Samah Baler: Breakthrough as human remains of missing Sydney woman are found four years after her boyfriend murdered her

Human remains found in rural grasslands have been identified to be from a woman who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in a jealous rage.

The remains of Samah Baker, 30, were found at about 9am on July 28 off of the Hume Highway, around 100 metres south of the Windellama Road overpass just outside of Goulburn, NSW.

Ms Baker was murdered by her ex-partner James Hachem, 37, on January 4, 2019 after she decided to not spend New Years Eve with him. 

‘Samah was taken away from us in the cruellest way,’ Ms Baker’s family wrote in a statement.

‘In the years that followed, our grief has been compounded by the fact that we have not been able to have a funeral or lay her to rest.’

Hachem was found guilty of murdering Ms Baker and handed a sentence of 24 years’ imprisonment and a non-parole period of 18 years – backdated to his arrest in 2019 – on May 20. 

Despite over four years of waiting for answers, Ms Baker’s family remain heartbroken that they ‘never got to say goodbye to her or tell her we loved her for the last time’.

‘The news of her remains being discovered four and a half years later isn’t a neat resolution, but it does offer a small measure of what we’ve been longing for all this time,’ the family’s statement reads.

‘Each development in the case feels like a reopening of our barely healed wounds, reminding us of the harsh reality of our loss.’

‘Even though what remains of Samah has been found, it feels like losing her all over again.’

Police confirmed the remains were determined to be Ms Baker’s after an examination by NSW Health Pathology.

A crime scene was established in the area surrounding where Ms Baker’s remains were found shortly after police were notified.

‘Specialist officers including Police Rescue and the Public Order and Riot Squad conducted extensive further searches of the area,’ a statement from NSW Police reads.

Police will continue to work alongside the NSW Coroner to determine how Ms Baker died.

Hachem had attempted to defend his charges by proffering a theory that Ms Baker had killed herself.

However the jury did not buy the theory after hearing that he had waited outside her apartment in his car and spied on Ms Baker while she was on a date, becoming enraged when he witnessed the pair kissing in the early hours of January 4.

Ms Baker’s ex-boyfriend, James Hachem, was found guilty of murdering Ms Baker and handed a sentence of 24 years’ imprisonment – backdated to his arrest in 2019 – on May 20

The couple had broken up and gotten back together numerous times, however Ms Baker had finally moved on, entering a new relationship the month prior to her death.

The court was told the 37-year-old killed Ms Baker inside her apartment at Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, at about 7am.

He had been able to gain entry to her flat after calling her to lie that his parents had been in a car accident. 

He would then buy numerous items at hardware store, Bunnings, including a double sheet, gloves, cleaning products and a digging trowel before driving to remote areas of rural NSW.