By Bill Enfield
A Placer County man who left his dying wife bleeding and nude outside their home overnight is due a parole hearing later this month.
Layne Kenneth Bakken, now 65, is serving a 15 years to life sentence he received on July 9, 1995, for the second-degree murder of Katherine Bakken, 28.
Testimony at his trial showed that Katherine Bakken died of head injuries after being left outside overnight, nude and bleeding, on a concrete walkway outside the couple's home in Weimar.
The prosecutor said Bakken used his fists and his feet to pummel his wife during a dispute that began the previous day. Clumps of the woman's hair were found in the area and blood spatters were found on Layne Bakken's boots, suggesting he had kicked his bleeding wife.
Bakken testified during the trial that he had not harmed his wife, although he admitted arguing with her and tearing off her clothing. He said she must have suffered her fatal head injuries in a drunken fall on the porch steps.
Bakken said he found his wife lying outside the next morning and took her to the hospital, where she died.
At his sentencing, Bakken again maintained his innocence, telling the judge that he had been working and wasn't home at the time his wife was beaten.
Bakken's hearing will be Feb. 28 at the California State Prison in Solano where he is incarcerated.
If you want to give your opinion of an inmate's suitability for parole, you may mail a letter to:
Martin Hoshino, Executive Officer
Board of Parole Hearings
Post Office Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
For more information on the Board of Parole Hearings, go to:
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/BOPH/index.html
Bee researcher Linda Beymer contributed to this report
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