A Shoals man is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison following a sentencing Friday for a double murder that took place three years ago. Nathan Baker was sentenced to 133 years in prison following a hearing in Martin Circuit Court.
Authorities charged Baker with the August 25, 2015, murder of 82-year old Allan Sims of Dover Hill and 52-year old Tom Tharp of Shoals. Deputies claim Baker killed Sims with a shotgun in his garage on SR 450 just north of Dover Hill. They say Baker then turned the weapon on Tharp and shot him dead in the garden behind the garage.
Police say they believe Baker killed the men to keep them from talking to police about a burglary he had committed at a river cabin in Martin County.
Baker was arrested August 26, 2015, near Fayetteville in Lawrence County while driving Tharp’s car. Officers also recovered a shotgun they believed was the murder weapon.
A Martin County jury of six men and six women deliberated more than three hours on June 18 before returning guilty verdicts on two counts of murder, two counts of burglary, two counts of theft and one count of vehicle theft.
The judge in the case sentenced Baker to 60 years in prison for the murder of Sims, 60 years for the murder of Tharp, 6 years for the burglary of Sims’ home, 6 years for the burglary of Tharp’s home and one year for stealing Tharp’s car. The judge ordered that all sentences be served consecutively.
Martin County Prosecutor Mike Steiner says that even with Indiana’s good time law, Baker will have to serve 99 and a half years in prison.
Steiner says they are very pleased with the sentence.
