CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses domestic violence.
Police have disclosed the identity of human remains found off a major highway in NSW in July belong to murdered woman Samah Baker, who was killed by her off-and-on boyfriend James Hachem in 2019.
Her remains were discovered in grassland next to the Hume Highway on July 28 2023, just south of the Windellama Road overpass near Goulburn.
“The Hume PD detectives worked closely with the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad to determine the identity of the remains,” NSW Police said, per 7News.
“Following the examination and analysis by NSW Health Pathology, the remains have been confirmed as belonging to 30-year-old Samah Baker.”
Baker was last seen after she was dropped off at her home in Parramatta by a friend early in the morning on January 4, 2019. Hachem was arrested later that year.
In May this year, Hachem was sentenced to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years for Baker’s murder. This sentence has been backdated to his arrest in 2019.
The court was told that Hachem waited outside Baker’s apartment, spying on her while she was on a date. When he witnessed Baker kissing someone else, he became enraged. He then created a story about his parents being involved in a car accident to lure Baker out of her apartment before killing her, per Nine News.
It’s beyond awful to know that Baker’s inherent kindness was taken advantage of in the worst way possible.
Justice Robertson Wright told the court that Baker’s murder was “a great loss” and “the extent and impact of which cannot be conveyed in words.”
In a statement, Baker’s family has said that finding her remains has felt like “losing her all over again.”
“On Friday 4 January 2019, Samah was taken away from us in the cruellest way,” the statement reads.
“In the years that followed, our grief has been compounded by the fact that we have not been able to have a funeral or lay her to rest. We never got to say goodbye to her or tell her we loved her for the last time.
“The news of her remains being discovered four and a half years later isn’t a neat resolution, but it does offer a small measure of what we’ve been longing for all this time. Each development in the case feels like a reopening of our barely healed wounds, reminding us of the harsh reality of our loss,” they said, concluding by asking for privacy during this difficult time.
No matter how many stories we read of women being murdered at the hands of their partners, it doesn’t get any easier. According to journalist, femicide researcher, and founder of The Red Heart Campaign Sherele Moody, 44 women have been killed this year.
When will it end?
Help is available.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
If you’d like to speak to someone about domestic violence and violence against women, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
If you’re in distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online.
The post Human Remains Found Near A NSW Highway Confirmed To Be 30 Y.O. Sydney Woman Samah Baker appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
