Blaine Alexander

Police spoke to him at least twice.

They examined his alibi and could find no evidence he was in Athens at the time of the murder.

By then, they were increasingly focused on someone else, someone Tara did have a relationship with, her boyfriend, Chris Melton.

Police had done more than just take Chris's fingerprints.

Two days after the murder, they had him back at the police station where they took blood and hair samples along with pictures of his body.

What were police telling you about him?

They didn't say anything at first, but then they were saying that he is a suspect.

They told you that?

Yeah.

And they went a step further.

They urged Tara's friends to steer clear of Chris.

This was a friend of yours.

I mean, you all had known each other since undergrad.

Was that jarring for you to hear, stay away from this guy?

When we wanted to respect the process, so if that would have been a part of the process, then we were going to do whatever we were told to do because we wanted an answer.

Tara's family got the same warning from police, and the Bakers stopped talking to Chris.

Was your dad thinking that Chris was possibly in some way responsible?

I think that he was, but he didn't flat out sit me down and say he did this.

I just think that he was trying to make sense of it.

And if that was what the police were telling him and pointing in that direction, then he was going to pursue it.