lay out the motive for the shooting. They had basically killed him to rob him. I don't think this was a result of a mental illness. I think this was a result of she wanted money

and she wanted the pills and she was willing to kill to get him. We testified. We went through all the videos. We watched her whole interview. The jury got to see every bit of evidence we had against both of them. Faced with an overwhelming amount of evidence

against their client, Susan's lawyers make a case that she should not be convicted of felony murder. The argument was from the defense that she was guilty of reckless homicide, and basically what they argued was that the robbery was an afterthought. It really wasn't felony murder. It was a theft occurring after the man had died.

After several days of testimony, Susan Baker is found guilty of felony murder, aggravated robbery, and setting fire to personal property. It only took him 15 minutes to convict her. 15 minutes. If you're convicted of felony murder in Tennessee, it is an automatic life sentence.

Susan Baker will not be parole eligible until she has served 51 calendar years. My mom hates that she chose the path that she did, and she's just facing the consequences. That's all she can really do. For Cliff's children, the verdict proves little relief from the pain they continue to experience from losing their father.

He did not deserve this. By no means he did not deserve this. My dad was a loving and caring father. No loving and caring grandfather. That's Clifford Cardin. He was the kindest, most gentle person. And I want people to remember that. How much he loved everyone.

Susan Baker is currently serving her sentence at Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center. Susan will not be eligible for parole until 2064. She will be 89 years old. From Wondery, this is Black History For Real. I'm Francesca Ramsey. And I'm Consciously. What do most people think about when they hear the words Black History? Well, in that case, Rosa Parks, Reconstruction, MLK, February Black History, Mom. Exactly, exactly. There are so many stories of black history

that we just are not really talking about or thinking about, especially outside of February. And we are about to flip the script on all of that. Follow Black History for Real on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen everywhere on February 5th or you can listen early and ad free on Wondery Plus starting January 29th. Join Wondery Plus on on Wondery Plus, starting January 29th.

Join Wondery Plus on the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Listen everywhere. I think you should know, Black is beautiful.