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In the Indiana Supreme Court
Arthur P. BAIRD, Petitioner, v. STATE of Indiana, Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Supreme Court Cause No. 54S00-0505-SD-240 Montgomery Circuit Court Cause No. CR85-66

ORDER CONCERNING SUCCESSIVE PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IN CAPITAL CASE Introduction Petitioner Arthur P. Baird stands convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to death after having completed the review to which he is entitled as a matter of right. Baird now requests permission to litigate additional collateral claims in state court, the primary focus of which is the claim he should not have been sentenced to death because he was mentally ill when he committed the murders. Because we conclude Baird has not shown a reasonable possibility he is entitled to relief, we deny his request. Background On the evening of September 6, 1985, Baird strangled his pregnant wife, Nadine. In telephone conversations that evening, he lied to Nadine's mother, telling her that Nadine was sick. The next morning, Baird stabbed and killed his parents, Kathryn and Arthur I. Baird was arrested the following day as he sat watching a baseball game. He confessed the killings to police, saying he had lost control and had just gone "berserk." Evidence showed Baird believed the federal government was about to pay him $1 million for his advice on how to solve the national debt, and that he had made plans to use the money to purchase a farm for $575,000, the closing for which was scheduled for September 7. In fact, Baird was in debt and had been laid off recently from a factory job. There was no evidence of any financial motive for the murders or of any bad relationship between Baird and the victims. Various psychiatrists and other mental health professionals examined Baird. Baird described himself to them as having no motive in committing the murders. He told them that he had tried to resist the compulsion to kill but had been unable to overcome it. One psychiatrist opined that Baird had been legally insane when he committed the murders. The others opined that he had had the requisite capacity to appreciate the wrongful nature of his conduct. They all opined his ability to conform his actions to the requirements of the law had been impaired by a mental illness, though the precise nature of the illness was variously described. Baird was charged with three counts of murder and one count of feticide. See I.C.

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Indiana Law