Private eye is guilty of hindering probe

No one has ever been charged in the murder and her body has not been found.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- A private sleuth who lied to police during a murder investigation is guilty of three felonies.
Clifford Aley was found guilty Thursday in Mercer County Common Pleas Court on three of four felony counts of hindering apprehension/false information to law enforcement officers, after a short jury deliberation.
Aley, 47, an Ambridge private detective, went on trial Monday on charges that his lies damaged the chance of a successful prosecution in the disappearance May 25, 2000, and presumed murder of Sandra Kay Baker, 46, of Delaware Township. Judge Thomas Dobson presided; sentencing is set for 9 a.m March 3.
Lies to police
Aley was found guilty of lying on three occasions during a June 18, 2000, interview with Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert Lewis. He lied about when he had last seen and spoken to William Crea, the man Baker lived with and was engaged to marry; denied he had conducted a background investigation on Baker; and stated he did not know what type of vehicle Baker drove.
He was acquitted of the fourth count. Aley told police he was not in Mercer County the day of Baker's disappearance, even though his cell phone records later proved he was. Timothy Bonner, assistant county district attorney who prosecuted the case, said the jury believed Aley lied in this instance only to protect himself, not to hinder Crea's prosecution.
Crea is not charged in the case.
Atty. Daniel Davis defended Aley. No one has ever been charged in Baker's murder, and her body has not been found.
Aley faces seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine on each of the convictions. Aley took the stand in his own defense Thursday.
Call from Crea
Although he told police after Baker's disappearance that he had not seen Crea since early in 2000, he actually received a call from Crea the day of Baker's disappearance. Aley complied with Crea's request to notify a loan company that Baker's car was in the Shenango Valley Mall parking lot and ask them to pick it up.
Aley said that when the car was not picked up immediately, he drove to Hermitage to see if it was actually where Crea had described it. He also admitted he had done an extensive background check on Baker at Crea's request, reporting to him early in May that Baker was still married to a Florida man though she and Crea had set an October wedding date.
Aley said that in a meeting several days after the murder, Crea confessed to him that he strangled Baker after confronting her with evidence of her unfaithfulness that he obtained by tapping a phone at their home. He added Crea claimed he put her body in a container and dumped it five to eight miles from his parents' Fredonia home "where no one will trip over it."