| | Thomas J. | Baker | FL - Jacksonville; VA - Alexandria; NY - New York; VA - Quantico; AL - Mobile; WFO | 1965 - 1998 | Donna Sue Oglesby Murder, Ronald Reagan Assassination Attempt | John Hinkley, Assassination | For the FBI Oral History Heritage Project sponsored by the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, Inc., which holds the copyright to the material.
Special Agent Baker served in the FBI from 1965 to 1998. This interview took place on November 2, 2009. He was interviewed by Susan Wynkoop.
SA Baker entered the FBI as a clerk in 1965 and was in the photo lab until he applied and was accepted for training as a special agent in 1967. SA Baker went to the Jacksonville Field Office for his first office. After two years working there on general investigations, he was transferred to the new Alexandria Field Office.
SA Baker recounts the investigation of the murder of Donna Sue Oglesby, a young woman working as a switchboard operator at the Bureau. He tells the story of the intensive work trying to solve the crime. The murder was never solved.
SA Baker transferred to the New York Field Office where he worked organized crime. He tells about being with SA John Connolly when he recognized an important LCN figure, an IO fugitive, on the streets of New York. After three years in the New York Field Office, SA Baker was transferred to the Management Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico. He then went to the Inspection Staff followed by a field supervisor’s desk in the Mobile Field Office working public corruption cases. His next move was to Washington Field Office as ASAC in the Criminal Division. Director, Webster, and the SAC were at an off-site conference when President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley. ASAC Baker explains his involvement with the shooting as he was the first FBI person on the scene.
SA Baker describes the scene vividly from the sound of the Marine helicopters above to the ambulances arriving and people all over the place. He describes the Hilton hotel setting up a command post, with needed communications; meetings with Secret Service and the Metropolitan (Washington) Police Department (MPD). The Director and SACs headed back from the meeting in Williamsburg. Hinckley had been arrested immediately and was in custody of the MPD. A search warrant was obtained to search Hinckley’s room and the connection to Jodie Foster was exposed.
With much deliberation, it was decided who should interview President Reagan and two experienced agents were selected, both of whom had been wounded in Vietnam. Baker draws a clear picture of the investigation as it runs including constant inquiries from FBIHQ and the White House. He talks about the atomic code card and an agent finding it on the floor at the hospital; a missing cuff link; and missing pictures from the Hinckley home. | Download PDF 1 | | |