Convicted murderer wants new trial N.H. man says new evidence proves his stepson killed his former wife

BRENTWOOD, N.H. – Convicted murderer Seth Bader is seeking a new trial, saying new testimony would implicate his stepson as his ex-wife’s killer.

Bader is serving a life sentence for shooting 35-year-old Vicki Bader in 1996. The couple had divorced two years earlier. Stepson Joseph Bader, who was 14 at the time, admitted to helping dispose of the body and led police to her burial site in the woods of Waterboro, Maine.

Bader, a former lawyer, says he was framed by Joseph, who testified against him under a plea deal with prosecutors. Bader said he has new testimony about the murder from two of Joseph’s childhood friends.

In statements taken by Bader’s lawyer, Kory Almand and Jon Kiper said that Joseph Bader had said before the murder that he wanted to kill Vicki because he resented being adopted. The statements also indicate Joseph confessed after her murder that he had done it.

The friends describe Joseph Bader as a violent person, and Almand says he was threatened with death if he disclosed the confession.

The Attorney General’s Office has objected to Bader’s request for a new trial.

They argue Bader is recasting statements from Almand and Kiper that he already used, unsuccessfully, in previous courts.

They also point to inconsistencies in Almand’s statement with what he said at trial. Almand at that time said he knew nothing about Vicki Bader’s murder.

Bader last year was ordered to pay $4.4 million in a civil suit for wrongful death. The judge said Bader also should pay for the “campaign of terror” his ex-wife suffered at Bader’s hands during a custody battle in the two years before her death.

Bader is scheduled to take his request before a judge on Dec. 9 in Rockingham County Superior Court. Bader was sentenced to life in prison in 1998.