Inmate Pleads Not Guilty in ’90 Stabbing Death of Roommate in Chatsworth Tunnel

A prison inmate pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he killed his roommate in a Chatsworth railroad tunnel in 1990, a slaying that investigators thought at the time might have been part of an occult ritual.

Ronald Steven Baker, then a 21-year-old astrophysics major at UCLA with an interest in the occult, was found dead with his throat slashed and several stab wounds at the entrance of the tunnel on June 22, 1990.

There was no occult motive in Baker’s death, Los Angeles Police Detective Rick Jackson, who has investigated the case for more than three years, said Thursday.

“This is not in any way a cult-related sacrifice or anything like that,” Jackson said. “We explored that angle and we’ve also been looking at the roommate’s possible involvement for a long time.”

In Superior Court, Nathaniel Blalock, 25, pleaded not guilty to a grand jury indictment of one count of murder and to the special circumstance of lying in wait for the victim.

If convicted on both counts, Blalock, who lived with Baker in a Van Nuys apartment at the time of the slaying, will face the death penalty. If convicted of murder without the special circumstance, he faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. Blalock’s pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Blalock, already serving a state prison sentence for armed robbery, was transferred to Los Angeles County Jail after the indictment, said district attorney’s office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

After Baker’s death, police investigated whether the student’s exploration of the occult led to his death. Baker frequently meditated in the railroad tunnel, which had been the scene of occult activities and purported animal sacrifices, police said. Baker’s body was found June 22, the day after the summer solstice, regarded as a holy day by some followers of the occult.

On Thursday, Katherine Baker, the victim’s mother, expressed relief at the indictment. “We’re pleased that this thing is finally coming to a conclusion,” said Baker, secretary of a Methodist church in Woodland Hills.

“It’s been a long time. And we’re definitely relieved that it’s not cult-related.”