MILLCREEK — Details are slowly coming together about the man accused in a wild standoff in Millcreek. Before the standoff, he threatened a long-time friend at her Olympus Cove home.

Kristen Ulmer is a world-class extreme skier turned sports mindset coach. She says she's known suspect David Baker for 20 years. She says he lost it about a year ago and she's been fearing for her life ever since.

"I'm glad that it's finally over," Ulmer said. "I was waiting for this day for a year, and I'm glad that it's over, and I'm glad that nobody got hurt."

Ulmer met Baker at Snowbird nearly two decades ago. They were friends until last year, when Ulmer said Baker started to change last year.

"It was like night and day," she said. "One day he was one of my best friends, and the next day I'm scared of him."

Ulmer said there were several factors involved in Baker's change. While she's not sure exactly what triggered it, she believes doubt over a $12 million inheritance he was receiving was probably a factor.

"He actually announced to all of us, his friends and family, that he's going to commit his life to ruining our lives," she said.

Sunday, it all came to a head when Baker showed up at Ulmer's home with several fake explosives. Ulmer said he told her, "If you don't have a private jet for me at the airport by midnight tonight, I'm going to burn your house down."

Ulmer said Baker repeatedly asked if she believed that he would burn the house down, and she told him you did. Her husband dialed 911, as Baker left.

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Was David Baker's mental health an issue in the standoff?

Police aren't sure if mental illness played a role in the 4-hour standoff that caused 40 homes in Millcreek to be evacuated Sunday. But they took that possibility into consideration at the scene, and it influenced how they interacted with suspect David Barker.

"His grand picture was that he was going to have some enormous altercation with police involving massive media, and that he was going to be gunned down by police, hopefully in front of a hospital so he could donate his organs," Ulmer said. "And my guess is that he probably wanted to take a couple officers with him. I mean, he told us this."

Baker first went to his neighbor Howard Searle's home. Searle said he saw Baker jump out of his car and then go "into the backseat and (pull) out a gun."

A probable cause statement says Baker also had a box and a double-edged ax that he propped up against the garage.

"He said, 'You're going to get a new neighbor. The police are on their way, and they're going to surround my house,'" Searle recalled.

Baker ultimately tried to pull his car around; and even though officers tried to stop him, the statement said he ran into his house and barricaded himself. After a four-hour standoff, he was arrested.

Police said Baker was probably under the influence of a narcotic substance Sunday. While that wouldn't surprise Ulmer, she said her friend was never diagnosed with a mental illness and never on medication. She's just relieved he's behind bars.

"He's a lifelong danger, and I hope he never gets out — for the sake of myself and everybody in Salt Lake City," Ulmer said.

Prior to Sunday's incident, Ulmer last saw Baker in person a year ago. But she said he has sent harassing emails and made harassing Facebook posts since that time. She said she meant to talk to police about him as early as Monday.

Baker was booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail for investigation of multiple crimes, including threats made against life or property and interference with an arresting officer.

Contributing: Devon Dolan

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