Jury recommends death for California man convicted of raping and killing girlfriend

Paul Wesley Baker's life could end by lethal injection if a judge goes along with a Van Nuys, California jury's recommendation that he die for the rape and murder of his girlfriend.

Baker, 47, was convicted earlier this year in the April 17, 2004, killing of Judy Palmer, 60, whose body was found in the desert near Palm Springs. The trial also included 15 other felonies, including rape and forcible sodomy.

Palmer met Baker at an AA meeting, and the two began dating in 2001. They broke up in 2003, then reconciled in March 2004, according to court testimony.

After a dinner date in April, Palmer disappeared. A migrant worker found her body a month later wrapped in towels and bound with crocheting yarn, decomposing near Palm Springs.
Not far from the body was a bag of cleaning supplies and ripped-up photos of Baker and his Jack Russell terrier.

Sentencing will be later this year.