Ralph Prayers

Local myth after the Jan. 5, 1998, drowning of Madison County Sheriff Ralph Baker has held that he faked his own death. Like the king of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, the king of “Booger County” was a man whose legend extends beyond the grave.

The 1991 B-run movie “Frame-Up,” written and directed by Paul Leder, starred Wings Hauser as a sheriff named for, but not based entirely on, Ralph Baker. The R-rated film explored murder and corruption — a theme that would surface for the real Baker in 1997.

That’s when former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Michael Whiteley’s remarkable investigation into the 1994 murder of Billie Jean Phillips —which remains unsolved — resulted in a candid look at the sheriff whose career spanned 25 years.

Despite his state salary of only $31,000 a year, Baker was a sharp land trader who from 1967 to 1997 bought 2,400 acres for $484,250 without a single bank mortgage. Baker reportedly told friends that the D-G’s two-part report ruined his career and led him to depression.

So when his patrol car apparently overturned and trapped him in the current from a low-water bridge, some locals argued that a veteran like Baker would have never have made such a fatal mistake.

Perhaps a June 13 posting by Baker’s daughter, Billie Baker Whorton, on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Inc.’s Web site, is a prayer that will dispel any myth that Baker is alive. Or, is it a message to a man in hiding?

Addressed to Sheriff Ralph Baker, Whorton’s note reads as follows:

“A message to Daddy to let you know that your Grandson just completed ALETA. Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in Springdale, Arkansas, on June 8th. He graduated with Honors and also won the First Place Sharp Shooter Trophy!! He done this in memory of you. He has your First Place Trophy when you completed ALETA. SO they will be put together. You would be so proud of him. We miss you so much and your # 1 Grandson Jacob Baker Whorton will do you proud. Rest in peace sweet Daddy we miss you. Love your Daughter Billie.”