Naman Shrestha
When 45-year-old Elizabeth Baune was discovered brutally murdered in her house in Payette, Idaho, in November 2012, it sent shockwaves across the community. With her loved ones devastated by the tragedy, the investigators made it their mission to get to the bottom of the case swiftly and efficiently. The entire case and the investigation that ensued are covered in detail in Investigation Discovery’s A Stabbing in Idaho and ‘Murder in the Heartland: The Kind Sister.’ It also features in-depth interviews with her family and friends, who share details about Elizabeth’s murder.
Elizabeth Baune Was Found Killed Inside Her House in Payette, Idaho
Born on November 1, 1967, in Ontario, Oregon, to Tom and Anita Peutz, Elizabeth Ann “Libbi” Peutz Baune was raised in a loving household in Fruitland with two sisters, Tessie and Joey Peutz, and two brothers, Billy and Mike Peutz. She graduated from her school in 1986 after winning various awards for completing over 40 projects for 4-H. In the same year, she earned her state farmer’s degree and got married to Rodney Baune. Over the course of their marriage, the couple gave birth to three sons — Michael Baune, Nicholas Baune, and Christopher Baune. However, the couple divorced as their marriage deteriorated.
In 1992, Elizabeth’s association with WICAP Head Start & Child Care began as a volunteer. A couple of years later, she moved up the ranks and became a teacher at the institution. Simultaneously, the mother of three earned her Associate Degree from Treasure Valley Community College. Passionate about working with children, she enjoyed being a teacher. Throughout her career, she positively impacted the lives of many children as well as their respective parents. Besides teaching, her passion also lay in cooking and baking. Putting it to use, she also used to prepare wedding and birthday cakes for her friends and family members.
Apart from her three beloved sons, another man held a special place in her heart — Wayne Buxton. He had entered her life and showered her with loads of love and happiness. They had also gotten engaged and began living together, while envisioning a future together. After celebrating the marriage of her youngest son, Christopher, she was looking forward to Nicholas’ marriage to Juliette. Unfortunately, fate intervened, and she could not watch them tie the knot. On the fateful evening of November 7, 2012, 45-year-old Elizabeth was found dead by one of her relatives. After the police arrived at the scene, it was determined that she had been stabbed 29 times in the torso and 11 times in the head.
One of Elizabeth Baune’s Killers Was a Distant Relative of Hers
In the initial phase of the investigation, the detectives looked into Elizabeth Baune’s fiancé, Wayne Buxton, who was considered a possible suspect because he shared the apartment with her but was nowhere to be found. Upon interviewing him, not only did the authorities eliminate him as a suspect, but they also found a couple of valuable leads that would eventually take them to the killers. Wayne pointed out all the items that were missing from the house, including her bank card. After tracking the activity of her bank card, they noticed that it was used to withdraw some money from a local bank.
Upon checking the surveillance footage from the bank, the detectives spotted two male subjects. Moreover, another security camera footage showed two individuals disposing of clothes and shoes in the dumpster near a local hardware store. When they showed the bank surveillance footage to Wayne, he identified one of the two individuals as Michael Culley, Elizabeth’s second cousin, who had been staying with her at the time while trying to combat his drug addiction. Upon asking around, the police found out that the second individual was Jonathon “Johnny” Hernandez. Now that the two suspects were identified, the investigators went looking for them.
Michael Culley and Jonathon Hernandez Are Serving Time in Different States
However, on November 9, 2012, it was Elizabeth’s son, Christopher, and his wife, who spotted Culley and chased him down to a gas station. Ironically, Culley asked the people at the store to call 911 for him, claiming that he was being chased to be harmed. When the police finally arrived, they took Culley into custody before arresting Jonathon at his house later. The detectives interrogated them separately and got to hear different stories of the fateful night. In his interrogation, Michael Culley claimed that Jonathon made him commit the crime and that the only reason he stabbed Elizabeth in the head was to put her out of her misery.
As per the investigators, Culley and Jonathon wanted to steal items that they could sell in order to buy methamphetamine. With this motive, they sneaked into Elizabeth’s house while she was asleep with duct tape wrapped around their shoes in order to avoid leaving footprints. In the middle of it all, Elizabeth allegedly woke up and caught them red-handed. From there, things went south, and the two burglars killed her, stabbing her multiple times in her torso and head. In light of the evidence against them and their statements, both of them were charged with first-degree murder. However, Jonathan was additionally charged with felony grand theft and felony probation violation.
Eventually, the killers pleaded guilty to the charges, and on March 27, 2014, they were sentenced to 45 years to life in prison. On one hand, 37-year-old Michael Culley is serving his sentence at Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino in Orofino, Idaho. On the other hand, 30-year-old Jonathon Hernandez is incarcerated at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona. The parole eligibility date for both killers is set for 2057.
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