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ID's Murder in the Heartland is scheduled to revisit the stabbing murder of Elizabeth Baune, a 45-year-old Payette school teacher, during a robbery orchestrated by her addict cousin and his friend in 2012. The episode, titled The Kind Sister, will air on Monday, December 12, at 8:00 pm ET.
The synopsis of the episode reads as:
"In Payette, Idaho, teacher Elizabeth Baune is the pillar of her community until she is stabbed to death in her own home; townspeople suspect Baune's kindness may have been behind her death."
Sources stated that Baune was stabbed multiple times and during the attack, also hit her head. She eventually succumbed to her injuries. Authorities initially assumed it was a burglary gone wrong because the preschool teacher was well-liked and didn't appear to have any foes.
The investigation revealed that she took in her younger cousin Michael Culley to assist him in overcoming his drug addiction problem. However, he tricked her and attempted to rob her house with 19-year-old Jonathon Hernandez. Both were later convicted guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 45 years to life in prison.
Payette-based teacher Elizabeth Baune was brutally stabbed 29 times during a botched burglary
Born in November 1967, in Ontario, Oregon, Elizabeth Baune was a pre-school teacher and volunteer residing in Payette, Idaho. She was a divorced mother-of-three, who according to those close to her, had impacted the lives of many. The victim spent almost ten years as a teacher through the Western Idaho Community Action Partnership.
At the time of her murder, Baune had taken in her second cousin, Michael Culley, 26, who was struggling with addiction problems. She was residing with her boyfriend, Michael, and his mother at her house north of Payette.
On November 7, 2012, the Payette City Police received a distressed call from Michael Culley's mother, who claimed to have found a dead body at her house. Baune was discovered lying dead on the floor of a room with a knife sticking out of her head. She reportedly suffered at least 29 stab wounds during a botched burglary and was stabbed in the head and chest.
Within days, Elizabeth Baune's cousin Michael was taken into custody in connection with the murder, along with a second suspect named Jonathon Hernandez. The two supposedly attempted to steal a few electronic devices, but their plans were halted by the victim's presence. The accused duo then started stabbing her, causing her death.
Sources state that Culley was arrested in Malheur County, which is located in Eastern Oregon. He was first arrested for methamphetamine possession, but police subsequently brought him in for interrogation about the murder. His accomplice, Hernandez, was arrested not long after.
The two offenders' testimony offered significantly differing details, however, a shared pattern that could be derived from both of them was that Elizabeth Baune's murder was the outcome of a burglary gone wrong.
The victim was supposedly awakened as the two tried to rob the house. In March 2014, the two suspects, who pleaded guilty to the crime, were sentenced to 45 years to life in prison.
Murder in the Heartland on ID to chronicle Elizabeth Baune's case.
