Doris E. Baker was a mother of two and wife of Leo Baker. She owned Floor Covering Store, Inc. with her husband in Barre, Vermont. On Wednesday, February 19, 1958, at 4:40 John A. Corrigan, a customer, came into the Baker's store in order to pick up his linoleum order. He at first saw nobody, but then spotted 45-year-old Doris E. Baker lying sprawled behind the counter.
She had been beaten with a hammer and then her throat was sliced and other parts of her were also cut. It could have also been a sexual assault. It was believed that it was either done by a sexual deviant and or a robbery gone wrong.
$50 was stolen from the store which would be equal to $425.06 in today's money. But her purse which had $150 in it was left untouched at the scene. Later there was a bloodstained $10 bill found and it could be possible that it was part of the money that was stolen.
There have been many suspects involved in this case. One suspect was Parran Youngblood a deaf/mute man who was seen in Barre that day. He was later shot and killed in Georgia in 1958 for supposedly kidnapping a 7-year-old child. There was no solid evidence that it was him. There were other suspects also, but none were found to be prosecuted with the murder of Mrs. Baker.
As a result of Doris's death, many of the residents in Barre became paranoid and scared. Several stores commented that they had sold out or almost sold out on-chain latch door locks and other kinds of door locks. Many residents even were scared to even let political door-to-door campaign members enter their house thinking that it may be the murderer.
SOURCES:
The Burlington Free Press Feb. 22, 1958
The Burlington Free Press Feb. 25, 1958
Bennington Banner April 2, 1958
The Burlington Free Press April 9, 1958
Bennington Banner August 30, 1958
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