Closing arguments in rare D.C. murder case in which no body was found

Closing arguments are set to begin Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing Yolanda Baker, the District woman who was missing for nearly 11 years before authorities legally declared her dead in 2009.

It is only the third time a so-called "no body" murder case -- the most difficult for prosecutors because the victim's body has not been found -- has been tried in the District in at least 30 years, according to a U.S. attorney’s office spokesman.

U.S. marshals and other attorneys in D. C. Superior Court have dubbed the two-week trial between criminal defense attorney Nikki Lotze and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Hanes a courtroom “Ali vs. Frazier" match.

Lotze says Baker’s boyfriend, Terrance Barnett, 45, who was arrested last year and charged with first-degree murder, is innocent of killing the mother of his twins, a boy and a girl, who were 5 when their mother went missing.

During the trial, Hanes has called numerous family members and friends of Baker’s to the witness stand to testify that Barnett frequently abused Baker during their seven-year relationship.

The trial has been before Judge Michael L. Rankin.

-- Keith L. Alexander