By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BLANCHESTER - Five years after he was acquitted of helping his son cover up the murder of Carrie Culberson, Lawrence Baker found himself in another kind of trouble on Friday.

This time it is for alleged drug trafficking. Baker, 59, is accused of selling 60 OxyContin tablets.

Agents with the Warren-Clinton County Drug and Strategic Operations Task Force spent Friday afternoon searching Baker's South Wright Street residence for other evidence after the alleged sale of five dozen 80-milligram tablets, which could bring up to $4,800 on the street, authorities said.

Task force Commander John Burke wasn't sure how Baker obtained the powerful and addictive painkiller.

"We found out about him through intelligence. The investigation involved surveillance. We had information on him for some time," Burke said.

Baker, who once said he was disabled since 1972 because of a back injury, was in police custody and was expected to be jailed in Clinton County.

A Clinton County jury acquitted him in 1998 of obstructing justice and tampering with evidence in the death of Culberson, 22, who was dating Baker's son, Vincent Doan. Culberson disappeared in August 1996 and her body has never been found.

Doan was convicted of kidnapping and aggravated murder and is serving a life prison term. Tracey Baker, Doan's half-brother and another of Baker's sons, is serving an eight-year sentence for helping cover up the crime.

Police accused Baker of hiding a scrub brush that Doan had used to remove Culberson's blood from himself.

They also alleged that he created an alibi for Doan and told other family members to lie to police.

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com