Convicted killer pardoned by former KY governor will remain in jail on federal charges
By Web Staff
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A convicted killer pardoned by former Gov. Matt Bevin will remain in jail pending trial on federal murder charges.
A judge ruled in June that Patrick Baker could be placed on home incarceration while he waiting for his trial. But on Thursday, a federal judge revoked that order, citing new evidence that Baker regularly used drugs when he was previously on house arrest pending his state trial.
Baker was convicted of killing Donald Mills during a 2014 home invasion in Knox County. His attorneys said DNA and eyewitness evidence didn’t match.
After Bevin issued the controversial pardon in 2019, federal prosecutors reviewed the case. Critics of the pardon point to the fact that in 2018, Bevin attended a political fundraiser at Baker’s family’s home. The event raised more than $20,000 for Bevin.
Baker’s attorney said the pardon was not politically motivated.
The federal investigators called the claims by Baker’s attorneys about the evidence “ignorant.” He was then arrested again in June by U.S. Marshals and taken to the Laurel County Jail.
Baker is now facing a federal murder charge that could carry the death penalty.
If Baker had not been pardoned, he would have been behind bars until at least July 2027, when he would have become eligible for parole.
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