Male prostitute charged with doc's murder

Wednesday afternoon police identified Manuel Baez as the man who has been charged in the murder of Howard Baker.

Police say Baker had two male visitors at the hotel late Sunday night, and that one was seen leaving hours later with his wallet. Surveillance cameras show he left his room and returned with a man. After some time they left.

Baker had an office nearby as well as in the suburbs.

Baez, who police said is homeless, does not have a lawyer listed.

An autopsy confirmed Dr. Howard Baker, who is in his 70s, was strangled. The preliminary investigation reveals Baker of Lower Merion, Montgomery County, checked into the hotel at about 3 p.m. Sunday. Police said he was lying next to the hotel bed, his nude, lifeless body covered in a sheet, with a leather belt pulled tight around his throat.

Baker was pronounced dead at the scene and homicide detectives were summoned to investigate. The cause of death has been ruled as strangulation.

Captain James Clark, of the Philadelphia Police Department, told the Philadelphia Iinquirer there were no signs of struggle in Baker's room and no injuries to his body.

According to an online description of Baker's practice, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970 and had been working in the field for more than 30 years.