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Daniel Baggett, 47, the former tenant of Menlo Park homicide victim and former Atherton town arborist Kathy Hughes Anderson, was arrested Jan. 27 after entering her house on the 900 block of Valparaiso Avenue and taking a potted plant, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
He has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of trespassing in a residence without authorization, according to Wagstaffe.
Baggett initially found the suspect in the homicide, 26-year-old Ohio resident Francis Wolke, after deciding to pay Anderson a visit the night of Dec. 12. He found Wolke in her house covered in blood and held him at knifepoint until police arrived. Wolke faces first-degree murder charges.
On Dec. 13, Wagstaffe said, Baggett entered Anderson’s home, a closed-off crime scene, through the second-story window. He told police then that he was in mourning, Wagstaffe said.
Baggett told The Almanac, “For many years, (Kathy) was my girlfriend. We had a romantic relationship.” Over time, he said, their relationship became more of a friendship.
He added that he went into the home the day after the homicide to feed Anderson’s cats. At the time, police did not submit their report for prosecution.
On Jan. 27, Baggett again entered the house through the second story, climbing up the portico and entering through the bedroom window. “You live in a house long enough, you know how to get into it,” he said.
The house is on the market and the realtor had installed a video camera, which recorded the incident, Wagstaffe said.
According to Wagstaffe, Baggett told police he believed some of his personal property was still in the house, but when he saw it had been emptied, he took a potted plant. Baggett said he’d contacted Anderson’s family numerous times to retrieve personal items, but when he arrived the house had been emptied of most of them. He knew the house would be empty when he went, he later clarified.
Seeing the house empty was “brutal” and “disheartening,” he said. “I wanted to be in the house one last time because I know what they’re going to do to it. It’s f—ing Atherton. It’s a tear-down,” he said. “This is the last time I’m ever going to be able to be in this house.”
In the empty house, he said, he found a potted plant in the basement. “I know it’s the last one she ever planted, because I was there.” He said he took it as a memento.
Baggett pleaded not guilty to both charges on Jan. 30.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported Wolke is 36. He is 26.
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Really? This poor guy Witnesses his girlfriend / friend getting murdered, apprehend the suspect and holds him there until police arrived. All he wants is a few things out of the house and now he is arrested for stealing a potted plant. With all the real burglaries happening in the town of Atherton right now you think that the police would focus more on that than some guy who took a potted plant. Let the poor guy go and focus on catching the real criminals out there
” Baggett entered Anderson’s home, a closed-off crime scene, through the second-story window.”
Sounds like probable cause to me.
Did Baggett get arrested again? I saw a couple weeks ago in Daily Post that he had been arrested for something very similar to this.
Tammy, this residence is in Menlo Park, not Atherton. But I’m sure the Atherton police would appreciate any and all help from the MPPD to catch the burglars.
All APD needs to do is stay in Atherton and stop patrolling Menlo Park