Convicted N.H. murderer seeks new trial
Man says stepson framed him in ex-wife's death
BRENTWOOD, N.H. -- Convicted murderer Seth Bader is seeking a new trial, saying new testimony would implicate his stepson as his former wife's killer.
Bader is serving a life sentence in the fatal shooting of Vicki Bader, 35, in 1996. The couple had divorced two years earlier. His stepson, Joseph, who was 14 at the time, admitted to helping dispose of her body and led police to the burial site in the woods of Waterboro, Maine.
Seth Bader, a former Stratham lawyer, says he was framed by his stepson, who testified against him under a plea deal with prosecutors. Bader said he has new testimony about the murder from two of his stepson's childhood friends.
In statements taken by Seth Bader's lawyer, Kory Almand and Jon Kiper said that Joseph Bader had said prior to the murder that he wanted to kill Vicki Bader because he resented being adopted. The statements also indicate that Joseph confessed after the slaying that he had done it.
The friends describe Joseph Bader as a violent person, and Almand says he was threatened with death if he disclosed the confession.
The attorney general's office has objected to Seth Bader's request for a new trial, saying that Bader is recasting statements from Almand and Kiper that he used, unsuccessfully, in previous courts. The office also points to inconsistencies between Almand's statement and what he said at trial. Almand, at that time, said he knew nothing about the slaying.
Last year, Seth Bader was ordered to pay $4.4 million in a civil suit for wrongful death. The judge said Bader should also pay for the ''campaign of terror" his former wife suffered at Bader's hands during a custody battle in the two years before her death.
Bader is scheduled to take his request before a judge Friday in Rockingham County Superior Court. Bader was sentenced to life in prison in 1998.
