Anatomy of Murder – AKA 137F, Part 1 (Brook Baker)

Podcast: Anatomy of Murder
Hosts: Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, Scott Weinberger
Original Air Date: August 26, 2025 (Rerelease from 2021)
Episode Theme: The brutal murder of Brooke Baker, the complexities of the investigation, and why answers proved so elusive.

Overview

This episode meticulously dissects the 1997 murder of 18-year-old Brooke Baker, a journalism student at Vincennes University in Indiana. Hosts Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi and Scott Weinberger, alongside retired prosecutor Hal Johnston, explore the layers of the victim, the crime, and the investigation. The episode captures the frustrations and dead ends encountered by investigators and discusses the persistent rumor-mill in a small college town, the painstaking effort to match forensic evidence, and the impact of a cold case on a community. The discussion culminates in drawing connections to a possible serial killer.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing the Investigation

• Prosecutor Hal Johnston's Background
  • Extensive service in law and military (03:50–05:08).
  • “2001, 9/11 hit, my brigade was activated and I’ve done three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.” — Hal Johnston (04:58)
• Brooke Baker: The Victim
  • 18-year-old journalism student, “wanted to be a woman in control of herself” (05:35, 05:52).
  • Lived off-campus, often couch-surfing, no roommate at time of murder (06:07).
  • “She did not drink alcohol at all and she was not involved in drugs at all.” — Hal Johnston (05:35)

2. Discovery of the Crime

• Brother’s Discovery
  • Braun Baker couldn’t reach Brooke, let himself into her dark, quiet apartment (06:32–06:48).
  • Found water running in the bathroom, towels in an overflowing tub (06:48–07:00).
  • Discovered Brooke motionless; initially thought she was asleep (07:00–07:19).
• Crime Scene Description
  • Brooke stabbed (almost a dozen times), nude, body posed (08:08–08:51).
  • “Her arms were literally spread out, almost in a crucifix position.” — Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (08:45)
  • No forced entry; led investigators to suspect someone she knew (09:03).
  • No signs of theft but indications the killer cleaned up (09:54–10:17).
  • Knife with a bent blade left in the sink (10:28–10:43).

3. Initial Theories and Suspicions

• Profiling the Crime

  • Signs of both organization (clean-up, no forced entry) and disorganization (murder weapon left behind, water running) (10:43–11:55).
  • “Posing of the bodies are more often than not… men.” — Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (10:43)
  • Marks on wrists/ankles — belief she was bound (12:02).
  • The expectation it would be "solved quickly" due to the nature of the scene (12:17–13:13).

• Community Impact and Pressure

  • Murder rocked the “safe” town and university (13:52–14:16).
  • Public meetings, student outrage, and political pressure (14:23).
  • DNA evidence confirmed sexual assault; wide net cast for suspects (14:31).

4. Dead Ends and DNA Frustrations

• DNA Analysis Challenges

  • Systematic DNA collection; all initial, known potential partners/cohorts “no match” (14:51–15:35).
  • Reference to the unidentified DNA as “137F” (15:55).
  • “No match on 137F. That’s what we heard over and over and over again.” — Hal Johnston (16:41)
  • Avoiding confirmation bias while pursuing leads and DNA samples (16:58–17:20).
  • 13 suspects eliminated by December 1997; the investigation “seemingly endless” (18:19).

• Rumor Mill and Unreliable Leads

  • “The rumor mill is just going wild” at the university (18:47).
  • Community and campus tipped possible perpetrators, leading to repeated dead ends (19:12).

5. Turning to New Suspects and Theories

• Landlord Suspicion

  • Suspicion fell on Mike Nardine, landlord and college law enforcement member (22:02).
  • Rumors of inappropriate behavior, unannounced visits—he was cleared by DNA (23:42).
  • Importance of following every lead for prosecutorial thoroughness (24:22).

• Narrowing Timeline and Last Known Encounters

  • Challenge reconstructing Brooke’s final hours due to college-party chaos (25:13).
  • Last man with her admitted consensual sex but was DNA excluded (25:49–26:52).
  • Scientific analysis excluded him; his DNA didn’t match the semen sample (27:19).

• Investigating Brooke’s Journalist Aspirations

  • Rumor Brooke was working on an expose about a fraternity rape—had reported feeling threatened (29:22–31:06).
  • Police confirmed the alleged assault was consensual, not a rape (32:40).
  • Ruling out murder as retaliation for her investigative work (33:20).

6. Case Goes Cold & Investigative Strategies

• Cold Case Status
  • After 18 months, the case stagnated; community and law enforcement faced frustration (33:44–34:19).
  • “You have to go back to the beginning”—re-interviewing friends, acquaintances, and anyone with access to the apartment (34:19).
• Chasing an Out-of-State Lead
  • Focus on former roommate’s boyfriend in LA (significant drug dealer); complex cooperation with LA PD and DA to get DNA (34:39–36:10).
  • Hal Johnston recounts navigating legal hurdles and cultural differences with LA police (37:05–38:21).
  • After all the effort, he’s cleared — another “negative on 137F” (41:20).

7. Psychological Profiling & Looking for Patterns

• FBI Behavioral Science Unit Involvement

  • Team from Quantico provides a meaningful profile (43:05–44:41):
    • Likely a white male, known to Brooke, a university student living nearby.
    • “Most likely his first kill.” — FBI profilers via Hal Johnston (46:26)
    • Predicted sexually aggressive/offender; attack personal, with some crime scene mistakes (46:09–46:42).
    • Posing deemed to be “for shock value” (46:57).
    • Urged not to rule out transients, but focus narrowed (47:05).

• Link to Prior Unsolved Case

  • Investigators consider a similar murder from almost a decade prior — another young, white, female student, alone, stabbed and sexually assaulted (47:23–47:37).
  • The notion arises that a serial killer might be at work, with chilling foreshadowing: “There will be another tragedy in Vincennes, Indiana.” — Scott Weinberger (47:51).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Investigative Process:

  • “All these leads, all these rumors…it was time-consuming. But one of those leads ultimately comes back to someone who has nothing to do with being a student at all.” — Hal Johnston (19:12)
  • “We interviewed him, we determined he was working that night. He voluntarily gave a DNA sample and he was excluded.” — Hal Johnston, on the landlord (23:42)
  • “I had to write a search warrant for California. So I ended up with like a 60-page document…because I’m going to be in front of a LA Superior Court judge like, ‘Where the hell’s Vincennes, Indiana?’” — Hal Johnston (37:05)

• On Community Impact:

  • “It was the kind of town in which you really feel you can walk around and crimes like this just don’t happen.” — Hal Johnston (13:52)

• On Psychological Profiling:

  • “An organized killer is more likely to cover their tracks…disorganized is maybe something like leaving a knife floating in the sink…” — Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (45:01)
  • “They said, here’s what you’re probably looking for. They said it’s most likely a white male that she knows, most likely a university student and he lives close to Brooke.” — Hal Johnston on FBI profile (45:42–45:53)
  • “They said it’s most likely his first kill.” — Hal Johnston (46:26)

• On Cold Case Frustration:

  • “Every one of those investigators is picturing the way Brooke Baker’s body was left. And so they want every one of them to be the answer, just to give Brooke and her family that closure…” — Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (42:09)

Important Timestamps

• 06:07–08:08: Discovery of the crime scene and condition of Brooke’s apartment/body.
• 10:28–11:55: Examination of the murder weapon and its significance.
• 15:55–16:41: Adoption of “137F” as the shorthand for the unknown DNA contributor.
• 18:19–19:12: Massive scope of DNA testing and its dead ends.
• 22:02–23:42: Rumors and suspicion focused on landlord/law enforcement figure.
• 25:30–27:57: Tracking Brooke’s last seen, ruling out last partner.
• 29:22–33:23: Exploring rumors that Brooke was targeted for her journalistic investigation.
• 34:19–37:05: Cross-country efforts to obtain a DNA sample from a suspicious ex-roommate’s boyfriend.
• 43:05–46:57: Detailed report on FBI profilers’ analysis and guidance.
• 47:23–47:51: Link considered to an earlier unsolved murder and speculation about a serial killer.

Episode Flow and Tone

The tone is methodical, serious, and deeply empathetic, especially regarding Brooke Baker and her family's suffering. The hosts provide professional insights without sensationalism, guiding listeners through every frustrating setback. Hal Johnston’s firsthand recollections lend a matter-of-fact, sometimes weary candor (“enormous amount of work, but that's how painstaking we were,” (41:20)), and Anna-Sigga’s legal perspective highlights both investigative rigor and the emotional toll.

Conclusion

This episode captures the emotional and procedural labyrinth of investigating a cold-case college murder—chronicling every logical lead, every procedural cross-check, and every heartbreak of another “no match.” The use of the codename “137F” for the unknown DNA symbolizes both the hope and the limitations of forensic science at the time. The case’s complexity, the deep wounds to a small town, and the razor-thin margins for error when investigating such a crime all underscore why the Anatomy of Murder return to this episode remains so compelling. The case remains unsolved at episode’s end, with the ominous suggestion that another tragedy in Vincennes is on the horizon—setting up for further developments in Part 2.